I’m an economist and have noticed a lot of the trends identified by WTF 1971. But the thing is the date “1971” is not specific in any of the trends. They st

I’m an economist and have noticed a lot of the trends identified by WTF 1971. But the thing is the date “1971” is not specific in any of the trends. They start somewhere between 1970 and 1990 or so. Also, the gold standard had been abandoned prior to 1971, it was only in 1971 that it could stop being denied by the legal system. My best hypotheses for the origins of the trends are (1) the change to how the US nominates presidents following the 1968 presidential election, (2) the aging of people who went through WWII together and felt a debt to the working-class people who fought the war, or (3) the SAT test, which allows smart working-class children to move into the professional class, rather than having them running unions and working-class social organizations. My best guess is #1. The nominees for higher office are now chosen by popular primaries rather than by the party machine in a “smoke-filled room”. The party machine wasn’t perfect by a long shot, but it nominated qualified centrist candidates who could win the general election. Now, we have a “popular” election where only a small segment of the population votes, It is easier for special interests to influence. (Listen to the “No Compromise” podcast for how they do it.) Theory #1 doesn’t explain everything, but it does explain how the US’s unfair healthcare system can cost almost twice as much as other developed countries and we struggle to fix it. The lack of a gold standard does not.