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i loved this interview. not just because delong points that the political alignment you need to support centrist policies does not exist, but because he is open about the fact that centrist policies are often not the best or most effective policies. vox.com/policy-and-pol…
and that's not a dig at centrist policy! rather, it's an acknowledgement that all policy is influenced by political considerations and ideologies about what is the most desired/desirable political economy.
rarely are we allowed to talk about policies proposed from the left without that acknowledgement. but centrist policy is often treated like it is inherently objective, logical, and uninfluenced by political concerns.
the truth, of course, is that it's no less ideological. the policies on our books now were chosen not simply because they were efficient or effective but because they support a particular view about how the public + private should interact and how power should be distributed.
and as delong says, because of underlying ideas about what policies can pass and what types of support (popular, intraparty, bipartisan, etc) is needed to make said policies durable and entrenched.
