The Pursuit of Happiness in a More Perfect Union
Creating an American Economy of Equal Opportunity
by
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Preface
We live in times in which there is no consensus on domestic economic issues by political leaders and economists, and as a result the desired policies of professed conservatives and liberals have not the slightest elements in common. This in itself is not new, as the same types of arguments were made during the Great Depression. The difference is that the crisis of that period, with its impact on virtually everyone, brought about the possibility of political action. Today Americans seem to be almost equally split on all issues. Think of the responses to economic challenges of those who identified with the Occupy Wall Street movement or the Tea Party to see how wide a gulf exists. In addition to the lack of consensus on economic policy, there is the associated disagreement among economists on the fundamentals that drive the economy. No economic model has reliably predicted the periodic economic crises of the American market. Unlike the typical situation in the sciences, the value of the analyses of experts and their conclusions for the engaged citizen is unclear. I believed that such a chaotic situation was an invitation to try to determine for myself what would make good economic policy, keeping in mind that the experts had reached diametrically opposed conclusions. Using publicly available data, my goal was to form my conclusions as much as possible upon observations that I could accept as objective. This book is the result of my efforts.
My background is not in economics or history, but as a reasonably educated person – I have a PhD in Mechanical Engineering which I freely admit gives me no special insight – I should be able to muster the facts to come to personal conclusions about economic policy that I could justify to myself and others. In my own field, I have found that the act of developing and justifying conclusions in writing makes for more precise reasoning and often brings about insights which I was unaware of before beginning to write.
I have found that it was useful to review the purposes of our nation as seen by our Founding Fathers; the economic performance of the nation in the past, including the contentious subject of inequality of income and wealth; and the role of the federal government, comparing economic performance under the limited government before the Great Depression with the economy under the actively involved federal administrations since that time, including a review of taxation, spending, and debt. Throughout, Robert G. Bill in regard to all historical events, I have provided details from authoritative sources. The economic data come primarily from federal government agencies, all cited and available through the Internet.
The final fruits of this book are conclusions characterizing the current state of the interactions of the free market and federal government and my belief as to how this interaction needs to be modified to promote equality of opportunity. Equality of opportunity can reconcile the goals of conservatives and liberals by creating greater participation of individuals in the market and by promoting the common good. The United States, with its blending of the free market and representative democracy, along with its historic good fortune of resources and place in time in the flow of world events, has the economic opportunity and the capability, with its unprecedented wealth, to build a society where not only no one lives in fear of want, but all can participate in “the pursuit of happiness” that the Founding Fathers believed was an “unalienable right.” Although my recommendations for enhancing equality of opportunity are embedded in economic data of the present, they may also be seen as showing that we can make them a reality whenever we are ready. I hope you will share my belief in how this can unfold, but even if in the end you completely disagree, I hope that the process of following my reasoning will have led you to a clearer understanding of your own beliefs.
R.G. B.
October 2016
Postscript – I wrote this book during the 2016 presidential campaign and completed it just before the election. The results of the election may suggest to some that a revision is necessary. However, I believe that the campaign and election underscore the urgency of the need to respond to the book’s call for equality of opportunity in the American economy. Rather than directly commenting on the election, the book provides a basis for a coherent understanding of the economic issues raised in that extraordinarily contentious election. – R. G. B. (January 2017)
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About the Book
The conflict between conservatives and liberals over public economic policy appears to have become a permanent feature of the American political landscape. Conservatives seek economic solutions with the market as virtually the sole organizing economic principle, invoking individualism inspired by the Declaration of Independence’s right to the pursuit of happiness. Liberals look to an important economic role for a federal government established by the Constitution to promote the general welfare. In addition to the disagreement among the political class, there is also no agreement among economists, with no model reliably predicting the economic crises of recent decades. Under these circumstances, the author believes individualism and the concern for the common good may only be reconciled through policies which promote equality of opportunity or, as Abraham Lincoln expressed it, “equal privileges in the race of life, with all its desirable human aspirations.”
The reconciliation of individualism and the common good is developed through reviews of the meaning of liberty, happiness, and their economic implications. The historical performance of the American economy is described in the context of the evolution of American federal government from one of limited economic scope, supporting laissez-faire capitalism, to the current mixed government. The more expansive role of government is described in terms of taxation policy and spending, including concerns over the national debt and its significance. With this background, the general reader is invited to follow the author’s path to a policy of equality of opportunity with specific proposals for an end to poverty, assistance to children, assistance to postsecondary education and training, and commitments to social and medical security. A specific taxation policy is proposed to fund these programs while maintaining a prudent and manageable national debt. Associated with these proposals are reforms to make the federal government more representative of the people.
About the Author
Robert G. Bill was a researcher in fire and fire protection for twenty–five years at FM Global, a major industrial and commercial mutual property insurer which operates the world’s largest full–scale fire research facility. There, he was Assistant Vice President and Director of Research for Fire Hazards and Protection, overseeing research in areas of flammability, fire spread, material reactivity, and fire protection systems. Previous to joining FM Global, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University conducting research in turbulent combustion. He holds BS, MS and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University. His publications include research in the areas of fluid mechanics, micro–meteorology, combustion, and fire protection. In 1994 and 2003, he received the National Fire Protection Association’s Bigglestone Award for communication of scientific concepts in fire protection. From 2002 to 2008 he served on the executive committee of the International Association for Fire Safety Science and in 2009 was elected as a lifetime honorary member equivalent to the grade of Fellow of the Society of Fire Protection Engineering. Now retired, Dr. Bill enjoys time with family, community volunteering, playing the violin, singing in his church choir, and walking his fox terrier. He is the author of Images of Mathematics Viewed Through Number, Algebra, and Geometry.