A different view

Thomas Palley, an economist, wants to go back to a better time. He argues that, over the past twenty-five years or so, the economy has shifted from one whose growth was fueled by higher wages due to higher productivity to an economy where growth is fueled by cheap imports. This new economy relies on trade deficits, higher and higher prices for assets (vide the housing boom), more debt, less manufacturing.

Food for thought.