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 75
Page
... political stability can be achieved by supporting income growth and economic security of middle-class families with- out restricting the ability of successful businessmen to gain wealth. The counterbelief, based on the Gospel of Wealth ...
... political stability can be achieved by supporting income growth and economic security of middle-class families with- out restricting the ability of successful businessmen to gain wealth. The counterbelief, based on the Gospel of Wealth ...
Page 5
... political vision of the American Dream . Two Theories , Three Questions Every important economic policy has three kinds of conse- quences : factual , moral , and political . In effect , in evaluating economic policy , we have to ask ...
... political vision of the American Dream . Two Theories , Three Questions Every important economic policy has three kinds of conse- quences : factual , moral , and political . In effect , in evaluating economic policy , we have to ask ...
Page 6
... political imperatives that had grown out of the Great Depres- sion . In a book written in 1936 , Keynes showed policymakers a way out of the Depression . Keynes's key innovation was to shift the focus of economists from production , or ...
... political imperatives that had grown out of the Great Depres- sion . In a book written in 1936 , Keynes showed policymakers a way out of the Depression . Keynes's key innovation was to shift the focus of economists from production , or ...
Page 8
... political commentators rather than trained economists— created , in effect , a mirror image of demand - side theory . The real engine of growth in an economy was not demand , said the supply - siders , but rather supply . The problem ...
... political commentators rather than trained economists— created , in effect , a mirror image of demand - side theory . The real engine of growth in an economy was not demand , said the supply - siders , but rather supply . The problem ...
Page 10
... political questions. That was simply a debating posture. It was another thing to actually have a factual basis for their claims (see chapter 8). Absent such factual support, it is interesting to ask why supply-side economics made such a ...
... political questions. That was simply a debating posture. It was another thing to actually have a factual basis for their claims (see chapter 8). Absent such factual support, it is interesting to ask why supply-side economics made such a ...
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 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
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