Perhaps the greatest success of the Reagan administration, was that it clearly defined the Republican economic strategy. Trickle Down Economics; we all know what it means. That if we stimulate the economic growth of the corporations, then this will in turn stimulate the economy.
In contrast, the biggest failure of the Democratic party is that we have failed to articulate our own economic strategy. In so doing, we have allowed the Republicans to define it for us, to our detriment. Hence, the popular phrase, Tax and Spend Democrats.
This is why I have coined the phrase, Foundational Economics, because I think it accurately describes the economic strategy that we have employed. Simply put, our intention is to stimulate economic growth through the production of a solid economic foundation.
This is to say, that it is our intent to build the economy from the ground up. Not surprisingly, this is the same strategy that Obama used to build his grassroot network to win the party nomination. Now he has double to triple the funding of McCain, who has built his network from the top down. Maybe there is something to this whole Foundational Economic Strategy?
I think maybe the first person to really implement the plan, was Henry Ford, of Ford Motors. He believed, if he was to market his automobile, that he could only accomplish this, if his employees could afford to buy it. This is the key to Foundational Economics.
By creating an economy of quality wage earning jobs, we create an economy with money to spend. This is the concept of aggregate demand. This in turn stimulates small business. For instance, if a family has surplus income, then it seems reasonable to hire a landscaper to mow their lawn. And now the landscaper can afford to buy new equipment, creating more jobs.
One of the driving forces behind such an economy is infrastructure. When we build a school, we employ framers, plumbers, electricians, roofers, landscapers, excavators, drywallers, architects, teachers, writers, and so on. This is alot of small businesses recieving quality contracts. They in turn, are required to pay their employees quality Union Scale Wages. And best of all, the community gets a state of the art school for their children.
Everybody wins.
