It’s not too difficult to pinpoint where the U.S. economy went wrong for the middle class. What is needed is a rollback to 1980, before supply-side replaced Keynes as the primary economic model, the progressive income tax was scrapped and deregulation and union-busting became the rage. Repeal Gramm-Leach-Bliley, which created the conditions for the 2008 collapse, and invest in alternative energy which would make the U.S. less vulnerable to the inflationary pressures created by the OPEC embargo in 1973-74. None of what has happened over the last three-and-a-half decades is a surprise; many of us well-versed in macroeconomics predicted the consequences of Reaganonomics, but couldn’t win the rhetorical battle at the time against the flag-wavers.
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