Could the U.S. regain its robust economy, without a growing and prosperous middle class?

Start loop cash for goods -> store -> store employees 1 and suppliers -> suppliers to supplier employees and other suppliers -> hire people, invest in equipment, make new products that end up in stores end loop -> flow of cash employees -> spend that money they earned too A rich flow of -> is the driving force behind consumption. Robust economies have high consumption A similar story can be shown for "credit and debt" versus "cash" especially "credit" from banks to businesses, and "debt or equity" from businesses to investors that use that debt or equity to drive their business -> flow of money, anytime there is a flow, the government gets a tax piece too ( a plus and minus, plus when government does effective things with the money).

It's a simple part of the economy... sales are a simple part of the economy. On the other spectrum is the real estate market and how it effects banks and loans. Retail sales are linked to more revenue for business.

Of course, the economy itself is not a simple explanation. ...but if people are spending more at retail, it usually trickles UP the scale, and helps the higher aspects, if even just a little. With more sales, a company can (and would need) to hire more workers.

More employed individuals means more income, and then they can buy a house. They buy a house and keep paying on it, and the bank that loaned them the money can now loan to a person starting their own business, who will need employees, and those employees presumably repeat the cycle... ...until Wall Street and corrupt CEOs hoard money, write their own billion-dollar severance packages, and then let their companies collapse, while they take a retirement trip to the bahamas to live very immoral lives. Yep, that is capitalism.

It has failed. It was always headed for failure. Vote for a liberal economist.

(Whoever thumbs-downed me did so before I could type my whole answer, so they are a grumpy loser on a sunny Sunday).

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.