Political Economy category archive
Deconstruction and the Privatization Scam 0
Thom explains how Republicans are nibbling away at the common good.
Trending 0
Thom and Thomas Frank theorize that Donald Trump is not an aberration, but a culmination.
“These Are People Who Thought That Scrooge Was Right” 0
Thom and his guest discuss the right-wing’s vision of a new Gilded Age.
Wipe Out! 0
Jay Bookman comments. Here’s a bit; follow the link for the complete article.
(Syntax error fixed. Darn computers. Expect you to splet stuf rite.)
Unilaterally Assured Destruction 0
Josh Marshall muses on Donald Trump’s views of a “deal.” A snippet; follow the link for the full article:
Trump doesn’t know he’s won until you lose. Indeed, that’s what winning is: making you lose.
Image via Job’s Anger.
Nothing Doing with the Do Nothings 0
Jay Bookman considers Donald Trump’s unconstitutional (yes, “unconstitutional”!) actions on tariffs and the feckless and irresponsible reactions of the Republican Congress. A snippet:
The answer is: Not a damn thing.
Clearly, they have the authority to intervene. The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, “Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises.” If Trump has the authority to unilaterally impose these tariffs without congressional oversight, it is only because previous Congresses delegated that power to previous presidents, trusting that they would be responsible and sane in how they used that authority. If you do not believe that the current president is using it in that fashion, then that delegation of power should be withdrawn.
Follow the link for the complete article.
Image via Job’s Anger.
A Lethal Combination 0
Robert Reich considers what led to the Trumpling and concludes that there were two main ingredients in a toxic stew. Neither alone is a sufficient explanation, but which together boiled reacted like baking soda and vinegar. A snippet:
One explanation focuses on economic hardship. The working class fell for Trump’s economic populism.
A competing explanation — which got a boost this month from a study published by the National Academy of Sciences — dismisses economic hardship and blames it on whites’ fear of losing status to blacks and immigrants. They were attracted to Trump’s form of identity politics: bigotry.
(snip)
Yet the truth isn’t found in one explanation or the other. It’s in the interplay between the two.
Follow the link for the rest.
The Return of Smoot-Hawley 0
It’s deja vu all over again.
