this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2026
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Microblog Memes
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Most of that is just Dutch Disease though.
Here's a very brief history of the death of the US middle class.
LBJ thought he could win the Vietnam war in six months by going in with a massive build up and heavy bombing. Instead he got caught up in a huge, unpopular mess that was costing more than he could afford. LBJ starts printing money to pay for it and people start noticing that prices are starting to creep up.
Nixon wins in 1968, promising to end the war. Instead, he triple downs on Johnson's failed polices and really cuts loose. America's aging steel mills are working 24/7 building bombs and can't keep up. Japan and Germany can't get US steel and start building their own plants. These modern steel mills use much less power than America's WW2 era factories.
Arab Oil Embargo hits. Prices for everything jump and suddenly everyone in America wants a Toyota or a Nissan. The War ends and all those bomb contracts vanish.
By this time married women are flooding into the job market. It's because it now takes two incomes to pay for a house.
Jimmy Carter and Paul Volker [Carter's head of the Fed] have a plan to actually stop inflation. Carter is out of office before the plan kicks in. Ronald Reagan keeps Carter's plan and takes the credit for it.
Reagan triples the national debt with unpaid for tax cuts.
In 1968, 'middle class' was one Union job supporting a family of four. At the time $1 million was considered a vast fortune. By the time Bush Sr. left office, 'middle class' was two incomes to run the house and $1 million was what a rich guy paid for a party.