LBJ wanted to have social spending and have a massive knockout punch in Vietnam. Instead of a knockout punch, the War turned into a massive quagmire. It was costing the US a fortune, but LBJ didn’t want to raise taxes, so he printed money. Nixon got elected and doubled down on the War and using inflation to pay for it. The4n the OPEC oil embargo hit and inflation went through the roof.

Jimmy Carter’s plan [controlled by Fed chair Paul Volker] solved inflation, but by the time it kicked in Carter had been replaced by Reagan. Reagan deregulated a lot of industries and let them run wild.

In 1968, ‘middle class’ was defined as one Union job supporting a family of four. At that time $1 million was a vast fortune. By the time Bush Sr. was out, ‘middle class’ meant two incomes to run the home, and $1 million was what a rich guy paid for a party.