I still recommend Kevin Philips epic book " Wealth And Democracy" A Political History of The American Rich from 1897 to 2000. The book has three interrelated themes. First, it is a history of the accumulation of wealth in the United States that argues that great fortunes have always been built on cooperation between government and business, not on free trade or hands-off policies by government. Second, it suggests that there is a cyclical pattern to economic history, with the Second, it suggests that there is a cyclical pattern to economic history, with the accumulation of wealth leading to economies based on financial speculation rather than on the production of goods and services. Third, it maintains that the United States should pursue an industrial policy and that this policy should emphasize the interests of labor over the interests of capital. Phillips begins by tracing American fortunes through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These fortunes, he argues, were subsidized by governmental activities. Many of the rich, such as the politically connected Robert Morris (1745-1815), became America’s first war profiteers through government contracts and by operating privateer ships during the American war for independence. In the young United States, the economic policies of Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) tended to favor the wealthy speculators, who had bought up federal and state certificates of debt at cut rates, and to penalize average Americans, who paid governmental debts through taxes on goods, known as excise taxes. The Hamiltonian policy of maintaining a central bank, the Bank of the United States, contributed to governmental support of wealthy financial speculators. The Civil War provided the next big spur to the growth of wealth, once again through government spending on war-related goods. Government support for the railroads helped to create the great fortunes of the nineteenth century. The twentieth century, Phillips argues, saw both economic booms and political reactions against the concentration of wealth. The great fortunes of the first decade met with the first efforts at political control of the rich. The populism of the nineteenth century gave way to the progressivism of the early twentieth and the progressives, particularly during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt from 1901 to1909, tried to bring the market under control. Wealth gained the upper hand again after World War I, resulting in the speculative boom of the 1920’s. After excessive speculation led to a crash, the most successful efforts at governmental direction of the economy were undertaken during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945. This resulted in a rather long period of relative egalitarianism that was shaken only by later speculative booms in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Broadening his view, Phillips maintains that American economic history has been following a cycle found in the histories of earlier great powers. The amassing of great wealth leads to financialization, financial speculation as an economic activity that replaces the actual production of goods. As investment itself becomes the center of interest, larger segments of a nation’s population are drawn into investment, resulting in manias and economic bubbles. Temporarily, many middle income people seem to benefit by bubbles, but these inevitably burst, leaving wealth more concentrated among those at the top. Speculation also ultimately leads to economic decline, since the finances absorb much of a nation’s investment and production of goods is left to other nations. Phillips offers the cases of Spain in the...16th 17th centuries.

So well said. Obama lied about everything. His entire case for Obamacare was predicated on outright lies. Perm is OK with full-term a******ns, infanticide, and anything else that is immoral. I'm sure he has no higher being belief system, loves the 'green new deal that will cost upwards of $93 Trillion, wants to do away with air travel, cars, and of course "no cows". So everybody will have to turn into a vegan. Hey, but why worry? We're not going to be around in 12 years if we don't do something about the big lie "g****l w*****g". You notice they change the name because it's been so cold. Take care, bud. Nice to read your posts. You're spot on 99% of the time. Maybe even more.

What jumps into my mind is this l*****t governor and every other N.J. state Democrat being tarred, feathered and run out of the state on a rail.

But then again, if v**ers in NJ want politicians like these parasites running their state, they'll just keep v****g Democrat, which seems to be their preference.

Look at N.Y. One district decided they wanted AOC to represent them in the House, now they've lost 25,000+ needed jobs and $24B+ in tax revenues right off the bat as a result.

This is all what the Democratic Party has come to offer Americans, and while it's all happening, they cover it up by focusing public attention on non-existent "Russia collusion" and other made-up offenses levelled at the president.

They have been pussies since 2008 when they let that Muslim f**e president take office and never challenged his hiding his records that would prove nim to be ineligible for office. After eight years they never had an investigation and he proved to be incompetent for the job of protecting America, but also a t*****r for his actions in helping our enemies. Still, his sycophants on the left praise him and are butthurt because Hillary, another incompetent was beaten by a non politician. The crow they have had to eat since then can only be washed down by the juice of the sour grapes that they are dieting on.