From the 1930s to 1980, a regulated market economy helped ordinary Americans by creating protections and opportunities that improved their quality of life. Laws were passed to protect workers’ rights, allowing unions to grow strong.
This gave workers better wages, benefits, and job security. Programs like Social Security and unemployment insurance provided safety nets, ensuring that people had support during tough times. The government also regulated industries to prevent abuses, such as monopolies and risky financial practices, which protected consumers and small businesses.
Public investments in infrastructure and education created millions of jobs and gave people access to better opportunities.
Programs like the GI Bill helped veterans afford homes and college, which boosted the economy and created a skilled workforce.
Progressive taxation meant the wealthiest paid their fair share, which funded public programs and reduced income inequality. During this time, wages rose alongside productivity, allowing families to afford homes, education, and a good standard of living.
Starting in the 1980s, a shift to free-market capitalism weakened many of these protections. Union power declined, and workers lost the ability to negotiate for fair wages and benefits.
Social safety nets were cut back, leaving people more vulnerable to job loss and economic downturns. Deregulation of industries, including banking, led to financial crises that hurt ordinary Americans. Tax cuts for the wealthy shifted the burden onto the middle class, and income inequality began to grow rapidly.
Globalization and outsourcing led to the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs, leaving many workers with low-wage service jobs instead. Corporations prioritized profits over workers, cutting benefits and laying off employees to maximize shareholder value.
Rising costs for housing, healthcare, and education made it harder for families to get ahead, while the middle class shrank.
The gains from economic growth went mostly to the wealthiest, leaving working Americans with stagnant wages and fewer opportunities, but that was the intended purpose of Reaganomics and Wall Street’s hostile takeover of the Democratic Party.
This shift eroded the economic security and quality of life that many had enjoyed under a regulated market economy, and a return to common sense would allow more Americans to enjoy a fruitful existence with freedom and justice.
By closing tax loopholes that disproportionately benefit the ultra-wealthy and multinational corporations, and by implementing a progressive government revenue system that focuses on expanding the middle class, we can foster a more equitable and inclusive economy.