Class warfare American style

The idea of class warfare, which originated with Karl Marx, frightens Americans. But the form of class warfare that exists in America is not Marxian in nature. Rather, its source is hard-right conservatives, who have stood Marx on his head, using the power of government and power in the marketplace to shift the distribution of income and wealth increasingly in favor of those at the top of the income ladder. The shift toward greater inequality has accelerated since 1973. Changes in taxes to favor those at the top have been primarily responsible for this. Turning this trend around rests with heterodox economists, as mainstream economics has no interest in wealth and income distribution. The first step is to restore faith in activist government. Paper given at the Planery Session of the Eighth World Congress of Social Economics, College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, July 31, 1996.