Greatly appreciate you writing about the disparity between college and non-college graduates. However, the larger picture is our school system. A young person who does not wish to go to college while they are in high school, are being left out. We need more trade schools. The direction to skilled labor such as electricians, plumbers, and mechanics is lacking.
A required two year national service after high school would help many young people figure out what their skills are. For some young people the military is not the answer. This country needs some bold thinking on how to move people to skills that are needed the do not require a college degree.
Oh, and I believe President Biden will win re-election. However, Democrats need to support him and not derail him.
As a Veteran I have access to decent Heath care however, I struggle to eat nutritiously on my SSDI. I own my own home, it’s a manufactured home in a retirement Park. The HOA is almost half what I make. If I didn't live with my brother I couldn't afford to live. I am college educated. I used to work in the Computer Industry back in the 90’s. I'm one of the few who never hit it big. I've been middle class most of my life. I'm in my sixties now. I grew up with Reaganomics. I've watched the destruction of the middle class Robert. I hope, that President Biden wins Re-election and continues his economic plans. He gives me renewed hope for the future.
Nov 9, 2023·edited Nov 9, 2023Liked by Robert Reich
When the election for President is over Joe Biden has won and possibly the Dems have gained a majority in the House we should not sit on our laurels and congratulate ourselves, but immediately turn our attention to not only repairing the damage done to democracy but at the same time be willing to reimagine a government that gives sufficient purchasing power to all so that not only does everyone have adequate food, appropriate clothing, safe housing with proper amenities, but full medical care and the ability to gain a college education without going into crushing debt.
While there are numerous things that can be done to patch up the damage done to democracy by the demagogue Republicans and other crazies, we should begin reimagine a government that is truly for the people, and by the people that empowers all workers to have a rightful say in governance. We need a system that puts economics over politics and stresses local economic strength not only by unions opposing the greedy tendency of corporations, but puts ownership of medium to large businesses into the hands of worker owned cooperatives and utilities operations into the hand of those whom they serve such as many electric cooperatives now do.
Based on the higher per capita GDP growth rates achieved in recent years by countries like Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Switzerland and Norway compared to the slower growth in the United States, here are some policy changes the US could consider to potentially improve its growth:
• Adopt more progressive taxation and expand the social safety net - This could help reduce inequality and increase economic security for lower-income groups. The Nordic model has shown the benefits of this approach for broad-based growth.
• Increase investments in education, job training, and R&D - These countries tend to have very high skills and innovation. Increasing US investments here could boost productivity over time.
• Reform corporate governance policies - Encouraging longer-term focus and linking executive compensation to long-term results rather than short-term stock performance could support growth.
• Pursue trade policies that expand exports access but with labor protections - Many of these countries have benefited from global trade and investment flows. Export promotion could help US industries.
• Implement more family-friendly policies - Such as paid parental leave, universal pre-K, and affordable childcare. This can support labor force participation.
• Develop immigration policies to attract and retain talent - These countries utilize immigration to help offset aging demographics. Attracting skilled immigrants can benefit growth.
• Improve infrastructure through public-private partnerships - Upgrading infrastructure across transport, broadband, utilities supports commerce.
The policy mix matters, but increasing investments in people, innovation, and infrastructure while addressing inequality and middle class insecurity could help the US achieve more broadly shared growth.
The policy mix driving productivity, innovation, trade competitiveness, and sound public finances while promoting equality appears to be benefiting countries like Ireland and Switzerland. Excessive risks and imbalances in countries like China, Saudi Arabia, Germany and the US are headwinds.
Excessive deregulation enabling monopolistic corporate power requires caution, as seen in the United States.
Allowing unchecked corporate power is not an ideal structural reform and requires rebalancing to promote equitable growth. The current US situation provides a case study in the potential downsides of asymmetry between deregulation and competition policy.
Allowing increased market consolidation and insufficient antitrust regulation has likely contributed to some industries being able to leverage pricing power to increase profit margins. This represents excessive deregulation.
"But make no mistake. The frustrations and anger of the American working class — Trump’s MAGA base — continue to grow."
And rightfully so. The GQP is not solely to blame; the neoliberalism of the "New Democrats" abandoned the working class for Wall Street. Biden is the first President since Jimmy Carter to care about them.
“Trumpism would not be threatening American democracy had we strengthened our labor unions rather than succumbed to “right-to-work” laws and Reagan-inspired union bashing.” --Robert Reich
Excellent points, professor. However, we know that the MAGA mob is frustrated and it’s only getting worse, but they are focusing their anger on the wrong people.
So the right question should be, how do we get these people to face reality? We’ve seen labor movements fail in right to work states, time and again. Volkswagen wasn’t even against organized labor in Tennessee, and the union initiative still failed to rally enough workers to organize.
As the adage goes, “you can lead a horse to water.....
The problem is the MAGAist’s are their own worse enemy as they continue to vote against their own interests.
They prefer bumper sticker slogans to actual policy positions outlined by democrats. And the more democrats take care of the Republicans who vote against our party, the more they blame democrats, and reward republicans.
Let’s face it: these people are so stupid, I highly doubt they could collectively find the ocean, if they were standing on the beach.
Studies show that life expectancy is lower in concentrated areas of poverty and low education . I know way too many people (ages 30-65) who have committed suicide, died a violent death, or overdosed. In the richest country in the world, we are barely in the top 50 amongst other nations in life expectancy. Look at the nations at the top. They have affordable healthcare, free university, family leave; a support system that helps people thrive.
Everything you cite about income inequality is accurate, but I think it's time we come to grips with the fact that not all these Trump supporters are for the former President because of income anxiety and worry about the state of their health...
There's an awful lot of prejudice and anger out there...People seethe, and it's not about their paycheck or fiscal prospects, it's about hate.
What can be said when an overweight, out-of-shape, junkfood junkie denigrates Public Health servants while vehemently dismissing the need for vaccines? Removing requirements for motor cycle helmets, unfettered gun ownership, defunded environmental regulations with no concern for water quality, no restrictions re: use of glyphosate near homes or in our food--all those REPUG assaults for the sake of their corporate handlers--will erode life expectancy.
Ho-hum. In Nebraska, where uranium is attracted to groundwater--drinkingwater--because of agricultural nitrates, the Repug Gov. Pillen has chosen to ignore the situation--even after IT WAS REVEALED THAT HIS PIG FARM was polluting the local water supply.
A major contributor is that the quality or perhaps it's quantity of our health care has plummeted like a stone in the last two decades. Where once we had good coverage for our money, now we have increasing copays for everything and have to fight for the right to even the most basic tests. We have to go months, even years, "proving" that some pointless minimum treatment is ineffective before being allowed the procedures we need. This is the new "managed care". What's managed is the increased profits of the for-profit system. Like all forms of insurance, the goal is to take in as much money in the form of premiums and pay out as little in benefit. Sounds like organized gambling? That's because it is.
We need universal health care, unhitched from any specific job
The correlation is interesting. Educated people seem more interested in protecting their health. They are less likely to smoke and eat fast food. They are more likely to protect themselves with getting vaccinated.
I am simply terrified about Trump’ “Project 2025”. He openly talks about his vengeance & the dismantling of our democracy. This was recently in the Washington Post.
Here Come Da Bus, Here Come Da Bus, Here Come Da Bus…….Vroom, Vroom
I believe it was Ron White who said “You Can’t Fix Stupid “
It’s a daily occurrence that happens in this country! Whether you are a lawyer or a judge, a family member or just an associate of Trump, if you do something that he doesn’t like, he will throw you under the bus because he is a spoiled, petulant child who never grew up! It’s truly scary that we gave this child in a man’s body 4 years in the White House!
Remember when he said he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "fell in love" because of Kim's "beautiful letters." "I was really tough and so was he, and we went back and forth," Trump told an adoring crowd of thousands at Wesbanco Arena in Wheeling. "And then we fell in love, OK? No, really, he wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters. We fell in love.”
This you can take to the bank. Trump would love to rule this country like Kim Jong Un rules North Korea!
He makes no bones about which country leaders he admires. Trump aspires to become the next Dictator!
The boiling frog is an apologue describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death.
Well, some of the frogs are jumping out!
I believe the American people are FINALLY WAKING UP to see that the far right extremism, with funding from American Oligarchs, is slowly turning our country into an authoritarian dictatorship.
It’s high time that we stop this madness, stop the Hate and once again become the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!
i'm somewhat confused, Dr Reich: you say "Nearly one out of every five American workers is in a part-time job. Two-thirds are living paycheck to paycheck". which made me ask how many americans have a 4yr college degree? googelz tells me that "In the Census Bureau's most recent 2022 findings, the percentage of people with a bachelor's degree or higher remained stable from the previous year at around 37.7%."
this suggests that at least some people with college degrees are still downwardly mobile -- failures -- which makes me ask: what makes these college educated people downwardly mobile in the first place? career choice? life choices? other events (like unavoidable health crises)? i know you don't respond to comments with a comment of your own, but i'm sure curious to know what the dealio is with these so-called "failures".
Trump made a speech last night in Florida near the debate city of Miami where he confused world leaders and many other facts and talked about how mad he was that his daughter was laughed at in court. Unfortunately, the attendees had no idea what he was talking about because they didn’t know there was a debate, a court case or what leaders or even countries he was talking about. Let that soak in your brain for a minute.
I’m voting for Joe Biden in 2024
and I don’t care how old he is. He has been an EXCELLENT President and continues to be for these times. VOTE BIDEN 2024!🇺🇸
My hunch is the life expectancy gap is caused as much by our antediluvian health “care” system that demands the freedom of time, persistence, and a high level of literacy to navigate. Wealth helps with those, and college grads do make more money, but they are further trained to navigate complex systems, which they must do to get medical care. And they tend to live where clinics are, which is not in rural America. Universal healthcare, even more than a more easily attainable university education for all, would go a long way toward fixing this.
Greatly appreciate you writing about the disparity between college and non-college graduates. However, the larger picture is our school system. A young person who does not wish to go to college while they are in high school, are being left out. We need more trade schools. The direction to skilled labor such as electricians, plumbers, and mechanics is lacking.
A required two year national service after high school would help many young people figure out what their skills are. For some young people the military is not the answer. This country needs some bold thinking on how to move people to skills that are needed the do not require a college degree.
Oh, and I believe President Biden will win re-election. However, Democrats need to support him and not derail him.
As a Veteran I have access to decent Heath care however, I struggle to eat nutritiously on my SSDI. I own my own home, it’s a manufactured home in a retirement Park. The HOA is almost half what I make. If I didn't live with my brother I couldn't afford to live. I am college educated. I used to work in the Computer Industry back in the 90’s. I'm one of the few who never hit it big. I've been middle class most of my life. I'm in my sixties now. I grew up with Reaganomics. I've watched the destruction of the middle class Robert. I hope, that President Biden wins Re-election and continues his economic plans. He gives me renewed hope for the future.
When the election for President is over Joe Biden has won and possibly the Dems have gained a majority in the House we should not sit on our laurels and congratulate ourselves, but immediately turn our attention to not only repairing the damage done to democracy but at the same time be willing to reimagine a government that gives sufficient purchasing power to all so that not only does everyone have adequate food, appropriate clothing, safe housing with proper amenities, but full medical care and the ability to gain a college education without going into crushing debt.
While there are numerous things that can be done to patch up the damage done to democracy by the demagogue Republicans and other crazies, we should begin reimagine a government that is truly for the people, and by the people that empowers all workers to have a rightful say in governance. We need a system that puts economics over politics and stresses local economic strength not only by unions opposing the greedy tendency of corporations, but puts ownership of medium to large businesses into the hands of worker owned cooperatives and utilities operations into the hand of those whom they serve such as many electric cooperatives now do.
All community colleges and public universities need to be free to the people as they were when I was in school in the 1960s. Period!
Based on the higher per capita GDP growth rates achieved in recent years by countries like Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Switzerland and Norway compared to the slower growth in the United States, here are some policy changes the US could consider to potentially improve its growth:
• Adopt more progressive taxation and expand the social safety net - This could help reduce inequality and increase economic security for lower-income groups. The Nordic model has shown the benefits of this approach for broad-based growth.
• Increase investments in education, job training, and R&D - These countries tend to have very high skills and innovation. Increasing US investments here could boost productivity over time.
• Reform corporate governance policies - Encouraging longer-term focus and linking executive compensation to long-term results rather than short-term stock performance could support growth.
• Pursue trade policies that expand exports access but with labor protections - Many of these countries have benefited from global trade and investment flows. Export promotion could help US industries.
• Implement more family-friendly policies - Such as paid parental leave, universal pre-K, and affordable childcare. This can support labor force participation.
• Develop immigration policies to attract and retain talent - These countries utilize immigration to help offset aging demographics. Attracting skilled immigrants can benefit growth.
• Improve infrastructure through public-private partnerships - Upgrading infrastructure across transport, broadband, utilities supports commerce.
The policy mix matters, but increasing investments in people, innovation, and infrastructure while addressing inequality and middle class insecurity could help the US achieve more broadly shared growth.
The policy mix driving productivity, innovation, trade competitiveness, and sound public finances while promoting equality appears to be benefiting countries like Ireland and Switzerland. Excessive risks and imbalances in countries like China, Saudi Arabia, Germany and the US are headwinds.
Excessive deregulation enabling monopolistic corporate power requires caution, as seen in the United States.
Allowing unchecked corporate power is not an ideal structural reform and requires rebalancing to promote equitable growth. The current US situation provides a case study in the potential downsides of asymmetry between deregulation and competition policy.
Allowing increased market consolidation and insufficient antitrust regulation has likely contributed to some industries being able to leverage pricing power to increase profit margins. This represents excessive deregulation.
Insufficient consumer protection policy and price gouging monitoring enables inequitable inflationary impacts.
Tax policies like stock buybacks may be incentivizing short-term profiteering over long-term investments.
Widening inequality and poverty resulting from these dynamics can drag on growth.
"But make no mistake. The frustrations and anger of the American working class — Trump’s MAGA base — continue to grow."
And rightfully so. The GQP is not solely to blame; the neoliberalism of the "New Democrats" abandoned the working class for Wall Street. Biden is the first President since Jimmy Carter to care about them.
“Trumpism would not be threatening American democracy had we strengthened our labor unions rather than succumbed to “right-to-work” laws and Reagan-inspired union bashing.” --Robert Reich
Excellent points, professor. However, we know that the MAGA mob is frustrated and it’s only getting worse, but they are focusing their anger on the wrong people.
So the right question should be, how do we get these people to face reality? We’ve seen labor movements fail in right to work states, time and again. Volkswagen wasn’t even against organized labor in Tennessee, and the union initiative still failed to rally enough workers to organize.
As the adage goes, “you can lead a horse to water.....
The problem is the MAGAist’s are their own worse enemy as they continue to vote against their own interests.
They prefer bumper sticker slogans to actual policy positions outlined by democrats. And the more democrats take care of the Republicans who vote against our party, the more they blame democrats, and reward republicans.
Let’s face it: these people are so stupid, I highly doubt they could collectively find the ocean, if they were standing on the beach.
Just saying...:)
Studies show that life expectancy is lower in concentrated areas of poverty and low education . I know way too many people (ages 30-65) who have committed suicide, died a violent death, or overdosed. In the richest country in the world, we are barely in the top 50 amongst other nations in life expectancy. Look at the nations at the top. They have affordable healthcare, free university, family leave; a support system that helps people thrive.
Everything you cite about income inequality is accurate, but I think it's time we come to grips with the fact that not all these Trump supporters are for the former President because of income anxiety and worry about the state of their health...
There's an awful lot of prejudice and anger out there...People seethe, and it's not about their paycheck or fiscal prospects, it's about hate.
What can be said when an overweight, out-of-shape, junkfood junkie denigrates Public Health servants while vehemently dismissing the need for vaccines? Removing requirements for motor cycle helmets, unfettered gun ownership, defunded environmental regulations with no concern for water quality, no restrictions re: use of glyphosate near homes or in our food--all those REPUG assaults for the sake of their corporate handlers--will erode life expectancy.
Ho-hum. In Nebraska, where uranium is attracted to groundwater--drinkingwater--because of agricultural nitrates, the Repug Gov. Pillen has chosen to ignore the situation--even after IT WAS REVEALED THAT HIS PIG FARM was polluting the local water supply.
You get what you vote for.
A major contributor is that the quality or perhaps it's quantity of our health care has plummeted like a stone in the last two decades. Where once we had good coverage for our money, now we have increasing copays for everything and have to fight for the right to even the most basic tests. We have to go months, even years, "proving" that some pointless minimum treatment is ineffective before being allowed the procedures we need. This is the new "managed care". What's managed is the increased profits of the for-profit system. Like all forms of insurance, the goal is to take in as much money in the form of premiums and pay out as little in benefit. Sounds like organized gambling? That's because it is.
We need universal health care, unhitched from any specific job
The correlation is interesting. Educated people seem more interested in protecting their health. They are less likely to smoke and eat fast food. They are more likely to protect themselves with getting vaccinated.
I am simply terrified about Trump’ “Project 2025”. He openly talks about his vengeance & the dismantling of our democracy. This was recently in the Washington Post.
https://open.substack.com/pub/joycevance/p/frogs-boiled-what-trump-is-planning?r=24p296&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Here Come Da Bus, Here Come Da Bus, Here Come Da Bus…….Vroom, Vroom
I believe it was Ron White who said “You Can’t Fix Stupid “
It’s a daily occurrence that happens in this country! Whether you are a lawyer or a judge, a family member or just an associate of Trump, if you do something that he doesn’t like, he will throw you under the bus because he is a spoiled, petulant child who never grew up! It’s truly scary that we gave this child in a man’s body 4 years in the White House!
Remember when he said he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "fell in love" because of Kim's "beautiful letters." "I was really tough and so was he, and we went back and forth," Trump told an adoring crowd of thousands at Wesbanco Arena in Wheeling. "And then we fell in love, OK? No, really, he wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters. We fell in love.”
This you can take to the bank. Trump would love to rule this country like Kim Jong Un rules North Korea!
He makes no bones about which country leaders he admires. Trump aspires to become the next Dictator!
The boiling frog is an apologue describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death.
Well, some of the frogs are jumping out!
I believe the American people are FINALLY WAKING UP to see that the far right extremism, with funding from American Oligarchs, is slowly turning our country into an authoritarian dictatorship.
It’s high time that we stop this madness, stop the Hate and once again become the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!
i'm somewhat confused, Dr Reich: you say "Nearly one out of every five American workers is in a part-time job. Two-thirds are living paycheck to paycheck". which made me ask how many americans have a 4yr college degree? googelz tells me that "In the Census Bureau's most recent 2022 findings, the percentage of people with a bachelor's degree or higher remained stable from the previous year at around 37.7%."
this suggests that at least some people with college degrees are still downwardly mobile -- failures -- which makes me ask: what makes these college educated people downwardly mobile in the first place? career choice? life choices? other events (like unavoidable health crises)? i know you don't respond to comments with a comment of your own, but i'm sure curious to know what the dealio is with these so-called "failures".
Trump made a speech last night in Florida near the debate city of Miami where he confused world leaders and many other facts and talked about how mad he was that his daughter was laughed at in court. Unfortunately, the attendees had no idea what he was talking about because they didn’t know there was a debate, a court case or what leaders or even countries he was talking about. Let that soak in your brain for a minute.
I’m voting for Joe Biden in 2024
and I don’t care how old he is. He has been an EXCELLENT President and continues to be for these times. VOTE BIDEN 2024!🇺🇸
My hunch is the life expectancy gap is caused as much by our antediluvian health “care” system that demands the freedom of time, persistence, and a high level of literacy to navigate. Wealth helps with those, and college grads do make more money, but they are further trained to navigate complex systems, which they must do to get medical care. And they tend to live where clinics are, which is not in rural America. Universal healthcare, even more than a more easily attainable university education for all, would go a long way toward fixing this.