On this episode of The Permanent Problem podcast, I’m pleased to welcome Jonathan Chait of The Atlantic to discuss the abundance movement and the future of the Democratic Party.
As someone who is center-right, w strong libertarian leanings, id be interested in any book list/recommendation you would have for someone like me to read. What would hit my blindspots directly and show the light of a maybe more center-center or even (gasp!) center-left viewpoint?
My rabbit hole has been trying to better understand how the hell we wound up here. If only allowed one recommendation, it would be “The Rise and Decline of the Neoliberal Order,” Gary Gerstle. Provides a terrific framework of how we moved from the New Deal Order to Neoliberalism, and how that Order (his term) is now in decline. Am a subscriber to Yascha Mount’s Substack. Mounk is a center-left, non woke, heterodox thinker, and an honest broker. Highly recommend.
Thanks. I've listened to Mounk a lot and generally agree with him. I am in no way MAGA, I'm probably more a Bryan Caplan or Mitt Romney rightie, if I had to define myself. So I generally agree with classical liberalism, free speech, etc....I find center-left interesting but they usually all make the same mistake: underrate the role of economic-growth. Social Programs are fine, sure, to a point, but the real alleviator of poverty is economic growth. And a more nimble smaller government tends to produce more economic growth, IMHO.
I wonder where Niscansen center types would disagree or nuance that argument. And if they have strong arguments otherwise.
Thanks for the recommendation, ill take a look at the book too.
Thanks for writing in. Despite wandering away from libertarianism, I continue to believe in the power of the core ideas of classical liberalism: suspicion of centralized power, appreciation of the enormous importance of innovation and economic growth and the power of market competition to spur it on, and recognition of all the information and incentive problems that make it so easy for the best-intentioned government policies to go terribly wrong. But while I think government needs to be dramatically simplified, I no longer believe in "small government" as a goal. In particular, I've come around to the idea that fairly robust social insurance and a dynamic, entrepreneurial market economy are complements, not antagonists. Social insurance, by limiting the downside risks of go-go capitalism for ordinary people, makes the incessant disruptions of creative destruction politically sustainable; meanwhile, a dynamic economy generates the resources to pay for the social insurance. Here's an essay I did a few years ago on what commitment to free markets and limited government looks like after you've dropped the false idol of small government. https://www.niskanencenter.org/free-markets-and-limited-government-reconceived/
Chait's and Lindsey's reminiscences were droll and interesting, but only up to a point. They needed to get to the main subject of the discussion more quickly. And even the personal reflections had a disjointed feel to them.
The fault was not that of the interviewee, though. Lindsey needs to shake off his unfocused, erratic interviewing style. The constant interruptions were made worse by his veering off topic and then not returning to it again. The audio version did not make for particularly enjoyable listening.
Chait is a good observer of the contemporary political scene. He needs a better interviewer
As someone who is center-right, w strong libertarian leanings, id be interested in any book list/recommendation you would have for someone like me to read. What would hit my blindspots directly and show the light of a maybe more center-center or even (gasp!) center-left viewpoint?
My rabbit hole has been trying to better understand how the hell we wound up here. If only allowed one recommendation, it would be “The Rise and Decline of the Neoliberal Order,” Gary Gerstle. Provides a terrific framework of how we moved from the New Deal Order to Neoliberalism, and how that Order (his term) is now in decline. Am a subscriber to Yascha Mount’s Substack. Mounk is a center-left, non woke, heterodox thinker, and an honest broker. Highly recommend.
Thanks. I've listened to Mounk a lot and generally agree with him. I am in no way MAGA, I'm probably more a Bryan Caplan or Mitt Romney rightie, if I had to define myself. So I generally agree with classical liberalism, free speech, etc....I find center-left interesting but they usually all make the same mistake: underrate the role of economic-growth. Social Programs are fine, sure, to a point, but the real alleviator of poverty is economic growth. And a more nimble smaller government tends to produce more economic growth, IMHO.
I wonder where Niscansen center types would disagree or nuance that argument. And if they have strong arguments otherwise.
Thanks for the recommendation, ill take a look at the book too.
Thanks for writing in. Despite wandering away from libertarianism, I continue to believe in the power of the core ideas of classical liberalism: suspicion of centralized power, appreciation of the enormous importance of innovation and economic growth and the power of market competition to spur it on, and recognition of all the information and incentive problems that make it so easy for the best-intentioned government policies to go terribly wrong. But while I think government needs to be dramatically simplified, I no longer believe in "small government" as a goal. In particular, I've come around to the idea that fairly robust social insurance and a dynamic, entrepreneurial market economy are complements, not antagonists. Social insurance, by limiting the downside risks of go-go capitalism for ordinary people, makes the incessant disruptions of creative destruction politically sustainable; meanwhile, a dynamic economy generates the resources to pay for the social insurance. Here's an essay I did a few years ago on what commitment to free markets and limited government looks like after you've dropped the false idol of small government. https://www.niskanencenter.org/free-markets-and-limited-government-reconceived/
Think an interviewer should speak less than the person being interviewed. Oh, and avoid interrupting.
Chait's and Lindsey's reminiscences were droll and interesting, but only up to a point. They needed to get to the main subject of the discussion more quickly. And even the personal reflections had a disjointed feel to them.
The fault was not that of the interviewee, though. Lindsey needs to shake off his unfocused, erratic interviewing style. The constant interruptions were made worse by his veering off topic and then not returning to it again. The audio version did not make for particularly enjoyable listening.
Chait is a good observer of the contemporary political scene. He needs a better interviewer