PDF Ebook The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer
This book is written in frustration and hope. People in the United States who consider themselves progressive must be frustrated over the extent to which conservative political ideologies have managed to dominate public debate about economic policy in the last quarter century. Even when progressives have won important political battles, such as the defeat of efforts to privatize Social Security, they have done so largely without a coherent ideology; rather, this success rested on the public’s recognition that it stood to lose its retirement security with this “reform.” It also helped that the public was suspicious of the motives of the proponents of Social Security privatization. However, success in the goal-line defense of the country’s most important social program is not the same thing as a forward looking agenda.
The key flaw in the stance that most progressives have taken on economic issues is that they have accepted a framing whereby conservatives are assumed to support market outcomes, while progressives want to rely on the government. This framing leads progressives to futilely lash out against markets, rather than examining the factors that lead to undesirable market outcomes. The market is just a tool, and in fact a very useful one. It makes no more sense to lash out against markets than to lash out against the wheel.
The reality is that conservatives have been quite actively using the power of the government to shape market outcomes in ways that redistribute income upward. However, conservatives have been clever enough to not own up to their role in this process, pretending all along that everything is just the natural working of the market. And, progressives have been foolish enough to go along with this view.
The frustration with this futile debate, where conservatives like markets and progressives like government, is the driving force behind this book, along with the hope that new thinking is possible. We shall see.
I appreciate the assistance of many in the writing of this book and the conversations that led up to it. The most important people in this group are my colleagues at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Several people gave me helpful comments and feedback on earlier drafts. This list includes Michael Meeropol, Lynn Erskine, Marcellus Andrews, Mark Weisbrot, Heather Boushey, John Schmitt, Robert Johnson, Katherine McFate, and Helene Jorgensen. Since this book draws on many books and papers written over the years, the full list is much longer, but in the interest of brevity and the fear of excluding good friends, the others will remain un-named. I also thank Helene, Fulton, and Walnut for their immense patience.
CONTENTS
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
1 DOCTORS AND DISHWASHERS: How the Nanny State Creates Good Jobs for Those at the Top
2 THE WORKERS ARE GETTING UPPITY: Call In the Fed!
3 THE SECRET OF HIGH CEO PAY AND OTHER MYSTERIES OF THE CORPORATION
4 BILL GATES WELFARE MOM: How Government Patent and Copyright Monopolies Enrich the Rich and Distort the Economy
5 MOMMY, JOEY OWES ME MONEY: How Bankruptcy Laws Are Bailing Out the Rich
6 THE RIGGED LEGAL DECK: Torts and Takings (The Nanny State Only Gives)
7 SMALL BUSINESS BABIES<
8 TAXES: It’s Not Your Money
9 DON’T MAKE BIG BUSINESS COMPETE AGAINST GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATS
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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