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The Politics of Rich and Poor: Wealth and the American Electorate in the Reagan Aftermath Paperback – January 1, 1991
- Print length288 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarpercollins
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 1991
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.75 x 8 inches
- ISBN-10006097396X
- ISBN-13978-0060973964
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From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product details
- Publisher : Harpercollins; First Edition (January 1, 1991)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 288 pages
- ISBN-10 : 006097396X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0060973964
- Item Weight : 4.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.75 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,014,885 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,033 in Macroeconomics (Books)
- #2,051 in Economic Policy & Development (Books)
- #73,789 in Politics & Government (Books)
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Phillips would do well writing an update to the Politics of Rich and Poor. Its narrative is still relevant today.
The trend away from equality predated Reagan and continues unabated to the present. The syndrome is graphically shown with data presented by Thomas Piketty in 'Capital in the Twenty-first Century.' The construction that inequality is a product of middle class promotion is wishful thinking and out of touch with both reality and the rest of the text. Phillips is fond of banal aphorisms like a happier worker is a more productive worker. Highly paid labor is efficient labor is backwards Its efficiency that earns higher pay. The government attempt to pay ahead of productivity is not working and the failed experiment is impossible to reverse.
He says that the 1% wants to cut wages and budget. The worst error is contention that macro policy of the central bank (Fed) favors the 1%. It does only because the super rich are the only ones able to cope with the currency devaluation that is destroying middle class savings. Lawyers are aiding rent seeking, while the 15% capital gain favors the rich, neglecting homeowners. He observes less equality of opportunity and incentive pay is overrated. He says that regulation favors the rich, neglecting to point out that rescission of Glass-Stiegall was a prime component of the Clinton administration, not Reagan. How he blames Reagan for Trade and Current Account deficits is a mystery. Another wrong contention is that we became a debtor nation under Reagan. In fact the US has not been debt free since 1841 and subsequent administrations squandered the Reagan peace dividend emanating from the end of the Cold War.
What the book shows is that Reagan failed to halt the trend to inequality that started around 1965.
Phillips points to consumerism. He shows a simplistic take on what he calls a
bad education system. It's sheer populism to say that 1% shape our policy, ignoring that legislative influence is for sale. President Obama has made no fundamental changes to either legislative or taxation policy. He observes flow of wealth from bottom to top, but misses the cause. The current stimulus program flowing into the coffers of health care and insurance executives to raise W.S. prices is a straight transfer from middle to top. The Fed acknowledged Wednesday (Sep. 17, 2014) that, as the economic recovery slowly builds, its grand experiment is now coming to an end. Instead of QE, the Fed could have given $56,000 to every household in America. If we make that poor households it's approximately a half million each. It should be clear by now that the government share is not being redistributed according to plan. Inequality is a function of government policy not the rich or party politics as Phillips and his ilk would like to promote. IT'S THE GOVERNMENT STUPID!
This book is mainly useful for its bad arguments. On all sides of the issue there are many others studies of inequality available, mostly better than this one. See for example 'The Haves and the Have-Nots' by Branko Milakovic or 'Inequality in America' by Dudash, Dervis, Milsom and Stancil.



