i dont think that the middle class will dry up, so much as it will shift away from the "lower class". back in my parents time (they are babyboomers) "rich people" drove high end cars and lived in huge houses. six figures was the standard, but now that we have people who make SO much more than that, the middle class is now those people creeping up on six figures, especially if there are two incomes. i would say that the upper class household is now in the quarter-mil a range for a household of 2.

people who are "lower class" are still every bit as poor as they were in the 60s, as they are unable to afford anything more than the basic needs, but now the government rewards laziness for those who are poor just because theyre lazy.