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 14
... argued that government should stand aside and let business do its job. Lincoln stressed the universality of the American promise—prosperity and betterment, he repeatedly said, were to be for all. The new The American Economic Vision.
... argued that government should stand aside and let business do its job. Lincoln stressed the universality of the American promise—prosperity and betterment, he repeatedly said, were to be for all. The new The American Economic Vision.
Page 18
... arguments about moral and political consequences of economic policy are unavoidable. Americans lack clear factual ... argument that tax cuts—in particular, cuts in the top marginal income tax rate—would pay for themselves by increasing ...
... arguments about moral and political consequences of economic policy are unavoidable. Americans lack clear factual ... argument that tax cuts—in particular, cuts in the top marginal income tax rate—would pay for themselves by increasing ...
Page 19
... arguing that he would actually end up paying a smaller percentage of his income in taxes than his office receptionist.4 But President Bush and his economic advisers argued that tax cuts for the highest-income taxpayers, and especially ...
... arguing that he would actually end up paying a smaller percentage of his income in taxes than his office receptionist.4 But President Bush and his economic advisers argued that tax cuts for the highest-income taxpayers, and especially ...
Page 20
... argued,are in the interests of everybody.They serve the common good. They might not look fair at first glance, but they are fair because eventually the benefits accrue to society as a whole. The point is that the president did not have ...
... argued,are in the interests of everybody.They serve the common good. They might not look fair at first glance, but they are fair because eventually the benefits accrue to society as a whole. The point is that the president did not have ...
Page 22
... arguments over tax policy start with arguments about how much revenue the government needs. But they quickly turn into arguments over how much different taxpayers The American Economic Vision.
... arguments over tax policy start with arguments about how much revenue the government needs. But they quickly turn into arguments over how much different taxpayers The American Economic Vision.
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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Common terms and phrases
administration American Dream argued average bank BEST Bureau Bush business investment called citizens claim consumer consumption created Deal decades deficit demand demand-side Democratic economic growth economic policy economists effect expand federal government first fiscal Gospel of Wealth growing hands HIGHEST historical House important improvements income tax rate increase increasingly individual industrial inflation interest investment issues Kennedy kind labor Lincoln major marginal income tax ment MIDDLE middle-class millions monetary nearly nomic opportunity ordinary percent political President problem Product progress prosperity Reagan reducing reform Republican result risk role Roosevelt Security social society spending strong substantial supply supply-side tax cuts tion top marginal income unemployment Union United vision workers WORST York