Ethics, Economics, and Politics and Robert Reich

Here is a talk by Robert Reich on August 4, 2011 in the Hopkins Center's Moore Theater at Dartmouth College. Here's his view of the direction in which America is headed. Put your feet up and enjoy this twenty minute lecture with thirty minutes of Q&A:



I can sympathize with Robert Reich's lament at 11:00 into this video about his personal financial strategy of "buy high, sell low". Seems like we are using the same playbook for our lives.

At 28:00 into the video he coyly points out that the greatest income for the top 1% was in 1928 and 2007. Then poses with a quizzical face. He doesn't hammer home the point that 1929 was the start of the Great Depression and that 200 was the start of the Little Depression. There is a very strong correlation of letting the top 1% vacuum up all the cash in society ties in with depressions. This is the "Monopoly game" perspective: if you let a few have all the cash, then you strangle the economy. In the Monopoly game has one person with all the properties with hotels everywhere, then the rest of the players are quickly bankrupted. That's what 1929 and 2008 are fundamentally about.

At 42:30 he points out that during Clinton's 8 years, taxes were raised and 22 million new jobs were created, but during Bush's 8 years, taxes were lowered and only 8 million new jobs were created. This puts the lie to the idea that "taxes on the job creators" need to be lowered, and that "trickle down" economics is a lie.

Here is another video from the same August 4th visit to Dartmouth that looks at income inequality: