The American Dual Economy

Peter Temin

International Journal of Political Economy, 2016, vol. 45, issue 2, 85-123

Abstract: I describe the American economy in the twenty-first century as a dual economy in the spirit of W. Arthur Lewis. Similar to the subsistence and capitalist economies characterized by Lewis, I distinguish a low-wage sector and a finance, technology, and electronics (FTE) sector. The transition from the low-wage to the FTE sector is through education, which is becoming increasingly difficult for members of the low-wage sector because the FTE sector has largely abandoned the American tradition of quality public schools and universities. Policy debates about public education and other policies that serve the low-wage sector often characterize members of the low-wage sector as black even though the low-wage sector is largely white. This model of a modern dual economy explains difficulties in many current policy debates, including education, health care, criminal justice, infrastructure, and household debts.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1080/08911916.2016.1185311

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