Economic policy from the 80s onward was deliterious, especially for the American worker

The Nation - Beyond Rubinomics

In real terms, average wages have either stagnated or dropped since the 1970s in the US. The thesis is that debt-financing covered up much of the social short-falls that wage stagnation brought on. Democrats adopted a 'debt-based social contract' [Republicans, I guess, just wanted to ditch any social contract in favor of a free-market?], which was propped up by a strong dollar. Clinton's Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin fostered a strong dollar and easy credit. The strong dollar attracted international capital investment, easy credit propped up the failure of US households to save (they borrowed instead). The model's third ideal is to keep wage growth low or else it will drive up inflation. This model was championed by Greenspan and Summers (Summers and his protege Geithner are now on Obama's economic team). The article suggests an alternative model: deficit spend to build infrastructure and thereby raise wages, which will encourage domestic savings, which will fuel capital investment. This is also the most historically American model: the US had the highest wages in the world from 1800-1980. The article ends with a variety of policy proposals.