Currents
October 2016
3
Public Good Versus The Bottom Line
O
nce again America faces
an election with choices
between a “Businessman” and
“Policy Wonk.”
This happened in 2000, Bush
v. Gore; if G.W. Bush can be considered a “Businessman.”
Gore was the insider, policy
wonk who had never “made a
payroll” facing Dubya, the MLB
Franchise owner and former Governor.
Now it's the billionaire businessman, Reality Television Star,
who has made a payroll, built
successful businesses, etc., versus
the Policy Wonk, but one who
has also made a payroll, as a partner at a successful law firm.
Currents has addressed this
issue before during the Gore,
Bush election, in the “Case
Against the MBA President” and
the New York Times published a
piece entitled “America is not a
Corporation.”
Even the largest international
conglomerate is less complex
then an enormous economy,
largely because there is no bottom line to manipulate and
obsessively measure.
This was illustrated in the
2012 election.
“Mr. Romney characterized
President Obama's actions: {in
saving the Detroit Car Industry}
“He did it to try to save the business.” No, he didn't; he did it to
save the industry, and thereby to
save jobs that would otherwise
have been lost, deepening America's slump. Does Mr. Romney
understand the distinction? Paul
Krugman, NYT.
Mr. Trump has the same education and mindset as Mr. Romney; go into a project, slash and
burn and ride out under a
“Golden Parachute.” It seems
the Conservatives are not only
deniers of Climate Change Science; they are deniers of Economic Science examples as well.
They refuse to learn from the
story from when the government
slashes spending in the face of a
depressed economy. Look at
Greece, Spain, and Ireland, all of
which have adopted harsh austerity policies. In each case,
unemployment soared, because
cuts in government spending
mainly hit domestic producers.
And, in each case, the reduction
in budget deficits was much less
than expected, because tax
receipts fell as output and
employment collapsed. But the
story is very different when a
government slashes spending in
the face of a depressed economy.
So just as a local family medical doctor is hardly qualified to
launch and manage the Public
continued on page 4 >
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