Robert Reich - For three decades after World War II, America created the largest
middle class the world had ever seen. During those years, the earnings
of the typical American worker doubled, just as the size of the American
economy doubled.
Over the last 40 years, by contrast, the size of
the economy has more than doubled again, but the earnings of the
typical American have barely budged (adjusted for inflation). Most of
the gains have gone to the top.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the CEOs
of large corporations earned an average of about 20 times the pay of
their typical worker. Now they rake in over 300 times the pay of an
average worker.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the richest 1 percent of
Americans took home about 10 percent of the nation’s total income. Today
they take home more than the bottom 90 percent put together.
Then,
the economy generated hope. Hard work paid off. The living standards of
most people improved through their working lives. Their children
enjoyed better lives than they had. Most felt that the rules of the
economic game were basically fair.
Although many women,
Black people, and Latinos were still blocked from getting a fair share
of the economy’s gains, the nation committed itself to changing this.
New laws guaranteed equal opportunity, barred discrimination, promoted
affirmative action, and expanded educational opportunity for all.
Today,
confidence in the economic system has sharply declined. Its apparent
arbitrariness and unfairness have undermined the public’s faith in it.
Cynicism abounds. Equal opportunity is no longer high on the nation’s
agenda. \
Recent American history can be divided into five periods:
1946-1979, we grew together. Almost everyone gained ground.
1980-2008, the great U-turn. Most economic gains began going to the top.
2008-2010, the financial crisis. The
banks were bailed out but millions of Americans lost their jobs, homes,
and savings. The experience revealed the gross inequalities of wealth
and power that underlay the new economy. This caused widespread
disillusionment with the system.
2010-2016, anger at the establishment. Both
Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump emerged as anti-establishment
candidates — although Trump’s anti-establishment persona was fake (and
still is).
2016-2050, the choice between oligarchy and democracy. The
2024 election represented a lurch toward oligarchy, but I believe Trump
and his oligarchy will overreach, and we’ll choose a more robust
democracy.
