@toddntucker's Threads
Folks have been asking for a copy of my Thinking Economically class for JHU, where we apply social science tools to understand the role of the economics profession and ideas in Washington.
Here you go! A few comments...
drive.google.com/open?id=1d52xY…
Here you go! A few comments...
drive.google.com/open?id=1d52xY…
Tentatively last year and more so this year, we're using a structured comparison between libertarianism, liberalism, and structuralism to go through most of the subfields you would have in an econ degree - e.g. labor, environmental econ, finance, etc.
We've struggled to calibrate the readings. The first two years, I went full Cambridge style - giving tons of suggested readings but not requiring students read all of it.
Beto has a trade plan! There's a lot to like.
First, he advocates for an alternative vision that is neither neoliberalism nor Trumpism. He pledges to end an unproductive trade war, but also put working people and environment at the center, not the margin.
medium.com/@BetoORourke/t…
First, he advocates for an alternative vision that is neither neoliberalism nor Trumpism. He pledges to end an unproductive trade war, but also put working people and environment at the center, not the margin.
medium.com/@BetoORourke/t…
As an example of the latter, look at what he would require be in trade agreements.
No to tax avoidance; yes to labor standards and connecting trade to the Paris climate accords.
No to tax avoidance; yes to labor standards and connecting trade to the Paris climate accords.
And I'm biased, but I really like their taking on board my proposal to ensure trade deals won't lead to declines in union density. That's a way to take the institutional impacts seriously, which in turn can help tamp down right-wing populism.
democracyjournal.org/magazine/48/to…
democracyjournal.org/magazine/48/to…
What to make of Elizabeth Warren's (@ewarren) latest trade & industrial policy plans?
In this new piece @TheNation, I argue they're as much about a theory of deploying public power to contain corporate predation as they are about discrete policy fixes.
thenation.com/article/elizab…
In this new piece @TheNation, I argue they're as much about a theory of deploying public power to contain corporate predation as they are about discrete policy fixes.
thenation.com/article/elizab…
@ewarren @thenation As the senator said in last night's debates, “Anyone who thinks that these trade deals are mostly about tariffs just doesn’t understand what’s going on.”
politico.com/newsletters/mo…
politico.com/newsletters/mo…
@ewarren @thenation That's why most of the trade plan is about things we don't typically think of as trade, like safeguarding environmental regulation, better anti-trust rules, and bringing down the cost of pharmaceuticals - all agendas limited by modern trade deals.
medium.com/@teamwarren/tr…
medium.com/@teamwarren/tr…
Everybody from Elizabeth Warren to Marco Rubio is talking about industrial policy.
"Isn't that something from the 1980s?" and "Is this the white male manufacturing policy thing?", you ask.
Wrong and wrong. My new report explains why. Thread 👇
rooseveltinstitute.org/industrial-pol…
"Isn't that something from the 1980s?" and "Is this the white male manufacturing policy thing?", you ask.
Wrong and wrong. My new report explains why. Thread 👇
rooseveltinstitute.org/industrial-pol…
The US has always had an industrial policy, which we define as a horizontal lever to influence the allocation of capital and labor between industries.
We contrast this with more traditional fiscal and monetary policy - each of which has both domestic and international dimensions
We contrast this with more traditional fiscal and monetary policy - each of which has both domestic and international dimensions
What the US has lacked is industrial *planning*. Instead, we've had an ad hoc mess of hand-outs to politically connected sectors - from Big Pharma to the defense industrial complex.
So, Trump is promising retaliation against France over the so-called GAFA tax (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) on digital companies that dodge taxes. What are the US' options? (As it happens I'm finishing up an academic paper draft on this topic as we speak.)
Brief thread.
Brief thread.
Last month, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) - the chair and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee - called on Trump to consider using "all available tools" to retaliate.
finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news…
finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news…
They specifically mentioned Section 891 of the U.S. tax code - an obscure provision of law that allow the US to double any U.S. tax owed by citizens and corporations of a country that engages in "discriminatory or extraterritorial taxes" against US corps.
law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26…
law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26…
Dear god. We really don't need adjudicators kicking up any more mischief today.
Yet here we are: WTO rules against 7 US states' renewable energy programs.
This reinforces something I've been saying for a while:
The Green New Deal needs to a plan to fix global governance.
Yet here we are: WTO rules against 7 US states' renewable energy programs.
This reinforces something I've been saying for a while:
The Green New Deal needs to a plan to fix global governance.
Here are the policies they ruled against:
Renewables plans in Washington state, California, Delaware, and Michigan.
Solar plans in Connecticut and Minnesota.
Biodiesel plans in Montana.
These states all have Blue governors trying to act in the absence of federal action.
Renewables plans in Washington state, California, Delaware, and Michigan.
Solar plans in Connecticut and Minnesota.
Biodiesel plans in Montana.
These states all have Blue governors trying to act in the absence of federal action.
The Green New Deal is premised on giving local communities a tangible economic and institutional stake in decarbonization. That means incentives to Buy Local, which the WTO will per se read as "protectionism."
It has been a big day for NAFTA 2.0, and not in good way.
Here's a thread on developments of the last 24 hours - including Pence's Canadian visit, Lighthizer's submission of NAFTA text to Congress, and Trump's impetuous launching of a trade offensive against Mexico...
Here's a thread on developments of the last 24 hours - including Pence's Canadian visit, Lighthizer's submission of NAFTA text to Congress, and Trump's impetuous launching of a trade offensive against Mexico...
Pence's Canada trip seemed like a desperate move to reignite momentum - given what Democrats are demanding (e.g. rolling back protections for Big Pharma), the Republicans don't want to give.
As I told @Naomi_Powell when we spoke early yesterday, “if you’re running a campaign with targets who won’t talk to you, what do you do? You go to Ottawa, fill the time.”
Trade was "extremely important" for 25% of voters, or 11th most important of 12 issues. Only Russia was lower.
Trade was extremely or very important for 61% of voters, at 10th place - below Kavanaugh and above climate change/Russia.
news.gallup.com/poll/244367/to…
Trade was extremely or very important for 61% of voters, at 10th place - below Kavanaugh and above climate change/Russia.
news.gallup.com/poll/244367/to…
This confirms my intuition. Trade can't be completely disregarded as an issue, but neither should it occupy pride of place. For a decent chunk of voters, it's something they feel passionately about. For a majority of voters, it's something they follow.
Politicians like Sherrod Brown - who do well in Midwestern swing states - emphasize their populist bonafides on the issue.
dispatch.com/news/20180612/…
dispatch.com/news/20180612/…
