The American Dream vs. The Gospel of Wealth: The Fight for a Productive Middle-Class EconomyNorton Garfinkle paints a disquieting picture of America today: a nation increasingly divided between economic winners and losers, a nation in which the middle-class American Dream seems more and more elusive. Recent government policies reflect a commitment to a new supply-side winner-take-all Gospel of Wealth. Garfinkle warns that this supply-side economic vision favors the privileged few over the majority of American citizens striving to better their economic condition.Garfinkle employs historical insight and data-based economic analysis to demonstrate compellingly the sharp departure of the supply-side Gospel of Wealth from an American ideal that dates back to Abraham Lincoln—the vision of America as a society in which ordinary, hard-working individuals can get ahead and attain a middle-class living, and in which government plays an active role in expanding opportunities and ensuring against economic exploitation. Supply-side economic policies increase economic disparities and, Garfinkle insists, they fail on technical, factual, moral, and political grounds. He outlines a fresh economic vision, consonant with the great American tradition of ensuring strong economic growth, while preserving the middle-class American Dream. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 31
Page 2
... Bush came to office in 2001 with a minority of the popular vote , a razor - thin electoral vote margin , and a radical plan to slash federal taxes . Tax cuts , the president and his ad- visers said , were the key to increasing ...
... Bush came to office in 2001 with a minority of the popular vote , a razor - thin electoral vote margin , and a radical plan to slash federal taxes . Tax cuts , the president and his ad- visers said , were the key to increasing ...
Page 3
... Bush administration averaged only 1.2 percent per year compared to 9.9 percent per year during the Clinton presidency . From the combined stand- point of employment , business investment , and real GDP growth , the Bush administration ...
... Bush administration averaged only 1.2 percent per year compared to 9.9 percent per year during the Clinton presidency . From the combined stand- point of employment , business investment , and real GDP growth , the Bush administration ...
Page 4
... Bush adminis- tration content to throw away federal surpluses when huge unfunded liabilities for Social Security and Medicare loomed on the horizon , to say nothing of a dizzying array of immedi- ate security , defense , and disaster ...
... Bush adminis- tration content to throw away federal surpluses when huge unfunded liabilities for Social Security and Medicare loomed on the horizon , to say nothing of a dizzying array of immedi- ate security , defense , and disaster ...
Page 10
... Bush. Today we are at a crossroads. Not only has the supply- side program failed to deliver the promised higher levels of in- vestment and faster-than-historical rates of economic growth. It has once again produced outsized deficits. It ...
... Bush. Today we are at a crossroads. Not only has the supply- side program failed to deliver the promised higher levels of in- vestment and faster-than-historical rates of economic growth. It has once again produced outsized deficits. It ...
Page 17
... Bush echoes the rhetoric of the American Dream . But the Gospel of Wealth is clearly the basis of his poli- cies . Nearly all the historical Gospel of Wealth themes are there : a laissez - faire economic philosophy , strong opposition ...
... Bush echoes the rhetoric of the American Dream . But the Gospel of Wealth is clearly the basis of his poli- cies . Nearly all the historical Gospel of Wealth themes are there : a laissez - faire economic philosophy , strong opposition ...
Contents
1 | |
12 | |
27 | |
47 | |
4 The Age of Reform | 69 |
5 The Business of America Is Business | 88 |
6 The Renewal of the American Dream | 107 |
7 The New Gospel of Wealth | 144 |
SupplySide vs DemandSide Economics | 163 |
9 The Way Forward | 189 |
GDP Consumption Investment Employment Unemployment and Marginal Tax Rates 19512004 | 201 |
Notes | 205 |
Index | 221 |
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administration aggregate demand Ameri American Dream bank BEST Budget Bureau of Economic Bush tax cuts business investment business owners citizens clear the path consumer decades deficit spending demand-side democracy Democratic economic growth economic policy economists effect Engen and Skinner federal government Federal Reserve fiscal policy G.I. Bill GDP growth Gilded Age Gospel of Wealth Historical Statistics Ibid Income and Product income tax rate increase increasingly industrial inflation Kennedy Keynes Keynesian laissez-faire Lincoln low top marginal major marginal income tax marginal tax rates ment MIDDLE middle-class millions monetary policy National Income neo-Keynesian economics nomic personal consumption political President progress progressive tax prosperity Reagan real growth recession reducing reform Republican role Roosevelt Social Darwinism society stagflation supply-side economics supply-side tax cuts tariffs tax cuts Tax Policy taxpayers tion top marginal income top marginal rate U.S. Department U.S. economy unemployment Union United vision workers WORST York