If you start knowing that “Wealthier people derive more of their income from returns on saving—both in dollar terms and as a proportion of income—than poor people do.” You can quickly guess what Bush’s economic policy might be:
The nation’s current economic policy came to Washington in care of R. Glenn Hubbard and Lawrence B. Lindsey …. [They] saw cutting taxes on savings and wealth as a recipe for faster growth. Their plans were consistent with supply-side economics, which had dominated Republican policy for decades, since they targeted the economy’s long-run potential to grow rather than short-run fine-tuning of demand. But the focus on savings was a departure from earlier conservative doctrine.
The author of the above article in Slate is Daniel Altman, a former member of the New York Times editorial board. You can now buy his new book Neoconomy, which
explains the intellectual origins of the neoconomy; how the White House passed it off as a cure for the stagnation and uncertainty plaguing the nation; how George W. Bush locked the nation onto his chosen path, incurring huge risks while casting the nation deeper into debt; and finally, how the whole gamble might play out: as the neoconomist’s dream, or the breadwinner’s nightmare.
Get <a href=“the book!
(Full disclosure: Daniel Altman is a family friend.)
