Economic competition; elites were not used to this and feared it. But it took till President Reagan's administration for educational equality to begin to reverse. The idea was to protect the economically advantaged, (the donor base and source of reelection), by slowing or stopping “ trickle down” of income and social economic mobility. The top rate for national income tax had reached 94 percent in the US in 1945, for incomes over $200,000. Taxes that grew the public education system and infrastructure, empowered the people and grew the country. During Reagan's administration the rate dropped significantly and presently rests at around 32 percent.
After Vietnam, loss of confidence in government competence was prevalent. It was met, also around the 80’s, with regulators allowing companies to grow much larger through mergers and the government becoming hostile to labor unions, (the air transport union strike was broken by Reagan). This began the decline of unions in the US and created more opportunities for companies to seek low wage workers and ship production overseas, resulting in closing of stateside factories, layoffs of workers and defaults on retirement contracts. This ushered in the economic collapse of many manufacturing hubs like Michigan and Ohio and the stresses and symptoms of reduced incomes and opportunities. These stresses are affecting the present in the US and Worldwide. The original foundation has shifted or disappeared and has not been replaced. And this has intensified “economism”.