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stupidicus

(2,570 posts)
Wed Feb 24, 2016, 02:02 PM Feb 2016

The Sanders "Economic Plan" Controversy, or who's lying an why?

http://crooksandliars.com/2016/02/sanders-economic-plan-controversy

This is happening to the story about Sander's proposals, and Friedman's analysis of their effect on the economy. For example, Kevin Drum, who originally wrote, "Bernie Sanders' Campaign Has Crossed Into Neverland" is taking it back. In "On Second Thought, Maybe Bernie Sanders' Growth Claims Aren't As Crazy As I Thought," Drum actually puts Sanders' proposals through some actual analysis – none of the other critics had done this – and writes, "t turns out that...Friedman isn't projecting anything wildly out of the ordinary after all. ... I set out to take another whack at these projections, and I didn't really get what I expected. So I figured I should share."

Unfortunately Drum still says these are Sanders' claims instead of Friedman's. But you take what you can get.

So the turnaround is beginning. In the 90's the "establishment" may have gotten away with this and established a "truthiness" to the claim that Sanders' numbers don't add up (even though they are actually Friedman's numbers). Spending on fixing our infrastructure actually would "create jobs" and raise wages. Shifting health care costs off of people's and business' backs though a Medicare-for-All plan actually would help the economy. Increasing Social Security benefits and the minimum wage actually would enable people to spend more at local stores, boosting the economy.

We don't have to accept slow growth, resulting from austerity policies, as the "new normal." Our economy is currently resisting treacherous global economic conditions and those conditions, if anything, could plausibly argue for the U.S. to accelerate against the global headwinds to prevent us from joining other countries in an economic spiral downward. In fact, it is in the interest of the rest of the world for the U.S. to play this role. And that is exactly what Sanders' proposals do.
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