Mass Affluence

Are Americans living beyond their means in pursuit of luxury — or has luxury simply become affordable enough for people to enjoy without breaking their budgets?

Among the observers who are chronicling America’s new affluence are Dinesh D’Souza and Michael Silverstein.

D’Souza is a research scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of The Virtue of Prosperity: Finding Values in an Age of Techno-Affluence. D’Souza notes that, “In 1980, the vast majority of Americans earned less than $55,000 a year......