Out With The Old
in with the old. Obama's pick of Gene Sperling for president of the National Economic Council should convince the last looney holdout that he is no socialist. ( of course it won't) No friend of the working man, old Gene, although he is presented as a "progressive", the least informative term since Gen X. This is some of Gene's "progressive" thinking from his 2007 book Rising Tide Economics:
"For Americans, shared prosperity, an opportunity for upward mobility, and economic outcomes determined more by merit than the accident of birth are fundamental to who we are as a nation..."
Pagan, somebody, help me out here. Isn't "merit", that is, cognitive skills, talent, health, physical strength,coordination, determined at least in part by "the accident of birth"? How about luck? Opportunities dropping from heaven, right place right time? How much do we reward those with less aversion to risk? Is that meritorious? What might the "moral hazard" be in rewarding lucky gamblers with the most power and wealth?
As for his (and Jack Kennedy's) Rising Tide lifting all boats, has he not looked at the Gini co-efficient lately? Many sink, a few still tread water and a select few ride away on the yacht.He proposes no taxes ( it will drive off investment!), no public works programs, (bureaucratic) and plenty of public investment in university research. ( let the public pay and business profit) He suggests bringing back call-center jobs for working class. So he is no Austrian, perhaps, but "progressive"?
Sperling actively promoted the over-valuation of the dollar during the Clinton years, pushing down manufacturing wages and eliminating many jobs ( outsourced). The massive trade (not budget) deficits were the result of this strong dollar, deficits which in turn led to shortfalls in demand, filled by bubble generated growth. The kind we are experiencing right now.
They won't have a TARP to throw over the next crisis of capitalism and Gene Sperling will be lucky to find a call center job.
posted by troutsky @ 5:17 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Obama a socialist, yeah. That's a good one. But then, the people who think that aren are into the Birther business are also probably busy perusing the latest catalogue from Glock. That said, Sperling's appointment is a downer - more evidence of just how 'centrist' Obama is, not that it surprises me.
(Well, a teensy bit.)
Regarding 'merit,' that's a fascinating ideological issue in America. I think by 'accident of birth' he is talking about race, or maybe 'not being born in Kenya,' but that's really the same thing.
As you point out, not everyone is 'born equal.' We all know that. It's not really relevant because the phrase 'all men are born equal,' concerns their rights not their hair color or intelligence.
The meritocrats want to say that rewards come to those meritorious ones who have worked hard and educated themselves. Or who have 'natural ability.' But why should one be rewarded for one's birth characteristics? Or beautiful people better? (Don't answer that!)
We all know that you can't legislate total equality, and nobody wants that - people are different. The argument is always over the baseline, and how much is allowed to the 'meritorious ones.' Used to be that CEOs made 40x the wage of their average worker, enough for an incentive to perform. Now it's more like 400x. Still not enough..?
Finally, so much of what appears to be 'merit' is actually 'accident of birth.' For every kid who climbs out of poverty to hit the big time, there are probably 10 that are just as 'merit worthy' who never get the chance. It's a statisical thing, and meritocrats are totally individualistic, but the stats tell the story.
Socialist? It should convince the last loony holdout that he admires Reagan a hell of a lot more than he admires FDR.
Obama wants to bring back jobs, and he wants to increase government tax receipts. That's no big mystery. The bullshit he was doing clearly wasn't working, so he's taking a step back and appointing people who are-allegedly-pro-business. I'll wait and see what they propose in the way of regulations before I make a judgment but I'm not hopeful.
The new GOP Congress can solve a lot of problems by simply refusing to fund the EPA and the FDA, just for starters. If they do enough along those lines that would render everything else moot.
And yes, loon that I am, I still say Obama is a socialist. Not your kind of socialist perhaps, but a European Union worshiping quasi-socialist (Socialist Democrat) nonetheless.
It is the Most Interesting Discussion That Never takes Place, Lichanos, appreciate your thoughts.
Merit Based is written into our national DNA along with the whole "melting pot" thing.Tom Wolfe's whole exposition on the Masters of the Universe captured the public's imagination briefly. My clients mostly justify there privilege believing they are innately better, more deserving and certainly equality is now our most contentious word.
When it comes to distributive justice, I'm in the camp of remuneration based on sacrifice, not output.
And yes, looks do seem to play into it but that's a whole nother book, out of my league.
Troutsky:
I'm curious about how your clients manifest their thoughts about their well-deserved privileges. These are Wall Street hot-shot types, no? Are they thugs with dough, or are they educated and cultured people? What do they actually say..?
They run the gamut Lichanos, as I guess each class does. Some Lord it over you,demand boot-licking service (rare), others crave a genuine comradeship, hoping to be "one of the guys".The rich are good at being rich, but the boundaries are always there, the unspoken limits to entry.
The interesting openings occur on the occasions I am invited to wine and dine with them, and I get a real window into that world.Get a little booze in them and you find out how exclusive and insulated it is. Liberals and conservatives are allowed to duke it out but I have to be very cautious, as you might imagine.
The young buck stock traders are the hardest to take, brash nouveau rich. The old money is finnicky, and the corporate groups with their bizarre hierarchies make me glad I decided to be a commie.
There's no escaping the invisible hand.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12162039
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