Weekend Economists Give Two Thumbs Up for Roger April 5-7, 2013

[Demeter]

29. 6 Charts That Show How Conservative Politics Are Destroying America

http://www.alternet.org/economy/6-charts-show-how-conservative-politics-are-destroying-america?akid=10264.227380.FmB6fW&rd=1&src=newsletter818003&t=8

We've been in the clutches of conservative economic orthodoxy since 1980, and this is the result. These were compiled by Dave Johnson at Campaign for America's Future: In each of the charts below look for the year 1981, when Reagan took office.

Conservative policies transformed the United States from the largest creditor nation to the largest debtor nation in just a few years, and it has only gotten worse since then:



Working people’s share of the benefits from increased productivity took a sudden turn down:



This resulted in intense concentration of wealth at the top:



And forced working people to spend down savings to get by:



Which forced working people to go into debt: (total household debt as percentage of GDP )



None of which has helped economic growth much: (12-quarter rolling average nominal GDP growth.)



There are, of course, many reasons for all this. But there is no doubt that we've been in the clutches of conservative economic orthodoxy since 1980 and this is the result. Whether it's the cause or whether it's because it has no capacity to react to external events properly doesn't matter. It has failed. And is still failing.