Power Elite isn't a new term, and sometimes gets bandied about in a variety of ways... What I mean is the people in charge of both Industry and Government... For those of you in Corporate America, you will immediately identify with what I'm talking about..
The Power Elite in this country believe the strength of the Country lies on Wall Street, and the strength(value) of the Corporation. Bush et al definately believe this, but to a sometimes lesser degree, CEO's believe that the strength of thier business also lies on Wall Street. I've worked at two different Fortune 500 companies, and both are run by MBA having plutocrats, who make huge mistakes, because they value the wrong things within the company.
The companies that will survive the coming decade will have to come to the realization that the only asset a company has is its workface. Patents and manufacturing facilities are fine, but the employees are the ones that get things done, innovate, and create new revenue streams.
I work at a major computer/electronics maker that just underwent a major management shakeup (not hard to figure out). The biggest problem that employees percieve is that we repeatedly focus on cutting costs in the most ridiculous areas, while the CEO has(had) multiple private jets...
Layoffs and outsourcing destroyed the morale of this one time great corporation. Bad decisions that weren't based on profit and loss, but on perceptions of how Wall street will view the Balance sheet...
I also worked at AT&T Wireless, which when I started, was the best and most successful Cellular provider (this was several years back).
Both company's became successful because the management at the time realized that the employees were the only thing that built value in the company... Everything else can be bought off the shelf, but highly skilled/motivated employees can't be bought by anyone, they are created in a culture of value and respect.
Both company's changed management, and then focused on costs, but only on Expense, but not Capital Costs. It was the balance sheet that limited what the company could do... If you are a corporation with vision, there should be nothing that limits you, but only if you let your employees determine that path, and set its goals. This requires trust in two ways, but when it works, you end up with something special.
The reason I mention this on dailykos is the following. The current trend by the power elite is to reward failure... If you manage by the CEO handbook, but end up failing, there seems to be this perception that they did thier job well, but the fruits of thier labor haven't come into fruition...
This is similar to the arguement that the Clinton Economic Success was due to the Bush/Reagan plans, or conversly, the Bush Economic problems are due to the Clinton policies... I don't know of any economic rational for this reasoning (I have a BA in Economics, but am no means an expert).