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Boiling Point
From the bestselling author of The Politics of Rich and Poor comes a scholarly examination of the steady decline of America's middle class--the book President Clinton singled out as the source that would help him solve the middle-class dilemma.
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First published January 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 8, 2024
This book, paired with its predecessor The Politics of Rich and Poor, were important books back when they came out, bridging the Bush 1 and Clinton presidencies. Kevin Phillips was a Richard Nixon aide who is most famous for his 1969 book The Emerging Republican Majority, a book laying out what would eventually become known as the Southern Strategy, and giving Republicans an advantage in national politics in the era that followed. Later in life, Philips came to regret his role in developing this strategy, which harnesses American racism for political gain, and wrote a number of books trying to atone for his sins.
Boiling Point is hardly scorched earth liberal book; its concerns are largely economic, and focused on things such as tax burdens on middle income Americans, trade deficits, and national spending and debt. Phillips sees the Reagan/Bush years as a time of national decline, and compares the US economically with other historically hegemonic states that saw precipitous declines in their fortunes.
It's full end-to-end with statistics and graphs, but clips along at a pretty good pace (for a book of this kind, I suppose I had better specify) and is generally readable as long as you have a basic grasp of these topics going in. As the subtitle suggests, a strong theme throughout is comparison between those at the very top of the economic ladder and those in the middle and lower sections. He finds that instead of a rising tide lifting all boats, a small handful of boats were sitting atop geysers while the rest are slowly sliding downhill.
Of special concern and a topic that isn't so often covered elsewhere is the section on middle class taxes, where he find that for middle income people, any tax savings derived from federal income or capital gains tax reductions are more than off-set by state and local fees and taxes rising as those governments struggle to continue providing services that once depended on federal funding that had since been cut.
Phillips saw the election of Clinton in 1992 as the beginning of a watershed change in American politics that could start to undo some of the damage of the previous 20-odd years. He compared the Clinton's campaign run largely on economic populist issues to the GOP campaigns of the previous decades that strongly featured non-economic or cultural issues: crime, patriotism, "acid, amnesty, and abortion."
So, as he saw the coming of the new Republican majority, so he saw the approaching end. In this case, his vision is less accurate, and the strain of conservatism that began especially with Reagan continues to live to this day, though I think it is an open question how much we can say Trump is a descendent of Reagan or whether he is a different animal. Bush II certainly was at any rate.
Boiling Point is an extremely fascinating book for someone interested in the politics of this era and the current thinking that was driving national political campaigns. Phillips is a talented writer and synthesizer, even if you will no doubt take issue with some of his pronouncements. He continues to have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of various voting blocs in every corner of the country. I'm surprised to find so few reviews of this book and the Politics of Rich and Poor on this site; these books deserve better than to be forgotten.
Boiling Point is hardly scorched earth liberal book; its concerns are largely economic, and focused on things such as tax burdens on middle income Americans, trade deficits, and national spending and debt. Phillips sees the Reagan/Bush years as a time of national decline, and compares the US economically with other historically hegemonic states that saw precipitous declines in their fortunes.
It's full end-to-end with statistics and graphs, but clips along at a pretty good pace (for a book of this kind, I suppose I had better specify) and is generally readable as long as you have a basic grasp of these topics going in. As the subtitle suggests, a strong theme throughout is comparison between those at the very top of the economic ladder and those in the middle and lower sections. He finds that instead of a rising tide lifting all boats, a small handful of boats were sitting atop geysers while the rest are slowly sliding downhill.
Of special concern and a topic that isn't so often covered elsewhere is the section on middle class taxes, where he find that for middle income people, any tax savings derived from federal income or capital gains tax reductions are more than off-set by state and local fees and taxes rising as those governments struggle to continue providing services that once depended on federal funding that had since been cut.
Phillips saw the election of Clinton in 1992 as the beginning of a watershed change in American politics that could start to undo some of the damage of the previous 20-odd years. He compared the Clinton's campaign run largely on economic populist issues to the GOP campaigns of the previous decades that strongly featured non-economic or cultural issues: crime, patriotism, "acid, amnesty, and abortion."
So, as he saw the coming of the new Republican majority, so he saw the approaching end. In this case, his vision is less accurate, and the strain of conservatism that began especially with Reagan continues to live to this day, though I think it is an open question how much we can say Trump is a descendent of Reagan or whether he is a different animal. Bush II certainly was at any rate.
Boiling Point is an extremely fascinating book for someone interested in the politics of this era and the current thinking that was driving national political campaigns. Phillips is a talented writer and synthesizer, even if you will no doubt take issue with some of his pronouncements. He continues to have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of various voting blocs in every corner of the country. I'm surprised to find so few reviews of this book and the Politics of Rich and Poor on this site; these books deserve better than to be forgotten.
August 1, 2025
Wanted to learn more about the slow decline of American middle class living standards. The book was suggested by Robert Barnes for anyone interested in learning more about why tariffs are an important tool in addressing the federal deficit. Not sure if he was thinking of a different book by this author, but it didn’t really talk about tariffs much. There were a few interesting tidbits that I saved in my notes, but otherwise it was very hard to read and pretty dry.
July 18, 2021
Lucid, with calculable meanings. Phillips doesn't fail to inform readers of middle class disillusionment & decline. This book helps to frame the pitiful portrait of most of American life. It illustrates w/charts the downward trends of earnings, describes the reality of persons, couples or families that have had to downgrade their standards of living, expectations for employment & opportunity, and hopes for prosperity. What was particularly unsettling & maddening were the clear evidences of precisely how 'the rich got richer!'
This is just as good as his other one "The Politics of the Rich & Poor" for both lay out the damning data in such comprehensive (the author's referenced statistics & numbers always carry an air of depth, of deep mining, vigorous query) and complete pictures. In this book you'll find talk about the clogged freeways in Los Angeles and the suburbs of Moreno Valley & Riverside. Fastidious attention is paid to how governmental statistics overlook the fine detail of middle class life. Distinction is clarified among workers who are only working part-time, or who would rather have another job, or who have to moonlight a second job, etc. Phillips mentions those harsh realities, like divorcees who choose to retain their middle class life (their car, home, consumption) despite their inability to actually afford it, by taking second jobs. He mentions how long commutes can wreck households as parents struggle to find time with their children. There are very informative sections on how the wealthy have justified themselves. Too many nuggets of facts to cite!
I liked the historical viewpoints, and his reference to the golden days of Spain, Holland, & Britain. He makes a convincing argument that America risks decline by its obsession with financing. We need to produce, manufacture, & invent. We can't grow complacent, or coddled to luxuries, negligent of the hardening conditions & precepts that brought about growth. It's so much tastier to read this book right now! How the C-19 relief funds have doled out money, how people aren't as motivated to seek work, and just, overall, how the tech has continued to push folks outta jobs, and outta the race due to the high technical skill needed. This book's great for political science & for economics. You'll get a sharp sense for how Democratic ideology, policies, & administrations have evolved & grown in response to populism; there are connecting threads to the third party candidacies of Ross Perot & Theodore Roosevelt; and the Reagan administration receives a fair deal of attention in how its policies contributed to an even further divide between the wealthy and the rest of the nation. Phillips manages a neutral tone throughout. It's definitely worth a look for the curious reader of econ/poli-sci,
This is just as good as his other one "The Politics of the Rich & Poor" for both lay out the damning data in such comprehensive (the author's referenced statistics & numbers always carry an air of depth, of deep mining, vigorous query) and complete pictures. In this book you'll find talk about the clogged freeways in Los Angeles and the suburbs of Moreno Valley & Riverside. Fastidious attention is paid to how governmental statistics overlook the fine detail of middle class life. Distinction is clarified among workers who are only working part-time, or who would rather have another job, or who have to moonlight a second job, etc. Phillips mentions those harsh realities, like divorcees who choose to retain their middle class life (their car, home, consumption) despite their inability to actually afford it, by taking second jobs. He mentions how long commutes can wreck households as parents struggle to find time with their children. There are very informative sections on how the wealthy have justified themselves. Too many nuggets of facts to cite!
I liked the historical viewpoints, and his reference to the golden days of Spain, Holland, & Britain. He makes a convincing argument that America risks decline by its obsession with financing. We need to produce, manufacture, & invent. We can't grow complacent, or coddled to luxuries, negligent of the hardening conditions & precepts that brought about growth. It's so much tastier to read this book right now! How the C-19 relief funds have doled out money, how people aren't as motivated to seek work, and just, overall, how the tech has continued to push folks outta jobs, and outta the race due to the high technical skill needed. This book's great for political science & for economics. You'll get a sharp sense for how Democratic ideology, policies, & administrations have evolved & grown in response to populism; there are connecting threads to the third party candidacies of Ross Perot & Theodore Roosevelt; and the Reagan administration receives a fair deal of attention in how its policies contributed to an even further divide between the wealthy and the rest of the nation. Phillips manages a neutral tone throughout. It's definitely worth a look for the curious reader of econ/poli-sci,
October 7, 2011
Another insightful, though pretentiously-written, review by every Democrats' favorite Republican. Phillips methodically shows how the middle classed has been systematically squeezed throughout the 1980's, a process that would only slightly slow in the 90's. Even more relevant today.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews