Check out this magnificent thing that Sheldon Richman wrote back in August 1991 about “Uncle Sam” ruining everything in the Middle East since back when the U.S. took over for the British.
Mass Production Equals Mass Consumption
[R]elative shares in national income have remained substantially constant over the last hundred years. This, however, is true only if we measure them in money. Measured in real terms, relative shares have substantially changed in favor of the lower income groups. This...