Soc714X Social Class

This opinion piece by Felix Rohatyn in the Times caught my eye. It covers a lot of the same territory that we've been discussing about changes in the American economy and the consequences for ordinary people.

Here's the main point:

The Bush administration gave in to the conservative anti-tax revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, and went to war in Iraq while greatly underestimating its cost — $300 billion to date. It simultaneously engaged in a policy of massive tax cuts, probably the first time ever that a country cut taxes while at war.

The domestic budget went from surplus to a record deficit, as did the trade balance, and the Federal Reserve pushed interest rates to all-time lows.

And neither the Treasury nor the Fed acted to protect the dollar, which declined sharply and drove our budget deficit still higher.

We have become the world’s largest debtor; the dollar became one of the world’s weaker currencies; and we are now facing massive and increasing deficits for the foreseeable future.

During this period, the fairness so vital to a modern democracy was seriously impaired. As a result of the tax cuts and extraordinary levels of executive compensation, 1 percent of Americans now own 45 percent of America’s household assets, a level not seen since 1929.

Read the whole thing. It is sobering to think that we've reached a point where an investment banker has to say these things in a national newspaper.