#6

For Richer, For Poorer: 
The Economics and Politics of Income and Wealth Distribution in the United States

Monday 1:00 P.M.                                         Winter Term 2012 (14 weeks)
Coordinator:  Judith Glass              Co-coordinator:  Harvey Kibel

                        Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey
                        Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.
Oliver Goldsmith                                                                    

Course Description
Economists tell us that the distribution of income in the US today mimics that of the Gilded Age, that time of immense wealth in the hands of few, and a low standard of living for the vast majority of people.  The current dramatic increase in the concentration of both wealth and income appears to be at the expense of the middle class.  Yet, in between these times, the US was touted as the epitome of middle class society:  rising real wages, spreading home and auto ownership, college education within reach--a capitalist success story proving the fallacies of Marx's predictions.

What happened?  Is this the inevitable byproduct of a capitalist system accelerated by globalization or is it possible to reverse this pattern?  What level of inequality in the distribution of income is necessary as an economic motivator?  At what level do we risk social instability?   And what are the implications for the future of our economy and our democracy? 

This SDG will examine closely the history of income distribution over the 20th century, concentrating on changes in economic, social and legal policy over this time period and their effects on economic growth and the distribution of its benefits within the population and between the public and private sectors.  Then we will consider the implications of these policies for other American values, educational and economic opportunities, and the exercise of democratic rights.  Are we still a middle class society--or are we the first post-industrial third world country?

Topics
1.  The Culture of Capitalism;  Promises and problems of the market economy;     Industrial socialism:  promises and problems of social democracy.
2.  The Impact of Globalization on the United States; race to the bottom? 
3.  Meanings of Inequality:  Political, social, economic—how much of each can     we tolerate? demographic changes.
4.  Gilded Age, 1920's, 1930's--Regulation & tax policies:  the Keynesian    consensus.
5.  Post War, 1950's, 1960's:  Regulation and Tax policies; Great Society.
6.  Unseen revolution of the 1970's.
7.  1980-2011--Regulation and tax policies:  Supply Side economics; welfare and banking reforms.
8.  Role of unions in creating a middle class society; role of think tanks and            special interest groups in breaking it down.
9.  Impact of globalization on other industrialized countries; case study of   Germany; applicability of policies to the United States.
10.  Econ inequality and (equal) educational opportunity.
11.  Econ inequality and the exercise of political power; risks of social unrest;        failures of political structure.
12.  Private wealth/public penury.
13.  Are there any workable solutions?  What would you do?  
14.  Economic inequality and the promise of America:  End of the American          Dream? Discussion of Ill Fares the Land.

Partial Bibliography
Core Books:
Hacker, Jacob S. & Pierson Paul.  Winner Take All Politics. NY. Simon &              Schuster. 2010.
Judt, Tony.  Ill Fares the Land. NY. The Penguin Press. 2010.
Phillips, Kevin. Wealth and Democracy. NY. Broadway Books. 2002.

Others:
Antonio, Robert J. (ed). Marx and Modernity.  Mass. Blackwell. 2003.
Bell, Daniel.  The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism.  NY. Basic Books. 1976.
Friedman, Thomas & Mandelbaum, M. That Used to be Us.  Farrar, Straus &        Geroux. 2011.
Galbraith, John Kenneth.  The Affluent Society. Boston. Houghton Mifflin. 1958.
Greider, William.  The Soul of Capitalism:  Opening Paths to a Moral Economy.
NY. Simon & Schuster. 2003.
Harrington, Michael. The Twilight of Capitalism. NY. Simon & Schuster. 1976.
Krugman.Paul.  Conscience of a Liberal.  Return of Depression Economics.          Norton, 2009.
Mander, Jerry & Goldsmith,Edward (eds). The Case Against the Global     Economy.  San Francisco. Sierra Club Books. 1996.
Peck, Don.  Pinched. NY, Crown. 2011.
Stiglitz, Joseph E.  Free Fall.   Norton, 2010.   Making Globalization Work.              Norton. 2007.
Wilkinson, Richard & Pickett, Kate.  The Spirit Level:  Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better.  London. Allen Lane. 2009.

Pre-Meeting:  Thursday,  December 15, 2011, 1:00 p.m.