🔗 Some Economic Reality

Opinion | Can We Please Stop Lying About Obama? - The New York Times

As the economics writer Noah Smith has noted, top marginal tax rates were significantly higher in 2016 than in 1992. Federal spending on social programs went up, not down. Government policy became more progressive (favoring those down the income scale), not less. Much of the economy grew more regulated, not less. U.S. tariff rates were basically stagnant.

The era between the start of the Clinton administration and the end of the Obama one was not a libertarian/globalist free-for-all. It was an era of mainstream presidents who tried to balance dynamism and solidarity.

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I never thought I’d be sharing David Brooks, but this was a compelling read. While individuals will naturally have their own experiences, it’s important to step back and look at the bigger picture. This was one of the aspects of the 2016 Democratic primary that frustrated me most. Every policy creates winners and losers, but global trade produced far more winners than losers. Yet from 2016 until now, pointing this out seems to automatically earn you the label “neoliberal shill.”

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