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-- from the Introduction
American families are feeling the davastating effects of an ongoing economic crisis. At its roots lie some disturbing quetsions about the state of our economy -- and the state of our leading politicians. How do we escape from the quiet depression and deception afflicting America today? It's all part of:
When Ravi Batra held a mirror up to the American economy in his bestselling The Great Depression of 1990, his prediction of financial doom spurred national debate. Now The Great American Deception finds Batra once again at his controversial best: "We need to overhaul the system, not just tinker with it and indulge in wishful thinking that the economy will heal itself."
Just what has happened to America's economy? Rising taxes, falling wages, and corporate downsizing are the hallmarks of a very real economic crisis that Batra believes is " in some ways worse than the calamity of the 1930s." At the end of that decade, real wages had jumped 17 percent. From 1990-1995, however, despite unemployment figures, real family income has dropped in five out of of six years by a total of 6 percent. At the same time, stock markets are booming in North America, and what was once a leading indicator of prosperity now signals the opposite. If corporations are thriving, why are thousands of skilled workers being fired? Why is the country that gave birth to the legend of the American Dream careening toward a future nightmare?
At the root of the problem Batra sees a level of quiet political deception that finds its roots in "the botched up tax policy of incumbent politicians and their precursors." The '90s have seen crowds of incumbents -- from a popular president to the congressional Democrats who'd controlled the House for forty years -- dismissed by voters seeking answers and action.
Today, caught up in the fever of election-year rhetoric, leading politicians from Bill Clinton and Bob Dole to Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey, Jack Kemp and others, offer Americans a range of ideas meant to address the economic concerns of the day. In The Great American Deception, Ravi Batra tackles their ideas one by one, arguing that they are often based on flimsy logic, and not only won't solve our economic problem, but might make it worse. From the failed notion of trickle-down economics to the dangerous consequences of our shift from a manufacturing to a service economy, Batra unravels the mysteries and deception behind today's economic policies. He charts the drastic effects of NAFTA on wage decline and job loss. He shows how imposing higher taxes on the wealthy will stimulate -- not stifle -- the economy. And he reveals why the flat tax will not work. Ultimately, what Batra proposes is a comprehensive plan that stimulates the economy by restoring the tax and trade levels of the 1960s which saw the fastest growth in our living standard. He favors a rise in the income tax on wealthy individuals and corporations, and a drastic cut in social security tax to be financed partly through higher tariffs.
The Great American Deception is must reading at a time when election-year politics and campaign rhetoric are reaching fever pitch. Here, Ravi Batra pulls no punches in his stinging analysis of our current situation, warning that "of status quo persists, then American real wages and family incomes will continue to fall, manufacturing will keep shedding workers, and we will remain in the clutches of the quiet depression that has plagued the world since 1990."
©1996, ProMotion, inc.