> If incomes were keeping up with productivity and cost-of-living
Something's got to pay for all that increase in government spending. With all the government spending and government pensions and all the people on the government payroll, sometimes I'm surprised the economy isn't a complete basket case.
The extra productivity isn’t going to the government via taxes on the common person, it’s going to those who already own most of the capital and can leverage that. Maybe the government also spends too much, but that’s not the root cause of the lack of the common person sharing in productivity gains.
Why do you think government spending specifically is the problem? I strongly doubt there is a crowding-out effect going on with the things that the US government has been spending money on lately. And all that spending has been financed by debt; it's not like income taxes have been going up. The big increases to cost of living have come in the form of energy, housing, and healthcare. I'm not sure how government spending would cause that, unless you are arguing that the spending has been misallocated.
> Why do you think government spending specifically is the problem?
There's no such thing as a free lunch. Government spending always gets sucked out of the economy one way or another. Ultimately, everyone pays for it with a lower standard of living, directly or indirectly.
As for the government financed by debt spending, the cost to you is inflation.
No spending is not sucked out of the economy. The government doesn't take your taxes and light the money on fire. They pay for public works that you use every day. They hire people to create such works and maintain them. Those people take their wages and spend it in the economy and support private businesses.
Something's got to pay for all that increase in government spending. With all the government spending and government pensions and all the people on the government payroll, sometimes I'm surprised the economy isn't a complete basket case.