Do We Need a New Deal for the Twenty-First Century?
Your eyes are not deceiving you: Life has gotten very expensive for most Americans. In an interview with Jonathan Church, law professor A. Mechele Dickerson looks to the mid-twentieth century for possible lessons on how to improve the lot of the middle class.
This past summer, a relatively obscure New York Assemblyman named Zohran Mamdani won a surprise victory in the New York City mayoral primary with the theme of affordability at the center of his campaign. Similarly, Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger took home 2025 Democratic gubernatorial victories in New Jersey and Virginia by emphasizing the affordability concerns of voters. And the same issue featured prominently in President Donald Trump's successful 2024 re-election bid.
Politicians campaigning on lower prices should come as no surprise. The theme of affordability has strongly resonated with voters after soaring consumer inflation in recent years, as well as a housing market in which the purchase of a new home has become increasingly out of reach for many Americans.
One striking manifestation of a dysfunctional economy is the decline of the middle class, which stands in striking contrast to the shared prosperity that the nation enjoyed in the second half of the last century. Many historians have attributed this period in the United States to the New Deal that arose from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration, as well as post-World War II policies that followed in their wake.
In her new book, The Middle-Class New Deal, University of Texas Law Professor A. Mechele Dickerson proposes a New Deal for twenty-first-century America. She explores the rise of inequality, the problem of affordability, and the decline of the middle class over the last five decades. With midterm congressional elections approaching later in the year, Ms. Dickerson offers a stimulating contribution to the national conversation about affordability.
Below is a transcript of the conversation between Dickerson and Merion West senior editor Jonathan Church, lightly edited for clarity.
Timeless reading in a fleeting world.
