Thanks Ron!
During the postwar, the government ensured middle class solvency through tax, regulatory, and social policy. Consequently, America grew the strongest middle class in history (unlike the 3rd world where labor is crushed and workers lack upward mobility).
The Middle Class solvency created by postwar Keynesianism translated into massive demand, i.e., more Americans had money to spend. In order to capture this demand, the capitalist had to innovate and add jobs. This formula created the strongest consumption economy on earth. [This is quite unlike 3rd world nations where the workers are not paid well enough to drive consumption]
Starting in the late 70s, Keynesianism, which focused on middle class demand, was replaced by supply side economics, which removed the tax and regulatory burden on the wealthy based on a promise that the increased wealth on top would translate into investment, innovation, jobs, and cheap prices.
Despite the creative revisionism of rightwing data crunchers, investment and jobs didn't go as promised. Starting in the 80's, capital was increasingly invested not in the real economy, e.g., new energy solutions, but in Washington for the purpose of forming and protecting monopolies, e.g., crushing the first electric car movement, hiding the military costs of oil extraction - this making alternative energy seem expensive by comparison, eliminating foreign and generic drug competition, concentrating ownership of media and health insurance into a handful of unaccountable corporations, which corporations would use their wealth not to create American jobs but to fund elections so they could receive subsidies, tax breaks, and bailouts while shipping jobs over seas, and moving their own HQ to the Caribbean, where they could receive American services for free.
Reaganomics, by bestowing historically unprecedented wealth and political power on the suppliers, made it possible for a small group of interests to take over government and media. They changed the regulations and laws in order to replace representative Democracy with the lobbying industrial complex -- which allowed them to create conditions for casino capitalism ... so they could take unprecedented risks with the house's money.
We all know how that ended.
During the postwar, the government ensured middle class solvency through tax, regulatory, and social policy. Consequently, America grew the strongest middle class in history (unlike the 3rd world where labor is crushed and workers lack upward mobility).
The Middle Class solvency created by postwar Keynesianism translated into massive demand, i.e., more Americans had money to spend. In order to capture this demand, the capitalist had to innovate and add jobs. This formula created the strongest consumption economy on earth. [This is quite unlike 3rd world nations where the workers are not paid well enough to drive consumption]
Starting in the late 70s, Keynesianism, which focused on middle class demand, was replaced by supply side economics, which removed the tax and regulatory burden on the wealthy based on a promise that the increased wealth on top would translate into investment, innovation, jobs, and cheap prices.
Despite the creative revisionism of rightwing data crunchers, investment and jobs didn't go as promised. Starting in the 80's, capital was increasingly invested not in the real economy, e.g., new energy solutions, but in Washington for the purpose of forming and protecting monopolies, e.g., crushing the first electric car movement, hiding the military costs of oil extraction - this making alternative energy seem expensive by comparison, eliminating foreign and generic drug competition, concentrating ownership of media and health insurance into a handful of unaccountable corporations, which corporations would use their wealth not to create American jobs but to fund elections so they could receive subsidies, tax breaks, and bailouts while shipping jobs over seas, and moving their own HQ to the Caribbean, where they could receive American services for free.
Reaganomics, by bestowing historically unprecedented wealth and political power on the suppliers, made it possible for a small group of interests to take over government and media. They changed the regulations and laws in order to replace representative Democracy with the lobbying industrial complex -- which allowed them to create conditions for casino capitalism ... so they could take unprecedented risks with the house's money.
We all know how that ended.
Note: I haven't said anything about the fundamental facts surrounding the Iran Contra affair as far as the political and military objectives. What I do dispute are the methods on how this clandestine operation was carried out. Congress was specific on it's directive. North and co decided that they were above the law and the war making branch of the U S government. I'll take my personal experience in the region over some steaming crap ladled to the masses out of D C..thank you. North was not and is not any kind of hero. But then again if drug smuggling has been elevated to that status perhaps I should put in for MY congressional medal of honor!!! 
