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 6
... tion , or demand . The main lesson economists drew from Keynes was that government could restore growth to an economy suf- fering from high unemployment by engaging in deficit spend- ing to expand “ aggregate demand . ” Expanded demand ...
... tion , or demand . The main lesson economists drew from Keynes was that government could restore growth to an economy suf- fering from high unemployment by engaging in deficit spend- ing to expand “ aggregate demand . ” Expanded demand ...
Page 9
... in new business in- vestment in the seven years following the Clinton administra- tion's 1993 tax increase ( 1994-2000 ) .5 To be sure , the economy showed healthy growth during the later Reagan years. But econo- Introduction 9.
... in new business in- vestment in the seven years following the Clinton administra- tion's 1993 tax increase ( 1994-2000 ) .5 To be sure , the economy showed healthy growth during the later Reagan years. But econo- Introduction 9.
Page 14
... tion , but in the laissez - faire , or “ free market , ” thinking of British and other European economists . The new vision saw freedom not primarily as a universal promise of social mobility , but rather as an economic mechanism to ...
... tion , but in the laissez - faire , or “ free market , ” thinking of British and other European economists . The new vision saw freedom not primarily as a universal promise of social mobility , but rather as an economic mechanism to ...
Page 27
... tion are so clear to us today, there is a tendency to understand the origins of the American Civil War solely in this familiar moral context. In actuality, the Civil War was fought not just about slavery, but about what kind of economy ...
... tion are so clear to us today, there is a tendency to understand the origins of the American Civil War solely in this familiar moral context. In actuality, the Civil War was fought not just about slavery, but about what kind of economy ...
Page 32
... tion with the opportunities for social mobility , the nation's middle - class nature was a barrier to social upheaval and revo- lution : " Between these two extremes of [ wealth and poverty in ] democratic communities stand an ...
... tion with the opportunities for social mobility , the nation's middle - class nature was a barrier to social upheaval and revo- lution : " Between these two extremes of [ wealth and poverty in ] democratic communities stand an ...
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