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Paul Krugman @paulkrugman
, 5 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
I've been doing some historical research into why so many Americans now say they support socialism. It really is important to realize that Republicans have systematically identified the social safety net with socialism 1/
In 2008, John McCain repeatedly declared that Barack Obama wanted socialism, because he advocated universal health care 2/ articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/19/na…
In 2012, Mitt Romney accused Obama of wanting to bring "European socialist policies" to America, by which he meant policies like those in Denmark 3/ telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews…
So if you think Denmark looks pretty good, Republicans say you're a socialist, and people start to think socialism looks pretty good too. If the GOP then pretends that support for "socialism" means wanting government control of the means of production, that's bait-and-switch 4/
I mean, I know that Trump and others have problems with geography, time zones, and all that, but Denmark is not the same country as Venezuela 5/
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Good piece from Bloomberg pointing out that Sweden actually has a top marginal rate of almost 70% -- and grass is hardly growing in the streets 1/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
I'd also point out that while the US federal top rate is only 37 -- it was 39.6 before the TCJA -- there are also state and local taxes. If you're a high earner in New York City, you pay almost 9% state and almost 4% city tax at the margin 2/
Plus sales taxes -- 4.5% state and 4% city -- also reduce the purchasing power of a marginal dollar earned. Put all of this together and high earned-income individuals (as opposed to capital incomes) pay a marginal rate of 55-60% 3/
Read 5 tweets
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There's a political puzzle that has worried me for a while, and is highlighted by some of the responses to today's column. What some of the pushback against @SenWarren comes down to is "I feel like she's talking down to me" 1/ nytimes.com/2019/01/07/opi…
The reason this is puzzling is that she really isn't. She does try to explain issues, but there isn't any condescension I can find -- and nothing like the sneering contempt for his supporters that shines through everything Trump does and says 2/
Yet this is a real thing, not to be wished away. And I don't think it's just sexism -- in general, politicians who try to understand issues get grief from a segment of voters who seem perfectly happy with politicians who clearly consider them chumps 3/
Read 5 tweets
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This is a mostly good summary of interesting papers presented at the ASSA meetings -- but tellingly misrepresents what the paper by @ojblanchard1 actually said 1/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Here's how the authors put it: 2/
But if you read the actual paper, it doesn't say anything like "debt is bad but not catastrophic". It notes that in simple models a situation like the one we're in, in which interest rates are below growth rates, is one in which debt is actually good 3/ aeaweb.org/aea/2019confer…
Read 5 tweets

Related threads

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Trump and Mussolini: 11 Key Lessons from Historical Fascism

Italian fascism provides a better model for our moment than Nazi Germany—and the comparison is not encouraging.

By: @Anis_Shivani for @AlterNet
Thread ✔
1/
Fascism is a religion. The 20th century will be known in history as the century of fascism.
〰️ Benito Mussolini

2/
I’d like to draw some comparisons and contrasts between our present situation and that of #fascist Italy between 1922 and 1945. I choose fascist #Italy rather than #Nazi #Germany because it has always seemed to me a better comparison.
3/
Read 169 tweets
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Sigh.

I've already taught this class.

@HillaryClinton was never "unpopular," and this is especially true when compared to leading Republicans who almost always have net negative ratings.

Believe it or not from 2008 til mid 2015 @HillaryClinton was, the most popular.

1/
From 2008 - mid-2015 Clinton's approval rarely sank below 63% for long stretches of time superceded her boss in popularity.

In terms of the rest of DC no one came close to either of them.

The narrative you've embraced is fiction.

@AndrewHarbison1
This popularity was a mixed blessing, however. The Republicans, already anxious about 2016, began to realize that if Clinton decided to run that they had no chance of regaining the White House.

Polls throughout 2013 and 2014 we're clear about this.

@AndrewHarbison1
Read 19 tweets
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1) Modern Europe – liberal, democratic Europe – is the United States’ creation. This story was once known to every American, but as the generation responsible for this achievement dies, so too has the knowledge ceased to be passed down casually, within families.
2) The United States built this modern order upon an architecture of specific institutions: the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the International Court of Justice, the World Economic Forum, and above all NATO and the US.
3) The global order we built is in effect an empire, but onr far more humane than European imperialism. It rests upon two beliefs, one idealistic and the other realistic: The first is the idea that certain moral values are universal [continued]
Read 28 tweets
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1/ The Israeli govt is committing crimes against humanity. Simultaneously, anti-semitism is on the rise on the racist U.S. right. Anti-semitism also flares up on the left, as many conflate Jewish ppl w/ Israel. So, I wld like to share some data on the beliefs of Jewish Americans.
2/ All of this data is from a 2013 Pew Opinion Poll. The terminology in the poll was carefully selected, so I will use that terminology: "Jews by religion" to denote Jewish Americans who are religious. "Jewish by no-religion" to denote Jewish Americans who are not religious.
3/ So, let's get down to some of the data.

*89*% of Jewish Americans believe being *strongly* critical of the Israel govt is *compatible* w/ being Jewish.

This includes 88% of Jews-by-religion.
Read 20 tweets
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MARCO RUBIO’s HYPOTHESIS: Those against gun bans “want to prevent mass shootings, too. They view banning guns as an infringement on the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens that ultimately will not prevent these tragedies.”.
This is called the Scientific Method. To test his hypothesis (which means millions of lives), research is required.
RESEARCH BIAS; Rubio has an A+ rating from the gun rights group for supporting NRA-friendly legislation. According to the New York Times, he has received $3.3 million from the group. (Research bias,performing the research influence the results to portray a certain outcome.)
Read 13 tweets
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1. @GeorgeLakoff has once again identified a vexing and paradoxical challenge to liberal politics: Should we pay attention to everything President Donald Trump says, or should we pick and choose what to focus on?
2. The problem, according to the eminent cognitive scientist, is that chasing every tweet allows the president to frame the debate in ways preferable to him and his Republican Party.
3. Worse, Lakoff wrote in a series of tweets, repeating Trump’s framing “embeds them deeply in the brains of millions of people” as well as increases “his credibility with his base.”
Read 37 tweets

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