You may have heard about this guy recently for winning the Nobel Prize in Economics. The stuff he won the prize for is way over my tender head, but he's also written some pretty accessible books for non-economists. The one I'm listening to is The Conscience of a Liberal in which he finds patterns between increases in conservative government and economic disparity between rich and poor.
I'm about 3 chapters in, and my mind is reeling. It seems to explain an awful lot of what we've been seeing, and backs it up with data.
I won't go too far into it, but from what I have gathered, his theory is that the 2000s are economically and governmentally similar to the 1920s, with a severely conservative agenda protecting the interests of a small group, and a vast difference in wealth between the super rich and the poor. The New Deal reversed that in short order, bringing about a 30 year period (roughly 1940-1970) with not only a fairly large and affluent middle class, but also a by-and-large moderate government. This all changed when the conservative movements began anew at trying to dissolve the New Deal, reaching it's zenith with Dubya's attempt to dismantle Social Security in 2004.
Makes a lot of sense. He also seems to give us some good news, as he predicts the pendulum is swinging back, with an even more powerful liberal movement that could be joined by moderate republicans to expand the middle class again.
With the recent attacks on Obama's "redistribute the wealth" sound-bite, this book is particularly interesting. I am wondering if Professor Obama buys into Krugman's theories, and if so if his comments are based on a similar line of thinking.
Oh yeah, he also thinks Alan Greenspan and Phil Gramm helped cause the sub-prime mortgage crisis. No arguments there.
Good read! And here is a except from his book tour.
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