I am curious about the empirical evidence that monopolies and price gouging didn't drive inflation. We've all seen the charts that show corporate profits at record highs since 2020 and saw CEOs bragging about pricing power and using inflation as cover. It doesn't seem like a stretch to connect those dots, or are we just splitting hairs by saying "driving" vs "contributing" to inflation? Of course multiple factors caused inflation, but to suggest that there is no evidence that greedflation played a role seems disingenuous at best.
And how solid is the evidence that calling out corporate power didn't resonate with voters? For starters, the Democratic party never takes a stand on this. Kamala mentioned corporate greed and price gouging for maybe 2 weeks, and then for some reason, that messaging completely disappeared. If they would have explained monopoly power and cartels and the consequences of that concentration of power, it would poll better.
But Dems don't talk about this stuff because these corporations and their owners fund their campaigns. If I may... 2+2=4. Is it a coincidence that Bernie and AOC, two of the few Dems who do call out how the game is rigged, are the most popular Dems? And when it comes to empirical evidence, it's so easy nowadays to cherry pick data and present it in such a way to support a conclusion. Not everybody can engage in philosophical or intellectual debate, but that doesn't mean the majority of the population can't see through the bullshit. Sure, corporate power isn't the only driver of inequality, but it's most definitely at the top of the list.
The stock market goes up and down largely based on earnings and projected earnings. The huge rise from the pandemic lows came from the rise in profits and part of that came from inflated prices. Corporations put up prices. Joe Biden didn’t.
A few things, the first being that I think the work done by Matt Stoller on his BIG newsletter and the writings of Cory Doctorow (both linked below) do a good job demonstrating that market concentration is a bipartisan issue that regular voters care about, the second is that the political scientist, Henry Farrell, has done a good job (politely) highlighting some other instances where Noah Smith just fundamentally misunderstands how power works in our existing system of political economy and exhibits certain other blind spots (linked below), and third it's been empirically proven that those with extreme wealth have an outsized influence on the policy decisions made by our legislators which Smith doesn't seem to acknowledge muchl (also linked).
I'm not trying to denigrate Noah Smith, even if I disagree with him quite frequently (perhaps more than others), but these are all relevant topics that lend credence to your take over his.
The DNC has been pulled for years between dilly dallying with corporate donations and a base that has become less and less working class and more educated coastal elites, which on the face of it is absurd. The Democrats, as the liberals, the more progressive party, or should be, have in the words of Bernie Sanders, “abandoned the working class”. And now, surprise, surprise, are less popular than ever. Rather than preserving decorum, as our leaders were asked to do in Congress the other week before Trump’s lie-filled speech, they should have resisted strongly. THIS is want the Democratic base wants. Not tepid response to tyranny. A vociferous call to action, not censorship of their own member for not sitting down. Oh please!! And many people don’t vote? Because Congress does not bother (Dems or Reps) to focus on their needs enough. The DNC needs to develop think tanks more effectively, as the right has done over decades, to win back many in the working class. Too many people have abandoned the DNC because they have been largely ignored.
Thank you for this article. I like this lens of epistemic liberalism you have introduced me to.
Micheal Sellers turned me on to your work and you turned me on to Curtis Yarvin…that article completely changed my way I was digesting the administrative coup. Your work provides me with greater clarity and perspective. Thank you for that.
Very well thought out and appropriate call out of National Review. Lately they have reminded me of their habit of always trying to be the lofty elites championing the ideals of our great founding fathers, unless of course, it gets even the slightest bit of push back from the dumbest and most non-serious entities on the internet. They are so averse to calling out the delay delay and stumble tactic of the left it makes me even wonder why they continue to get the respect they seem to be showered with.
Deeply nuanced which means probably inaccessible to most who just want to see it in black and white. Come to think of it, social media formats have trained us to do just that and nuance has become a foreign language.
Interesting and thought-provoking... thank you.
I am curious about the empirical evidence that monopolies and price gouging didn't drive inflation. We've all seen the charts that show corporate profits at record highs since 2020 and saw CEOs bragging about pricing power and using inflation as cover. It doesn't seem like a stretch to connect those dots, or are we just splitting hairs by saying "driving" vs "contributing" to inflation? Of course multiple factors caused inflation, but to suggest that there is no evidence that greedflation played a role seems disingenuous at best.
And how solid is the evidence that calling out corporate power didn't resonate with voters? For starters, the Democratic party never takes a stand on this. Kamala mentioned corporate greed and price gouging for maybe 2 weeks, and then for some reason, that messaging completely disappeared. If they would have explained monopoly power and cartels and the consequences of that concentration of power, it would poll better.
But Dems don't talk about this stuff because these corporations and their owners fund their campaigns. If I may... 2+2=4. Is it a coincidence that Bernie and AOC, two of the few Dems who do call out how the game is rigged, are the most popular Dems? And when it comes to empirical evidence, it's so easy nowadays to cherry pick data and present it in such a way to support a conclusion. Not everybody can engage in philosophical or intellectual debate, but that doesn't mean the majority of the population can't see through the bullshit. Sure, corporate power isn't the only driver of inequality, but it's most definitely at the top of the list.
The stock market goes up and down largely based on earnings and projected earnings. The huge rise from the pandemic lows came from the rise in profits and part of that came from inflated prices. Corporations put up prices. Joe Biden didn’t.
A few things, the first being that I think the work done by Matt Stoller on his BIG newsletter and the writings of Cory Doctorow (both linked below) do a good job demonstrating that market concentration is a bipartisan issue that regular voters care about, the second is that the political scientist, Henry Farrell, has done a good job (politely) highlighting some other instances where Noah Smith just fundamentally misunderstands how power works in our existing system of political economy and exhibits certain other blind spots (linked below), and third it's been empirically proven that those with extreme wealth have an outsized influence on the policy decisions made by our legislators which Smith doesn't seem to acknowledge muchl (also linked).
Matt Stoller (policy piece for the American Economics Liberty Foundation where he serves (served?) as director): https://www.economicliberties.us/our-work/democratizing-markets-how-the-biden-administration-can-advance-an-antitrust-and-competition-policy-agenda-for-working-people-independent-businesses-and-resilient-communities/
Matt Stoller BIG newsletter: https://www.thebignewsletter.com/
Cory Doctorow's blog posts tagged with 'market concentration: https://pluralistic.net/tag/market-concentration/
Dr. Henry Farrell politely pointing out some of Noah Smith's blind spots:
https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/dr-panglosss-panopticon
https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/power-a-primer-for-perplexed-economists
Distortion effects of wealth on policy decisions:
https://home.watson.brown.edu/news/2021-11-03/dark-side-extreme-wealth
I'm not trying to denigrate Noah Smith, even if I disagree with him quite frequently (perhaps more than others), but these are all relevant topics that lend credence to your take over his.
The DNC has been pulled for years between dilly dallying with corporate donations and a base that has become less and less working class and more educated coastal elites, which on the face of it is absurd. The Democrats, as the liberals, the more progressive party, or should be, have in the words of Bernie Sanders, “abandoned the working class”. And now, surprise, surprise, are less popular than ever. Rather than preserving decorum, as our leaders were asked to do in Congress the other week before Trump’s lie-filled speech, they should have resisted strongly. THIS is want the Democratic base wants. Not tepid response to tyranny. A vociferous call to action, not censorship of their own member for not sitting down. Oh please!! And many people don’t vote? Because Congress does not bother (Dems or Reps) to focus on their needs enough. The DNC needs to develop think tanks more effectively, as the right has done over decades, to win back many in the working class. Too many people have abandoned the DNC because they have been largely ignored.
Thank you for this article. I like this lens of epistemic liberalism you have introduced me to.
Micheal Sellers turned me on to your work and you turned me on to Curtis Yarvin…that article completely changed my way I was digesting the administrative coup. Your work provides me with greater clarity and perspective. Thank you for that.
Very well thought out and appropriate call out of National Review. Lately they have reminded me of their habit of always trying to be the lofty elites championing the ideals of our great founding fathers, unless of course, it gets even the slightest bit of push back from the dumbest and most non-serious entities on the internet. They are so averse to calling out the delay delay and stumble tactic of the left it makes me even wonder why they continue to get the respect they seem to be showered with.
Deeply nuanced which means probably inaccessible to most who just want to see it in black and white. Come to think of it, social media formats have trained us to do just that and nuance has become a foreign language.
Call me non-binary, I've never been a fan of dichotomies, kissing cousins to lobotomies, to be glib.