10.13.08
Santa & Supply-Side Economics
OK … today I risk another tongue lashing (Mouse lashing? Keyboard lashing?) for taking on a subject out of my field, but I’m a smart-enough cookie to know wrong-thinking when I come across it. (Full disclosure: I am a writer and not an economist.)
So this week, FD takes a look at … the economic crisis!! (Drum roll, please!)
First up is so-called Supply-Side Economics. Until recently, I never fully understood what these theories and policies really meant, except fuel the market and everything will take care of itself.
Well, the reality is more insidious … and is one of the reasons we’re in this pickle. Starting in the 1980s (Reagan anyone?) certain theories came to predominate this country’s economic policies. Top among them was “supply-side” or, as some of us would say, Trickle Down economic politics.
The theory of Supply-Side is to give more to those who already have it … give more where the supply already is. Favor those who have the supply … tax cuts for the richest and for the biggest companies.
Without getting too far into the workings of this theory, it’s not too hard to see what lies at the heart of it: Stimulate the economy by stoking the big dogs.
An interesting conversation yesterday on my front porch with a friend, who’s well-read and perceptive. He manages enormous construction contracts and bids. A big-picture thinker who’s also quite conversant in art and music.
He described to me an alternative of Demand-Side Economics that would favor people who work for a living by stimulating projects, such as much-needed infrastructure.
TOMORROW: More on the economic crisis, featuring Adjustable Rate Mortgages!!
TODAY: HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH WEBSTER
