He remembers that even as a kid, when he was told to run a lap during gym class, he would ask to do extras.

WSJ: Hard-Wired to Hate Exercise?

Even before the current crisis, the number of securities class-action suits filed during the first half of the year rose by more than 100% over the same period for the preceding year, according to a recent report by Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse.

FORBES: Financial Crisis, Legal Boom

In the United States, half of the 7.5 million jobs lost during the Great Recession paid middle-class wages, and the numbers are even more grim in the 17 European countries that use the euro as their currency.

NPR: Practically Human: Can Smart Machines Do Your Job?

Even during this turbulent patch, Tombini notes that nearly 40 million people have been pulled up into the middle class and that measures to cuts energy costs and payroll taxes will make Brazil much more competitive.

CNN: Defterios: Are the emerging 'BRICS' markets dead?