February 28, 2017
February 2017, Dean Baker
The debate on economic policy in the United States and elsewhere is typically framed as one between conservatives who like the market and progressives who favor a large role for government. This is both wrong and wrong in a way that hugely favors conservatives. Progressive policy should focus on creating alternative structures that reverse the upward redistribution of the last four decades. While the likelihood for much progress in this direction at the national level during the Trump administration seems minimal, there will be opportunities in states where progressives still have substantial political power.
