My colleague @tylercowen predicts that coronavirus will massively damage the cause of progressivism in the U.S...
bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
I think on social issues (openness of borders), he's probably right. Also he didn't mention it, but I think I've read that epidemics increase support for authoritarian government. I think we're also seeing a "rally round the flag" boost for Trump.
But on economic issues, I think he's probably wrong. The economic devastation of coronavirus makes govt. assistance a necessity instead of a luxury. And the epidemic itself makes public goods a necessity instead of a luxury.
He's right that progressives won't be able to draw as strong a *contrast* based on their redistributionary stances. But their *ideas* - more govt. involvement in the health sector, more redistribution - will gain broad currency where before they were bitterly controversial.
The Depression took the wind out of socialists' sails as a movement, but only because the New Dealers massively increased the role of government in the economy. I see a strong possibility that coronavirus will have a similar effect.
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