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
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Page 1
... Product ( GDP ) had grown at an average real rate of 4.2 percent , a figure well above the 3.2 percent average for the post - World War II era . Unemployment , at 4.2 percent , was well below the postwar average . Inflation was minimal ...
... Product ( GDP ) had grown at an average real rate of 4.2 percent , a figure well above the 3.2 percent average for the post - World War II era . Unemployment , at 4.2 percent , was well below the postwar average . Inflation was minimal ...
Page 8
... products and ser- vices were being generated . Demand therefore had nowhere to go , which is why inflation was so high . Only the private sector could generate economic growth , and the private sector needed to be set free to do its job ...
... products and ser- vices were being generated . Demand therefore had nowhere to go , which is why inflation was so high . Only the private sector could generate economic growth , and the private sector needed to be set free to do its job ...
Page 18
... Product ( GDP ) ? They prefer to transform economics into a purely “ scientific ” discipline based on mathematical analysis . They want to adopt a " value - free " perspective on the discipline of economics , where empirical questions ...
... Product ( GDP ) ? They prefer to transform economics into a purely “ scientific ” discipline based on mathematical analysis . They want to adopt a " value - free " perspective on the discipline of economics , where empirical questions ...
Page 28
... product of his labour , or as nearly as possible , ” he wrote , “ is a most wor- thy object of any good government . " The real evil of the south- ern slave system was the denial of this economic right . Indeed , Lincoln insisted that ...
... product of his labour , or as nearly as possible , ” he wrote , “ is a most wor- thy object of any good government . " The real evil of the south- ern slave system was the denial of this economic right . Indeed , Lincoln insisted that ...
Page 44
... product of his labour , or as nearly as possible , " he wrote , " is a most worthy object of any good government . " The real evil of slavery , in Lincoln's view , was precisely the denial of this right . Interest- ingly , in his ...
... product of his labour , or as nearly as possible , " he wrote , " is a most worthy object of any good government . " The real evil of slavery , in Lincoln's view , was precisely the denial of this right . Interest- ingly , in his ...
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