Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Economist
Argues 'Pie in the Sky' Sanders Will, in Fact, 'Make Economy Great Again'
Leading economist argues that Sanders' bold
economic agenda would 'deliver standards of well-being for the overwhelming
majority of Americans in ways that we have not experienced for generations.'
Bernie Sanders' "Future to Believe
In" is based, according to economists, on "solid economic reasoning
and evidence." (Photo: Gage Skidmore/cc/flickr)
As the Democratic primary race tightens,
Hillary Clinton has been trying to cast opponent Bernie Sanders as
unrealistic and "pie in the sky," but a leading University of
Massachusetts economist says such criticisms are "dead wrong" and, in
fact, the Vermont senator's proposals are precisely what will "make the
economy great again."
In a column published at The Nation on
Tuesday, Robert Pollin, distinguished professor in economics at UMass Amherst
and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), examines
the major policy items under Sanders' economic agenda. These include a
single-payer healthcare system; increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an
hour; free tuition at public colleges and universities, to be financed by a
"Robin Hood" tax on Wall Street transactions; and large-scale public
investments in renewable energy and infrastructure.
Pollin's conclusion: this program works,
handily.
"All of his major proposals are grounded
in solid economic reasoning and evidence," Pollin states.
"Overall, the Sanders program is capable
of raising living standards and reducing insecurity for working people and the
poor, expanding higher educational opportunities, and reversing the
decades-long trend toward rising inequality," Pollin writes. "It
could bring Wall Street’s dominance under control and help prevent a repeat of
the financial crisis. It will also strongly support investments in education,
clean energy, and public infrastructure, generating millions of good jobs in
the process."
Pollin's analysis builds on previous
research, including his own. It takes a big-picture look at the potential
impact of Sanders' policies, refuting claims made by Clinton and her supporters
that they would stymie job and economic growth.
When discussing the minimum wage increase,
Pollin dismisses the idea that employers would not be able to absorb the cost
of the wage increase. Citing a recent study by PERI colleague Jeannette
Wicks-Lim and himself, Pollin states, "even fast-food restaurants, which
employ a disproportionate share of minimum wage workers, are likely to see
their overall business costs rise by only about 3.4 percent per year during a
four-year phase-in for a $15 minimum wage."
Pollin argues that the overall economy will
benefit "from the gains in equality tied to the minimum-wage
increase," explaining that "greater equality means working people
have more spending power, which in turn supports greater overall demand in the
economy."
Referencing a paper that he along
with a team of UMass economists published earlier this month, Pollin also
concludes that the Inclusive Prosperity Act co-sponsored by
Sanders in the Senate and U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) in the House,
"could conservatively generate around $300 billion per year in new
government revenue" through a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which
"would be more than enough to finance in full the Sanders proposal to
provide free college tuition for all U.S. students."
At the time of that writing, National Nurses
United executive director RoseAnn DeMoro published a column at Common
Dreams which she wrote that it is "no surprise" that
"Wall Street moguls, and their surrogates in the media and Washington,
hate [the legislation]."
"But," DeMoro added,
"shamefully, many in the liberal and Democratic Party elite, from Hillary
Clinton to her surrogates in the Democratic National Committee and Congress
have also attacked Sanders' social change agenda as 'pie in the sky.'"
In fact, Clinton used that very same language
at a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, telling supporters that she wasn't a candidate
just proposing "pie in the sky stuff" in order to win votes.
Contrary to the criticisms lobbed against
Sanders bold economic plan, Pollin concludes that the agenda would both grow
the economy "at a healthy rate," and at the same time "deliver
standards of well-being for the overwhelming majority of Americans, as well as
the environment, in ways that we have not experienced for generations."
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"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives."
Eugene Victor Debs
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