Director:
Senior Fellow, Sherle Schwenninger
E-mail: sherle@worldnet.att.net 
 

Senior Fellow Sherle Schwenninger is directing a project on the global economy and middle-class development. Building a large and sustainable global middle class by extending the system of mass affluence found in Europe and the United States into the developing world is the key to both global political stability and world economic growth in the decades ahead. This project therefore seeks to put the goal of middle-class development on to the agenda of Western policymakers.

Thanks to increasing global integration and the spread of the industrial revolution to much of the developing world, 52 countries with a total population of 1.5 billion have reached levels of per capita GDP, measured on purchasing parity basis, similar to those at which the United States initiated middle-class oriented development policies some 60 years ago. With the right economic policies and international economic conditions, most of these countries could evolve into successful middle class societies over the next decade or two, providing expanded markets for world goods and services and an outlet for Western investment looking for higher rates of return.

The project seeks to identify the main elements of a middle-class-oriented development strategy for emerging economies; show how U.S. and other advanced-nation policies can be adapted for use in many developing societies; and popularize the goal of middle-class development among key audiences in the United States and Europe.