> [Federal Reserve chairman] Volcker knew exactly what he was doing. Speaking before Congress, he laid out the strategy: “The standard of living of the average worker has to decline.”
Is this true?! The claims in this article even before this point are shocking - economic terrorism waged knowingly by plan against everyday workers. You could say against the country itself.
> In Congressional testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, Mr. Volcker maintained that, because of the drain of American wealth to the oil‐producing countries, Americans would have to accept less. If they try to keep up, he warned, the result would be a new burst of inflation.
> “The standard of living of the average American has to decline,” he said. “I don't think you can escape that.”
I mean it is all in the incentives — how many people would you have in government or high office that experienced hunger or poverty within their close families at any point during their lives?
Even if they wanted to be fair and all, they are not going to act against their own interest and so the ratchet makes another turn
> [Federal Reserve chairman] Volcker knew exactly what he was doing. Speaking before Congress, he laid out the strategy: “The standard of living of the average worker has to decline.”
Is this true?! The claims in this article even before this point are shocking - economic terrorism waged knowingly by plan against everyday workers. You could say against the country itself.
It also sounds genuinely believable.
NYT source at the time: https://archive.is/PnrT4
> In Congressional testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, Mr. Volcker maintained that, because of the drain of American wealth to the oil‐producing countries, Americans would have to accept less. If they try to keep up, he warned, the result would be a new burst of inflation.
> “The standard of living of the average American has to decline,” he said. “I don't think you can escape that.”
Same details covered by Jacobin: https://jacobin.com/2019/12/paul-adolph-volcker-obituary-fed...
Also, Reagan firing 11,000 air traffic controllers absolutely happened.
I mean it is all in the incentives — how many people would you have in government or high office that experienced hunger or poverty within their close families at any point during their lives?
Even if they wanted to be fair and all, they are not going to act against their own interest and so the ratchet makes another turn