Les classes moyennes peuvent-elles dynamiser la croissance du PIB dans les économies émergentes latino-américaines et asiatiques ?

One can observe a tendency to an increase in the middle class whatever the criterion of membership adopted. With a broad definition of the middle class, the vulnerable group tends to lose importance and the heterogeneity of this group increases. On the contrary, the choice of a narrow definition of the middle class limits its ?catch all? character. Some economists see in this rise of the middle class an opportunity to spur economic growth in the emergent economies. Others consider that the rise of the middle class comes from growth and that a virtuous circle could exist between growth and middle class. Within the framework of a controlled globalization, these two theses are erroneous: a redistribution of incomes in favour of the most underprivileged sectors can increase growth.