The most important things you need to know about economics

Is included in the graph below

Don’t try to understand economic theory by what happened in Sweden, Norway, Russia, Mexico or Venezuela. Their cultures, strengths and weaknesses were unique to each of them, and none was like the U.S.

Just look at our own history from 1930 to 2015. The graph stops at 2015 because it was made by a commercial artist for one of my books at the time. However, it still clearly instructs us about how tax policies affect America’s national debt, and its wealth and income distribution between the rich and everyone else.

Note that between 1933 and 1980 those who benefited most from the economy paid progressively higher income and estate taxes. We even had an excess corporate profits tax at one time. Government pro-labor policies, like protecting workers’ right to organize into unions, raised wage levels for both union and non-union workers whose employers wanted to remain non-union.

Not included in the graph is the positive impact that high progressive taxes on the wealthy and rising working class incomes had on the deficit. It’s a part of history neglected by today’s media. Most workers made enough money to not only have a decent standard of living, but to also pay taxes.

From 1980 to today, tax cuts for the wealthy and stagnant or declining wages for workers — relative to the inflation caused by the wealthy — caused the huge wealth and income disparity between the rich and everyone else we see today.

Democrats are doing a terrible job of explaining this to voters. “Inflation” is not bad, and a growing economy always has it. Inflation is bad only when it’s caused by the wealthy buying huge amounts of real estate, products and services.

Especially today, inflation is good when workers — finally making better wages — cause much needed what Republicans dread: “Wage Inflation.”