Casey Mulligan wrote a book about how the redistribution occasioned by the social safety net is responsible for a plurality of the labor market distortions that have been depressing the economy since the Great Recession. I haven't read it yet, but if it's geared more toward a lay audience than his blog, I'll give it a try.
Meanwhile, here's a post from his blog, in which he writes, "Helping the poor and unemployed is intrinsically valuable, but is not free. It
has made labor more expensive and depresses employment." I didn't understand the entirety of the post, but if his conclusion is true, then I think the most pressing problem facing our country is inequality. I'd like to hear Mulligan's take on the policy implications of his research, but if what is required to get our economy back on track is policies that will cause pain to a lot of people in the short run, politically and ethically we need a spirit of shared sacrifice that right now is completely absent. I think there's room to get there without greatly decreasing the productivity of the capitalist class.
Am I begging the question that ripping the bandaid off is a better approach than the slow pace of healing we're on now? Probably yes.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Douthat, Again
http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/douthat-liberalisms-glass-jaw/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121010
"The steadily worsening deficit picture, meanwhile, has been a reminder that an expanding government balance sheet only makes sense if you can persuade taxpayers to pay more to cover it, which Obama’s party hasn’t done. More importantly, given the limit to how much money can be extracted from the wealthy, it only makes sense if you persuade middle class taxpayers to pay more, which Obama’s party hasn’t even tried to do."
To what extent is this a problem with liberalism, versus a problem with our political culture in general? First, "an expanding government balance sheet" hasn't applied to Obama's unrealistic promise to expand the liberal agenda. On healthcare, Obama needed to convince voters that the country could be paying much less for healthcare, not more, in spite of expanded coverage--and then complete the hat trick by crafting and passing legislation that controlled costs rather than exacerbated them. While costs have risen in the short term, the evidence is still out on whether Obamacare can in fact bend the cost curve down the road.
The only flagship liberal project that has significantly grown under Obama, that I can think of, is SNAP. The crux of the expanding government balance sheet comes from decades-old entitlements that, policy-wise, liberals and conservatives alike realize are unsustainable. Where Douthat is right, however, is that liberalism has failed to make a persuasive case for the level of taxation I think is necessary for our modern government. Where I once again differ with him is that this is as much or moreso a factor of both parties being dragged to the right, as it is a factor of some intrinsic failing of liberalism.
"The steadily worsening deficit picture, meanwhile, has been a reminder that an expanding government balance sheet only makes sense if you can persuade taxpayers to pay more to cover it, which Obama’s party hasn’t done. More importantly, given the limit to how much money can be extracted from the wealthy, it only makes sense if you persuade middle class taxpayers to pay more, which Obama’s party hasn’t even tried to do."
To what extent is this a problem with liberalism, versus a problem with our political culture in general? First, "an expanding government balance sheet" hasn't applied to Obama's unrealistic promise to expand the liberal agenda. On healthcare, Obama needed to convince voters that the country could be paying much less for healthcare, not more, in spite of expanded coverage--and then complete the hat trick by crafting and passing legislation that controlled costs rather than exacerbated them. While costs have risen in the short term, the evidence is still out on whether Obamacare can in fact bend the cost curve down the road.
The only flagship liberal project that has significantly grown under Obama, that I can think of, is SNAP. The crux of the expanding government balance sheet comes from decades-old entitlements that, policy-wise, liberals and conservatives alike realize are unsustainable. Where Douthat is right, however, is that liberalism has failed to make a persuasive case for the level of taxation I think is necessary for our modern government. Where I once again differ with him is that this is as much or moreso a factor of both parties being dragged to the right, as it is a factor of some intrinsic failing of liberalism.
Monday, October 1, 2012
This is why Brooks pisses me off
- treating "psych" factors like he's in the vanguard of people thinking about it
- implying a causal impact between chidlhood trauma and adult outcomes, which there undoubtedly is, but some of those multipliers will be due to correlation.
- telling policymakers to get out of their silos and sit in a room together and tackle some problem.
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