https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-10-2022
"The Republican economic promise since Reagan has been that cutting regulation
and taxes would create a healthy economy in which everyone who is willing to
work can thrive. But political commentator Thom Hartmann marshaled the
statistics in a crystal clear Twitter thread a week ago, revealing just how
badly that argument has failed.
Hartmann noted that after World War II, “the nation had hummed along for 40
years on a top income tax bracket of 91% and a corporate income tax that topped
out around 50%.” Business was growing faster than at any other previous time,
and businessmen stayed out of politics. The country had great public schools,
research laboratories, trade schools, airports, interstate highways, and small
businesses, as well as unions that protected America’s workers.
The election of Ronald Reagan meant radical tax cuts (from a top marginal rate
of 74% in 1980 to the 27% it is today), business deregulation, and the gutting
of social safety nets. Forty-two years later, Hartmann notes, more than $50
trillion has been transferred from the bottom 90% to the top 1%. In 1980, 60%
of us were in the middle class; now fewer than half of us are. Republicans
promised that permitting business concentration would lead to innovation and
opportunity; instead, we have seen an end to competition, along with price
gouging and profiteering from the giant companies that choke out small
business. Stock buybacks were supposed to mean that senior executives would
care more about the future of their companies, but instead they have become a
means for them to pocket cash."
Via Kevin O'Brien.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
