The Atlantic has the story Finance is ruining america.

Raising tax rates on the rich might not seem particularly feasible right now. But it has happened before: In 1916, top tax rates jumped to 15 percent from 7 percent; the next year, they jumped to 67 percent. Those tax rates changed in part because of war, but remained high throughout the 20th century as Americans decided that excessive wealth wasn’t good for society.

Some politicians, including Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have proposed increasing taxes for the very wealthy, signaling a return to a time when extreme wealth was not accepted in American society. Such policy isn’t just a way of getting more revenue to the government; it could help alleviate poverty in America, too.

If you would rather hear someone talk about this story, you can watch the first half of Episode 975 of The Kaiser Report.

In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max and Stacy discuss how finance is ruining America. In the second half, Max interviews Ronald Reagan’s budget director, David Stockman, author of ‘Trumped: A Nation on the Brink of Ruin’… And How to Bring It Back.

I don’t know about the second half of the above video. I have little faith that David Stockman understands how the economy works in these matters. So I doubt that he has a viable solution. If I have the time, I may watch the second half to see that I am right. Of course, I will approach it with an open mind 🙂

OK, I goaded myself into listening to Stockman, and it isn’t at all what I expected. His talk of the warfare state is quite on point. He does go astray in choosing Trump over Clinton, because Trump might even be independent enough to quell the warfare state. Of course, he ignores Stein/Baraka who have come out strongly and categorically against the warfare state.