I listened to this discussion on NPR this morning on the way to work between two economists, a Trump supporter and a Clinton supporter on the economy. The Trump supporter kept using the analogy if you keep giving people fish instead of teaching them to fish the displaced workers will continue to be displaced. He also talked about cutting taxes as a means to fuel growth, removing regulations and forcing manufacturing to come back through changes in trade agreements. In listening to his arguments I was struck by the tone with which he conveyed his arguments and it reminded me of the tone many Christians over the years have taken with me as they worked to save my soul; I mention this not to disparage anyone but as I listened to his arguments something clicked for me as to why it sounded the same.
The language sounded the same to me because i believe the line has blurred through which Christian Conservatives perceive all things; independence, economics, business and wealth, through a lens of their faith. Because they so strongly believe that the United States is a Christian nation first and foremost, that naturally businesses will do the right thing, cutting taxes on the wealthy will lead them to use that freed up capital to reinvest their wealth downward. This is the “reality” through which they perceive the world. Then there is a certain aspect of individual salvation, that despite the “church as a collective body” , lends itself to a view of life in-tune with the American ideal of “rugged individualism”.
I believe that the juxtaposition of these two positions: that Christians will always be helpful and we are all rugged individuals, responsible for ourselves, tugging on our boot straps; in reality tend to cancel each other out. If we look at certain changes across the economy since the 1970s until today (these are low estimates based on various numbers found); executive compensation increased +950%, stock markets increased +500%, income tax rates decreased -50%, capital gains taxes decreased -38%, worker wages increased +10%. So as the wealth grew for a percentage of the country and their tax rates decreased wages for the middle and lower classes grew fractionally. If one does some research on inflation adjusted household income growth since the 70’s; top 5% of earners saw over +100% increase, middle and lower incomes +25% increases. Throw into the mix that dual income families have increased at least +140% over that time period and that 25% increase in middle and lower income families looks even bleaker. Nothing in the numbers speaks to equity from the top.
I look at the numbers and I see a reality in which people are not altruistic of their own accord. As much as we want to believe that people will do the right thing or market forces will make businesses do the right, history does not show that to be true. Look at all of the “burdensome” business regulations, they didn’t just spring out of thin air but were created to stop something from happening again that already occurred. Sometimes the reason we have so many of these regulations is that to stop one problem a loophole is created, then someone exploits the loophole so we create another regulation.
What does it all mean though? I think it means that there are no simple solutions. Sooner or later we need to understand we are all in the boat together, eventually if enough money and resources are strangled out of the economy it will implode. If we continue on our current path we will eventually reach another 1929. This past recession was just a foretelling of what is on the horizon if we do not suck it up and fix the problems.