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Title: The decline of collective bargaining and the erosion of middle-class incomes in Michigan Date: Sept 25, 2012 Source: Economic Policy Institute

*Author**:* Lawrence Mishel Summary: In Michigan between 1979 and 2007, the last year before the Great Recession, the state’s economy experienced substantial growth and incomes rose for high-income households. But middle-class incomes did not grow. The Michigan experience is slightly worse than but parallels that of the United States as a whole, where middle-class income gains were modest but still far less than the income gains at the top. What the experience of Michiganders and other Americans makes clear is that income inequality is rising, and it has prevented middle-class incomes from growing adequately in either Michigan or the nation.

*Link: *http://bit.ly/QFbuCy**