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September 14, 2006

The Engine of the Economy

Drum's argument below follows from a fascinating analysis by Anne Kim, Adam Solomon, and Jim Kessler on how the Democratic Party is disconnected from the middle class, published in The Democratic Strategist. Among all the other interesting things they have to say, one passage in particular grabbed my attention:

Well that gets to our critique: conservatives believe the wealthy are the engine of the economy; we believe the middle class is the engine of the economy.

Is this truly a belief, or is it an empirical question?

In the absence of definitions of who is wealthy and what constitutes the engine of the economy, the argument appears to go something like this: we benefit more when we take money away from CEO's and celebrities and use it to pay for college, first homes, and care for the elderly and young. Sounds like a persuasive story for campaigns, but is it true?

Posted by Zach Wendling at September 14, 2006 12:14 PM

Comments

Posted by: Alan K. Henderson at September 14, 2006 11:44 PM | permalink

Posted by: Gregory Travis at September 15, 2006 07:35 PM | permalink

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