Comments on: The New Gilded Age

By: Parsing “Populism” in Resistance to Reform : HEALTH REFORM WATCH

Parsing “Populism” in Resistance to Reform : HEALTH REFORM WATCH — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:35:30 +0000

[...] between the merely well-off and the truly wealthy–a very important distinction in an era of fractal inequality). The new state resistance to a mandate should be seen as less a defense of the middle class than [...]

By: The House’s Proposed Surcharge on the Rich: Not Progressive Enough : HEALTH REFORM WATCH

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:32:22 +0000

[...] soaking the rich, the press should focus on three underlying realities. First, income and wealth vastly increased at the top of the distribution over the past thirty years–in part because of corporate cost [...]

By: A.J. Sutter

A.J. Sutter — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:57:01 +0000

Sorry, typo: should be “advisers **or** Cabinet members”.

By: A.J. Sutter

A.J. Sutter — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:55:14 +0000

I’m skeptical that things are so simple. There are policy-makers on both sides of the aisle who embrace Pareto equilibrium and economic efficiency; I don’t see how this can lead to better distribution of wealth. Among the Democratic advisers of Cabinet members with scary ideas: Cass Sunstein, Robert Solow, Larry Summers, the folks who pushed for carbon trading, …. And many of the problems with the subprime situation arose from Clinton-era deregulation; this could just as easliy have happened during Al Gore’s second term, (though maybe we’d have had more money available to help borrowers, assuming that Gore would have skipped the war in Iraq).

Moreover, one sees inequality rising in many countries, not just ones controlled by Democrats or Republicans. Often these are countries whose governments or elites embrace the same “neoliberal” flavor of economics. (Does Bartels refute this?) While Republican administrations may exacerbate things, I think both parties share certain fundamental assumptions that help to create these problems.

By: Patrick S. O'Donnell

Patrick S. O'Donnell — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:29:22 +0000

Let’s give the indefatigable Kevin Phillips credit too (especially in light of his conservative background) for calling attention to these matters in a way accessible to non-academics. And that other Frank, Thomas, might be added to the mix as well (cf. One Market Under God, 2000).