Across some of the left-leaning talk shows, the new topic of discussion is that Donald Trump wants to take us back to the 1970s. I have not seen him say this, but it doesn't matter if he did or not because the Democrats and the left-leaning media are going to make up whatever they think they need to say in order to smear Trump and get support for themselves. Of course, they paint the 70s in a very bad light and hint that this may be racist. But let's assume that he did make this statement. Would it be a bad thing?
Most of us that lived through it remember the 70s for the leisure suit and high inflation, both of which were not good things. But if we look at economic numbers, 57% of GDP was driven by the middle class. The United States was still driven by manufacturing which meant good jobs for the middle class. It was also a time when small businesses employed more people than any other segment of our economy. Small business owners were often upper middle class or lower upper class in the economic strata.
The truth is that the 70s was the last decade where this was true. Our economic boom began probably in the 20s but certainly picked up steam after World War II. Good paying industrial manufacturing jobs created the largest middle class in the history of the world. People made a good wage and could live a very comfortable life. But then things began to change.
The government began to heavily regulate industry. Unions gained more and more power with the backing of the politicians who passed laws that were favorable to the union. These laws not only increased the cost of doing business but often made manufacturing processes inefficient. Before we knew it, manufacturers were moving to China, Mexico, and any other place that would allow them to compete on a more level playing field with foreign competition.
By the 80s we had begun to see a shift in the drivers of GDP. Now the middle class is not the main driver of our economy and neither is manufacturing. 50% of our GDP comes from finance and real estate, which is controlled by the top 20% of our economic class. The buying power of the middle class has decreased. Most middle class families live paycheck to paycheck when they used to be able to retire early because they could save money or had a pension.
President Trump wants to bring that manufacturing back to the United states in order to recreate that economic picture. The use of tariffs is designed to level the playing field and make sure that other governments are not giving their manufacturing companies and unfair advantage. See anything wrong with that.
I'm willing to go back to the 70s as long as you people promise not to bring back disco and the leisure suit.
