Thread by @rickperlstein

For friends across the pond; also historians too ready to draw lines between books politicians claim to have read and those books' "influence" thereupon. Also #liztruss, the latter-day milk-snatcher who tells all and sundry of her "favorite historian": ME.
spectator.co.uk/article/liz-tr…

Liz. Can't. Read (Rather, let's viralize that shite: #LizCantRead.)

Herewith, THE HISTORY LESSON #LizTruss missed....

1. In the late 70s, the U.S.'s economy in a cocked hat and conventional Keynesian—"liberal"—solutions failing, all sorts of intellectual entrepreneurs on the the right came forth with their solutions to the problem, as I narrate in REAGANLAND, a volume Liz claims to have read...

So, many solutions on the table--and the one that prevailed was the one that all the ACTUALLY HALF-WAY QUALIFED experts on the right knew was nothing but a fairy tale on par with "Jack in the Beanstalk." (Do Britty kiddies read that?).

Yes, the GOP chose a solution devised by a dude whose only economic training, in his own description, came from learning to count cards at the blackjack tables in Las Vegas. I wish I were making this up, but I am not.

They chose this solution--lowering taxes, especially on the rich, that supposedly would "pay for themselves" and rain propserity down on everyone--despite it never having been tried, let alone worked, because it would win them votes; on this they were quite explicit.

And why did they chose this theory, absurd and untested as it was? They were explicit: because it could win them votes.

BUT WHAT IF IT DIDN'T WORK? Well, the dude most responsible for selling the Magic Beans baldly explained--in a newspaper--it would be the opposition party holding the bag. (Did I mention this he wrote this in an actual newspaper, in real time?)

So, yes, this is apparently what your prime minister read, and thought, "Jolly good!! Let's give it a go!!"

Republicans in 1980 had a sliver of moral defense for the fiasco that followed--it hadn't been tried, and they had to try something. Not #LizTrus. IN 2010, a right-wing National Review writer admitted it: "supply side" failed every time it was tried. thenation.com/article/archiv…

I called that writer up to ask what impact his admission had. He replied, "None...it's hard to get them to acknowledge it in public because it's become such a piece of dogma." I'm so sorrry, UK. I really did try to explain it as plainly as I know how. Coloring book, next time?

@nickcohen4, @tomMctague, @JeremyCliffe, @chedwardes