Restructuring the American Economy?

Questions continually arise concerning the manner in which public and private education are paid for, the relativity of income to productivity, and the reliance of labor upon immigration. Many believe that the current economic structure of America is a centuries-old conflict between Wall Street financial interests and Social Welfare humanitarian interests. This macroeconomic view possesses questions as to why the American economy is not structured in such a way that one person may obtain a livable income from one fulltime position of employment. This has been expressed in the absence of due civil and criminal law enforcement, academic truancy, and the collapse of the family. The social and economic pressure arising has been relieved for centuries in the structuring of private sector attorneys and law firms who earn less than they proportionately contribute to the economy and do so without the security of more than an at-will contract of employment. The stress placed upon client seeking attorneys has delayed and prohibited much advancement in the United States.

With current technological advancement, private sector attorneys may guide and fulfill client requests while both increasing employee security and achieving objectives of higher efficiency and profit. In doing so, attorneys would provide insight into the modernization of the American economy. For where much improvement in American law might have occurred, the longstanding economic structure permitted the expanse of the corporate sphere without the guidance of the legal. Further expression of this phenomenon is evident in the income structure of state and federal agencies, especially in light of the tradition of social, political and legal deference to agency expertise, paid far less than its merit.

In looking anew at the American economy, the public and the leaders of its representative democracy should see modern technology as a source of revision in the theory of “trickle down economics” and of the definition of “productivity.” The result should be significant economic reform.