Conservatives insist that higher incomes at the very top fuel investment and growth and improve living standards. Real-world outcomes make nonsense of these claims.
Many of us have adapted to our consumer culture—a culture in which affluence is morally innocent or even commendable. “More” is taken to be a universal aspiration.
After years of economic travail caused by Wall Street excesses and increasing worry over rising inequality and declining mobility, the culture shows signs of change.