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. |
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Page 8
... interest rates went through the roof . Moreover , Americans ex- perienced ever - higher taxes as inflation drove them into higher and higher income tax brackets , brackets originally in- tended for the very rich . Supply - side ...
... interest rates went through the roof . Moreover , Americans ex- perienced ever - higher taxes as inflation drove them into higher and higher income tax brackets , brackets originally in- tended for the very rich . Supply - side ...
Page 20
... interests of everybody . They serve the common good . They might not look fair at first glance , but they are fair ... interest . And in a democracy , as in any society , the rich are not the majority . That is why issues of economic ...
... interests of everybody . They serve the common good . They might not look fair at first glance , but they are fair ... interest . And in a democracy , as in any society , the rich are not the majority . That is why issues of economic ...
Page 24
... interest in looking inside the black box to see what makes it tick . As long as the black box yields good results , they are satisfied . Only if they see economic failure — as reflected in a downturn of their economic fortunes and those ...
... interest in looking inside the black box to see what makes it tick . As long as the black box yields good results , they are satisfied . Only if they see economic failure — as reflected in a downturn of their economic fortunes and those ...
Page 25
... interest in the specifics of economic policy creates problems . It prevents citizens from connecting the dots in ways that would help them protect their interests . For example , few voters entering the polls in November 2004 understood ...
... interest in the specifics of economic policy creates problems . It prevents citizens from connecting the dots in ways that would help them protect their interests . For example , few voters entering the polls in November 2004 understood ...
Page 39
... interests . The bank had had its share of problems , but on the whole it lent a vital sta- bility to the nation's financial system . Jackson's destruction of the bank would condemn the nation to currency instability and a terrible cycle ...
... interests . The bank had had its share of problems , but on the whole it lent a vital sta- bility to the nation's financial system . Jackson's destruction of the bank would condemn the nation to currency instability and a terrible cycle ...
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