The median American has been left in the dust in the modern economy, despite the nation’s boasting of technical drastic economic growth according to gross domestic product statistics. Traditional economic thought argues that the expansion of free trade policies should raise living standards when paired with smart policy implementation, though without safeguards, this has failed. “For decade after decade, administration after administration, Republican and Democratic, we failed to ensure that the benefits of growth were distributed to everyone,” writes Linus Yamane, an economics professor at Pitzer College. Yamane believes that the importance of creating policy that brings prosperity to everyone must be advocated for in the classroom in order to curb rising economic inequality.
