Have you heard this narrative? The middle class has been hollowed out because of an overreliance on free markets. Americans can’t compete with low-cost labor and imports, so all the good jobs in America have disappeared, especially those in manufacturing. It’s a dismal argument that many politicians, even some on the right, have spent the past few years spinning. They say that the American Dream is dying and that only wealthy Americans have been successful for the past few decades. Supposedly, free trade, immigration, and unabated technology have resulted in an economy that no longer works for Americans. The problem with this bleak story is that it is completely wrong.
They’re misreading both the current level of prosperity in America and how it was created. Americans have been growing richer since the end of the 19th century and now enjoy levels of abundance and opportunity unimaginable 150 years ago. More recently, American incomes have not stagnated, lower-income Americans have done much better, and the middle class has grown robustly. The American economy is not perfect, but moving further away from free markets and implementing industrial policy, as these politicians want to do, will make Americans worse off. More government intervention and restrictions on economic freedoms will kill the American Dream, not save it. In Crushing Capitalism, Norbert J. Michel makes the case for maintaining perspective on how well Americans have done during the past few decades and nurturing the institutions that have enabled Americans to succeed.
“Nobody wants to hear the actual facts of the case when they’re in the middle of complaining (for fun and profit and votes!) about how tough working Americans have it today, but emotion-driven populists who want to take on Norbert Michel’s arguments in these pages should know that they are bringing rhetorical knives (and dull ones at that) to an empirical gunfight.…Thick with facts and written in an accessible style, Crushing Capitalism is essential reading for anybody who wants to follow the facts rather than be led around by politicians.”
—Kevin D. Williamson, national correspondent, The Dispatch
“Anyone who has a true interest in promoting broader economic prosperity—for American citizens and the nation as a whole—must consider the arguments made in Crushing Capitalism. Norbert’s inclusion of well-founded research that is steeped in data and based on historical outcomes provides readers with valuable insights to better understand and contribute to the national conversation on economic policy.”
—Lindsey D. Johnson president and CEO, Consumer Bankers Association
“Norbert J. Michel persuasively refutes the narrative of pessimism and decline that is so dominant in discussions of economic outcomes and prospects. He argues that populist policies are solutions in search of problems—Americans simply have not been victimized and impoverished by free markets, including free trade. Moreover, he shows that populism is a direct threat to long-term prosperity.”
—Michael R. Strain, Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy, American Enterprise Institute
“A mad fever for economically destructive industrial policy and protectionism today afflicts pundits and politicians across the political spectrum. Fortunately, just in time comes Norbert Michel with a concise, clear, and compelling cure — a cure that refutes both the factual fallacies and faulty economics responsible for this fever.”
—Donald J. Boudreaux, professor of economics, George Mason University
