The Rise of Inequality (2)
Sep. 8th, 2008 01:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
libertangoHere's another article from the New York Times, again with some startling insights:
*^*^*
"Many Americans know that there are characteristic policy differences between the two parties. But few are aware of two important facts about the post-World War II era, both of which are brilliantly delineated in a new book, “Unequal Democracy,” by Larry M. Bartels, a professor of political science at Princeton. Understanding them might help voters see what could be at stake, economically speaking, in November.
I call the first fact the Great Partisan Growth Divide. Simply put, the United States economy has grown faster, on average, under Democratic presidents than under Republicans.
...
The second big historical fact, which might be called the Great Partisan Inequality Divide, is the focus of Professor Bartels’s work.
It is well known that income inequality in the United States has been on the rise for about 30 years now — an unsettling development that has finally touched the public consciousness. But Professor Bartels unearths a stunning statistical regularity: Over the entire 60-year period, income inequality trended substantially upward under Republican presidents but slightly downward under Democrats, thus accounting for the widening income gaps over all."
*^*^*
So, here's why that's so surprising, especially when connected with the Frum piece I wrote about earlier.
Republicans have the reputation of being the Party of Business. But Business actually does better when Democrats are in power. Republicans lose votes when income inequality increases, and Democrats gain. Yet, Democratic administrations have consistently reduced income inequality, and Republicans have consistently increased it.
As Frum says, "The trends we have dismissed are ending by devouring us."
The question isn't just, What's the Matter with Kansas? -- that is, why does Kansas vote Republican, when it's clearly against the voters' material interests to do so?
No, the larger question is, What's the matter with Business? For exactly the same reasons.
*^*^*
"Many Americans know that there are characteristic policy differences between the two parties. But few are aware of two important facts about the post-World War II era, both of which are brilliantly delineated in a new book, “Unequal Democracy,” by Larry M. Bartels, a professor of political science at Princeton. Understanding them might help voters see what could be at stake, economically speaking, in November.
I call the first fact the Great Partisan Growth Divide. Simply put, the United States economy has grown faster, on average, under Democratic presidents than under Republicans.
...
The second big historical fact, which might be called the Great Partisan Inequality Divide, is the focus of Professor Bartels’s work.
It is well known that income inequality in the United States has been on the rise for about 30 years now — an unsettling development that has finally touched the public consciousness. But Professor Bartels unearths a stunning statistical regularity: Over the entire 60-year period, income inequality trended substantially upward under Republican presidents but slightly downward under Democrats, thus accounting for the widening income gaps over all."
*^*^*
So, here's why that's so surprising, especially when connected with the Frum piece I wrote about earlier.
Republicans have the reputation of being the Party of Business. But Business actually does better when Democrats are in power. Republicans lose votes when income inequality increases, and Democrats gain. Yet, Democratic administrations have consistently reduced income inequality, and Republicans have consistently increased it.
As Frum says, "The trends we have dismissed are ending by devouring us."
The question isn't just, What's the Matter with Kansas? -- that is, why does Kansas vote Republican, when it's clearly against the voters' material interests to do so?
No, the larger question is, What's the matter with Business? For exactly the same reasons.
