Recommended New York Times Op-Ed Column
 

I don't know whether the Opinion page and columnists of the Times can be read without subscribing, so I won't post the actual link to this column here. But this Sunday's edition has a thoughtfully written piece by Robert Reich entitled, "The Limping Middle Class".

Reich is often much too flaming a liberal for me, but I read the first few lines of this piece and felt compelled to finish it. Reich defines the problem of the middle class which is shrinking and growing less prosperous, but isn't too specific on solutions. The answer is pretty obvious though--somehow encourage policy which slows the flow of wealth to the top 2-3% of Americans and begin to get more wealth into the hands if the middle class.

Some here will call that "income redistribution" and rail against the idea as an offshoot of socialism. I might observe that the policies of our government actually has re-distributed wealth--increasingly from the middle class to the wealthiest. The effects are as described by Reich in his thoughtful column.

This is one of those pieces of information that folks should read, as background before blindly accepting less thoughtful and often self-serving statements, often by partisan politicians. Reich describes a problem that can't be refuted. Now the question becomes. What can be done to correct it?

Try to search for "The Limping Middle Class" by Robert Reich in the September 4, edition of the New York Times or maybe on Reich's personal website. You'll find it thought-provoking

I haven't read it yet. Just found it though. No subscription necessary:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/op...dle-class.html

I will read it, but as of now the premise seems fatally flawed. Money has to be slowed to the rich and put in the reach of the middle class? This purports that the "economic pie" is a stagnant size and doesn't grow, and so we have to divide it up more evenly.

That's patently ludicrous on the face of it. The "pie" is not finite. The pie can grow as each person creates more and more "economic filling". We can make our own "pie" in this country. We don't have to wait on line at someone else's and hope for a sliver.

I've got to see how Mr. Reich puts it , but really?

What Mr. Reich says has more than a little truth. There is a string correlation between education and income. However, it is an incomplete analysis. We need to look at what causes people to drop out of the educational process. Single parent households, race and peer groups are strong factors here. More emphasis on education is not the answer to this part of the problem. Addressing the underlying factors such as single parent households - encouraged by the Aid to Dependent Children Act - is a critical starting point.

We also need to look at why good paying jobs are not more available in the United States. Having both the highest corporate income tax and the highest tax on repatriated profits in the entire world is certainly a major contributor.

Reich
 

This is pretty much a rehash of what Reich has been saying for years. However, it doesn't make it less true.

Kahuna, thanks for your objectivity. Pat Buchanan said it the best: A man with a political philosophy can adjust that philosophy when new facts come to light. An ideologue cannot.

Perhaps You Should Have Read it First
 

As usual you have made your statement with a lack of thought which is characteristically yours. One only has to look at the trade deficit published each week on the last page of The Economist to know that the amount of money circulating in the United States is shrinking to the tune of a half a trillion a year.

CEO running a company in to the ground, then retiring with a 400 Million Golded Retirement package might be some of the problem. Why would a company give the person who ran it into the ground such a great retirment package. If a lowly worker is not performing, he is fired without compensation. Same should be for the CEO, COO, CFO or any of the alphabet soup leaders. That might solve some of the problem.

:confused:

And you have to be OPEN to new facts and be able to identify them as new facts in order to use them to adjust your philosophy. Now which modern president had problem with that?

You start off with insulting me for "lack of thought characteristically mine". You're a peach, you know it. Until today, I didn't know you existed, and this is your introduction?

__________________________________________________ _______________

Actually I have read it now and stick with my original hypothesis. The "economic pie" of the United States is not a finite size. The size can be increased, it ludicrous to think you have to give everyone a smaller piece so that it goes around further.

The economic climate has to be eased so that more growth is possible. If growth is possible, there will be growth. It's human nature. As they say, "Rising tide lifts all boats".

An Explanation
 

To make a statement that the pie is not finite is the statement of someone who firmly believes that we as a great country must be immune from history. Of course the pie is finite, and it is shrinking. There is less opportunity in the United States because there is a net outflow of cash in the approximate amount of half a trillion a year.

If I am harsh on RichieLion it is because he dismisses economic reality in favor of his Ideology.

OK, I hear you. Can you support these statements?

You're are so wrong. The economy is not finite. There's isn't a finite amount of money in the country that just moves around. That idea is totally ludicrous.

Also, it's possible to just put forth your ideas without being "harsh", as you judiciously call it.

Yeah, But It's Not Working
 

You're right Richie, the pie has grown over the years, pretty slowly recently but still growing. Whatever is causing it, more and more of the ever-growing pie is still finding it's way into the pockets of the wealthy, with less and less being kept by those we call the middle class. There are probably a number of reasons for that, but the Bush tax cuts appear to be a pretty big component of the shift.

So basically, if you accept the premise that a strong and vibrant middle class which earns and spends a sizable proportion of its income is key to a stable and growing economy, then government can play a role to encourage or incent that. Tax policy is probably part of the answer, but there are other things that can be done, as well.

If you accept that construction workers were a significant part of the middle class, then Obama's infrastructure re-building idea to be announced on Thursday might be something else government can do to "pump up" the middle class. Further, a solid infrastructure of transportation facilities will have a long-term positive effect on our economy, as well. (If Obama proposes further extensions of unemployment benefits or more benefits for the lower class, to me that's not the kind of thing that will have the effect of jump-starting the economy. I'd be against those kinds of government expenditures.)

Now that I have your attention.
You passed judgement before you read it. That is why I faulted you.
I submit to you that the growth is taking place overseas.