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 24
Page 2
... results were not what the president and his advis- ers predicted . First to disappear were the projected federal sur- pluses . From a surplus of $ 256 billion in 2000 , the federal budget went to a deficit of $ 413 billion in fiscal ...
... results were not what the president and his advis- ers predicted . First to disappear were the projected federal sur- pluses . From a surplus of $ 256 billion in 2000 , the federal budget went to a deficit of $ 413 billion in fiscal ...
Page 7
... resulting huge expansion in the federal deficit ( combined with the president's pressure on the Federal Reserve to keep money “ easy ” ) resulted in the emergence of high inflation . For roughly fifteen years , inflation remained a ...
... resulting huge expansion in the federal deficit ( combined with the president's pressure on the Federal Reserve to keep money “ easy ” ) resulted in the emergence of high inflation . For roughly fifteen years , inflation remained a ...
Page 10
... result of gaining control over inflation. This had nothing to do with tax cuts (indeed, the tax cuts aggravated the situation by con- tributing to large deficits). Rather, the recovery was mostly the result of a decisive shift toward a ...
... result of gaining control over inflation. This had nothing to do with tax cuts (indeed, the tax cuts aggravated the situation by con- tributing to large deficits). Rather, the recovery was mostly the result of a decisive shift toward a ...
Page 20
... result , more economic growth ) . This is a claim that is either true or false ; one should be able to verify it , based on data showing how the economy has per- formed under different tax structures . ( I shall return to this question ...
... result , more economic growth ) . This is a claim that is either true or false ; one should be able to verify it , based on data showing how the economy has per- formed under different tax structures . ( I shall return to this question ...
Page 21
... result ( and to some degree also the cause ) of a growing economy has been the emergence of a strong middle class . Nearly twenty - five hundred years ago , long before the advent of modern industrialism , Aristotle ob- served that the ...
... result ( and to some degree also the cause ) of a growing economy has been the emergence of a strong middle class . Nearly twenty - five hundred years ago , long before the advent of modern industrialism , Aristotle ob- served that the ...
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