Despite the events of September 11, and conflict in the Middle East, voters continue to focus on economic issues in the midst of the 2002 election campaign. With the collapse of Enron/Anderson and the uncertainty of the stock markets, as well as the chaos in the dot-com arena, voters search for security and fairness in their economic life. Economic themes continue to dominate the issues as they have in most elections in recent years.
What are some of the facts underlying the widespread feelings about the voters' helplessness in economic matters? Real wages have fallen since 1975. Unemployment has risen to chronically high levels. Homelessness has risen to new heights. Hunger remains a huge problem. Returns on savings are historically low. The domestic savings rate is low. Foreign savings rates are also low. The economy is dependent on foreign trade, and hence is held hostage to foreign governments. Alien ownership is on the rise. Capital is decaying or abandoned. The federal deficit is huge and growing. Wealth and income are concentrated at the highest levels. The wealthy build and live in separate "enclaves". There is a loss of community feeling and value. The environment is degraded in the name of progress. The educational system is failing. There is distrust of anything "public". Crime is rampant.
How did these conditions come about? Are they at all related to each other? Are they a phenomenon of the late 20th century? Are they an inevitable by-product of the capitalist economic system? As history shows, many of these problems are not new, but go back over a century. The issues of economics have been studied and written about extensively in the past. Many economists have developed theories on how to alleviate these conditions, but few have attacked the causes of these problems or offered a solution. Only Henry George, a 19th century economist and philosopher, offered a sound way out of the economic morass.