Middle-class wealth fell 40 percent in the Great Recession of 2008. Nearly a decade and a half later, it is barely back to its 2001 level. Many Americans struggle to start a business, buy a home, send kids to college, or save for retirement. Upward economic mobility used to be common; now it is a crapshoot. Only half of Americans born in the 1980s earn more than their parents did at the same age, compared with 92 percent of Americans born in 1940. No wonder more than three out of four Americans say our country is moving in the wrong direction.
Our government, as it currently operates, only makes matters worse. Incompetent regulation allowed banks and mortgage companies to get away with unscrupulous and fraudulent practices before the 2008 financial crisis and suffer hardly any consequences for the damage they caused. The relative tax burden has grown in recent decades for the bottom half of the income distribution, which today pays higher tax rates than billionaires. Most Americans have a hard time rebuilding their wealth. Meanwhile, business concentration stifles competition, to the detriment of small businesses and consumers.
We are failing to invest in the future. U.S. investment in R&D increased only incrementally over the past 15 years, lagging behind several countries. China nearly doubled its rate of R&D investment over the same period and has already surpassed the United States in applications for international patents.
We spend significantly more on health care than any other country but produce mediocre health outcomes. Similarly, we spend more per student on primary and secondary education than all but three countries but end up with inferior student performance on reading, math, and science. Amid the furor over book bans and critical race theory, we’ve lost sight of what students are—and aren’t—learning.
The culture war politics of the Left and Right keep Americans from noticing that elites have hijacked government to promote their interests and, in doing so, create new obstacles to success for most Americans.
True patriots don’t demonize fellow citizens they dislike and don’t use government to enrich the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. They serve all Americans.
There is a broad swath of American voters who would favor a political agenda that sets aside the culture wars; that levels the playing field by making the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes; that ensures fair competition in America’s markets; that invests in the future by boosting R&D in cutting-edge fields like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, electrification of the economy, biotechnology, and more; that reforms health care both to cut costs and to improve outcomes; and that encourages public schools to teach kids how to think critically and solve problems, not what to believe. Americans are desperate for a government that delivers.
The solution to America’s ills isn’t to increase the size of government. Instead, we should reorient government to make markets more competitive—to stop privileging big business over smaller competitors and consumers, invest in R&D to spur future economic growth, and achieve greater value for our spending in health care and education—so that the middle class can get a fair shot at economic progress and security.
Before we can have a productive discussion about policy prescriptions, we need to change our politics—to move past division and dysfunction and focus on putting our country on the right track. We can make this change by prioritizing efforts to undo the wealthy’s capture of our government and looking to free markets to rekindle America’s pioneering spirit.
This is an assertive agenda, wrapped in the flag, that draws out the best in America to secure a strong future. It can unite Republicans and Democrats tired of government dysfunction with independents and disaffected voters into a winning majority. Even some of the wealthy might get on board. By restoring opportunity for the middle class, we can ensure America’s success.
Daniel Calingaert is Dean for Global Programs at Bard College. Charles Davidson is a political reform entrepreneur.
The views expressed in this article are the writers’ own.
