Only one measure of an economy matters. When politicians talk about the economy, there is only one question to ask them:
Can a man who ‘did not’ go to college but who ‘did’ finish high school support a family of 4?
GDP doesn’t matter, Unemployment % doesn’t matter, the Stock Market doesn’t matter, Iran definitely doesn’t matter, until this question is answered, these are all secondary. All parties have failed in leadership on this issue. Industrial policy, illegal immigration, easy divorce, college loan debacles, outsourcing of jobs, identity politics, corrupt and morally bankrupt elites, Wall Street, greed, welfare and many other factors are to blame but the only measure that matters in an economy is how working men are doing in respect to their ability to provide for a family. I credit the current administration for at least trying to talk about these issues even though there’s still a lot of fluff and hype from them over things that don’t make much difference compared to the most important economic factor, which is- can a working class man provide for his family?
Oren Cass has some great ideas in his book “The Once and Future Worker.” There’s a link to a video below of him discussing it.
I tried to write about some of these issues related to work in my book “Healthy Work”, though it was only a survey of some of the problems, and an extended essay on how important work is to a healthy society.
When people are working and doing something productive, they’re healthier and happier. It’s that simple. And the research shows that this matters for working men than any other group. When they struggle, the whole society struggles.
Read Next: Healthy Work, by Scott Godwin