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We need to look the past to find what works. Our ancestors who survived the Great Depression had a plan that worked so well that it created the greatest middle class in history and made us the envy of the world. No need to reinvent the wheel. Their plan included confiscatory income tax rates for top earners, support for unions, breaking up of monopolies and other methods that support wage growth for the masses. I would also add tax breaks for small business with under 50 employees. Small business is not the problem so you should rest easy.
Nah.. it really didn't.
Their plan did not have confiscatory tax. In fact..the effective tax rate was lower on many of the wealthy than it is today.. and their were actually higher taxes on the poor and middle class than they are today. Todays tax system is more progressive than back then.
Breaking up of monopolies was before the great depression. and actually after the great depression...monopolies began to develop.
As far as wage growth.. they government actually controlled wage growth during the war years..and thus led to benefits as an unintended consequence of wage CONTROLS.
What really created the middle class growth was a post world war boom in demand for goods and services after world war II. The GI bill. The influx of government money into research like nuclear power, military weapons (how the computer was developed), and the space program.
That's what really led to the middle class. It was not engineered through taxes or regulation.. It came about because of a post war boom.. and support for education, and research and development that would sustain it.