Friday, June 8, 2012

Reagan was a pro-corporations Keynesian

Krugman notes today that Reagan was a Keynesian. And in a sense he is correct. The fact is that Republicans, at least since Ford, have been the Keynesians, or the party of Big Government if you prefer, while Dems since Carter have been the small government party. The problem is that Republicans are Big Government for the wealthy and corporations, and nobody wants government for the unions and the poor. See this debate between Barbara Bergmann, Jeff Frankel, Bill Niskanen, and Larry Seidman from 2004 (with a longish intro by Berglund and Vernengo) where the issue is raised. So if Obama wins you get sort of almost anti-Keynesian policies, between the Democratic timidity (let's call it that), and the Republican obstructionism (yeah, that's also a nice euphemism). And if you get Romney, you'll get conservative Keynesianism, tax cuts for the wealthy and spending benefiting certain corporations.

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