Did you make $34,000 last year? If so, congratulations! You're now part of the richest 1% in the world.
Economist Branko Milanovic puts it all in perspective:
The true global middle class, falls far short of owning a home, having a car in a driveway, saving for retirement and sending their kids to college. In fact, people at the world's true middle -- as defined by median income -- live on just $1,225 a year. (And, yes, Milanovic's numbers are adjusted to account for different costs of living across the globe.)
In the grand scheme of things, even the poorest 5% of Americans are better off financially than two thirds of the entire world.
1)The French hate rich people; they think money is Evil. +And The Forbes 400 List for France, is more like "Le Forbes 3".
2)I don't think the accuracy of the info is consistent across the board. -Especially in the Switzerland, etc. There is A LOT of invisible money out there.
Most people define "middle class" from a socio-economic point of view ("the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class", per Wikipedia). But the term "middle class" also has such strong connotations that I've seen analysts define it based on what people in the middle class SHOULD be able to afford (i.e. exactly what Mr. Milanovic says the true global middle class CAN'T afford) -- by which definition there is no such thing as a middle class in many African countries, for instance.
Mr. Milanovic is an economist, so it makes sense for him to analyze this from a strictly economical point of view (and the results are genuinely interesting regardless of anything else), but don't let this change your definition of the middle class, because most people don't use a strictly economic definition anyway.
God I swear....people named "Will" are all the same >.<
http://www.understandfrance.org/French/Money.html
http://plus.lefigaro.fr/note/a-frenchman-and-his-money-are-not-soon-parted-20110802-521976
Try visiting some time! :D ;P