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Hurrah! The Middle Class Is Growing!

Are there policies credited for making this happen? Should we try to replicate them?
 
Are there policies credited for making this happen? Should we try to replicate them?
Reasonable question.

We think we know what policies built America's strong middle class after WWII. The GI Bill, high taxes on the rich, being a creditor nation and not a debtor nation, investment in bold enterprises, free public education at the level required for a decent job (then HS, now college), strong unions, an improving safety net, and so on.

Some of those (but not all) we see in China. Maybe they have other ideas we could look at as well. But at the least, we could try what worked for us before, as much as possible. Unfortunately we are heading away from those approaches, not toward them.

If you listen to their plans, some of the Dem candidates - Bernie and Martin, in particular - are calling for a revival of many of the policies that built our middle class. Most of the GOP candidates are actually aiming to cut back on them even more.

Look at Kasich's economic plan, for example. He says he will balance the budget. But first he will run up the debt for 7 years. He will further lower taxes on the rich. And he wants to cut back on education and the safety net. And so on. All totally wrong-direction stuff.
 
The Middle Class was also built because in WWII everyone else's stuff got blown up and ours didnt! We didnt have much competition for a couple of decades.
 
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