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 26
Page 1
... the U.S. economy created over 23 million new jobs , an average of more than 2.9 million a year.1 Americans were enjoying an unprecedented level of prosperity . Govern- ment's fiscal house was in order . The federal government. Introduction.
... the U.S. economy created over 23 million new jobs , an average of more than 2.9 million a year.1 Americans were enjoying an unprecedented level of prosperity . Govern- ment's fiscal house was in order . The federal government. Introduction.
Page 2
The Fight for a Productive Middle-Class Economy Norton Garfinkle. ment's fiscal house was in order . The federal government was not only able to pay down trillions in accumulated debt ; it had money left over to help cope with looming ...
The Fight for a Productive Middle-Class Economy Norton Garfinkle. ment's fiscal house was in order . The federal government was not only able to pay down trillions in accumulated debt ; it had money left over to help cope with looming ...
Page 29
... house divided : virtually two separate na- tions based on very different economic structures . He saw " saving the Union " not simply as a political effort but as a moral imperative to secure for the America of the future the middle ...
... house divided : virtually two separate na- tions based on very different economic structures . He saw " saving the Union " not simply as a political effort but as a moral imperative to secure for the America of the future the middle ...
Page 34
... House , was a national politician who ran unsuccessfully for president five times . He was the nation's leading proponent of a strong Union and a strengthened fed- eral government . By the mid - 1820s , he had devised a political ...
... House , was a national politician who ran unsuccessfully for president five times . He was the nation's leading proponent of a strong Union and a strengthened fed- eral government . By the mid - 1820s , he had devised a political ...
Page 35
... House , Clay became even more convinced of the need for a strengthened central government , with re- newed military power , an infrastructure of good roads ( for both economic and military purposes ) , and a large , indepen- dent ...
... House , Clay became even more convinced of the need for a strengthened central government , with re- newed military power , an infrastructure of good roads ( for both economic and military purposes ) , and a large , indepen- dent ...
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