Middle-out economics is not just a catchy rhythmic contrast to trickle-down; it's a strategy based on a set of facts about how the economy really works.
Here are the premises derived from those facts:
-Demand from the middle class - not tax cuts for the wealthy - is what drives a virtuous cycle of job growth and prosperity.
-Rich businesspeople are not the primary job creators; middle-class customers are. The more the middle class can buy, the more jobs we'll create.
-America has the right and the responsibility to decide where the jobs created by our middle class will be located - here or in China.
-Trickle-down has given us deficits and a decimated middle class.
-Middle-out economics means investing in the health, education, infrastructure, and purchasing power of the middle class.
-Middle-out economics marks the difference between what is good for capitalism broadly versus what protects the vested interests of a select group of capitalists narrowly - and it invests in the former.
And here is the policy framework these premises demand:
-Create a truly progressive tax system. The richest citizens and the largest corporations pay a little more so that middle-class citizens and small businesses get the support they need to thrive. Loopholes are closed so wealthy individuals and the most profitable corporations actually pay more.
-Invest in the skills and health of the middle class. Continue investments in programs that help the middle class succeed, and convert poor families into middle-class families that can purchase goods from our nation's businesses and drive our economy.
-Fight for American businesses and jobs.
-Pursue balanced trade and economic development policies that encourage companies to make things in America and discourage foreign companies from competing unfairly with American workers and businesses.
-Help workers help business. Push for a fairer and more equitable split between workers and owners of the value created by enterprises. This does not punish capitalists or ask for their charity: Higher wages for workers means more business for American companies. It's Henry Ford's long view.
-Make strategic investments in the next middle-class industries. Invest strategically in the industries of the future. Make big investments in R&D, and offer tax incentives for consumers as well as for companies and investors to use the power of the market to foster innovation.
-Emphasize entrepreneurship and innovation. Provide smart regulations and incentives to enable ever more Americans to start businesses and generate the economic activity that will sustain us in the future. This is rooted in the recognition that the way to help businesses, small and large, isn't less regulation but more thriving customers.
Middle-out economics has several important advantages over trickle-down. One is reality: This is how complex, adaptive systems like economies in fact thrive. A second is politics: Middle-class voters will naturally prefer a story that puts them in the center as the prime actors, rather than at the margins as bit players. And the third is cultural intuition: We know in our gut that we're all better off when we're all better off.
Here are the premises derived from those facts:
-Demand from the middle class - not tax cuts for the wealthy - is what drives a virtuous cycle of job growth and prosperity.
-Rich businesspeople are not the primary job creators; middle-class customers are. The more the middle class can buy, the more jobs we'll create.
-America has the right and the responsibility to decide where the jobs created by our middle class will be located - here or in China.
-Trickle-down has given us deficits and a decimated middle class.
-Middle-out economics means investing in the health, education, infrastructure, and purchasing power of the middle class.
-Middle-out economics marks the difference between what is good for capitalism broadly versus what protects the vested interests of a select group of capitalists narrowly - and it invests in the former.
And here is the policy framework these premises demand:
-Create a truly progressive tax system. The richest citizens and the largest corporations pay a little more so that middle-class citizens and small businesses get the support they need to thrive. Loopholes are closed so wealthy individuals and the most profitable corporations actually pay more.
-Invest in the skills and health of the middle class. Continue investments in programs that help the middle class succeed, and convert poor families into middle-class families that can purchase goods from our nation's businesses and drive our economy.
-Fight for American businesses and jobs.
-Pursue balanced trade and economic development policies that encourage companies to make things in America and discourage foreign companies from competing unfairly with American workers and businesses.
-Help workers help business. Push for a fairer and more equitable split between workers and owners of the value created by enterprises. This does not punish capitalists or ask for their charity: Higher wages for workers means more business for American companies. It's Henry Ford's long view.
-Make strategic investments in the next middle-class industries. Invest strategically in the industries of the future. Make big investments in R&D, and offer tax incentives for consumers as well as for companies and investors to use the power of the market to foster innovation.
-Emphasize entrepreneurship and innovation. Provide smart regulations and incentives to enable ever more Americans to start businesses and generate the economic activity that will sustain us in the future. This is rooted in the recognition that the way to help businesses, small and large, isn't less regulation but more thriving customers.
Middle-out economics has several important advantages over trickle-down. One is reality: This is how complex, adaptive systems like economies in fact thrive. A second is politics: Middle-class voters will naturally prefer a story that puts them in the center as the prime actors, rather than at the margins as bit players. And the third is cultural intuition: We know in our gut that we're all better off when we're all better off.
