The New York Times recently
published a think piece on the economic policy of presidential candidate Bernie
Sanders, offering insight on how his views stood in relation to John Maynard
Keynes. Keynes theory presents that after some point, there will be a cost of
government intervention on the economy. Opposing this theory, Sanders has an
idea that holds that it is not quite the people who set the price, but the government
and corporations who in time can set these prices, to which the people will ultimately
have to accept. Sanders has placed emphasis on free college, increasing
infrastructure, increasing minimum wage and many other programs will ultimately
work despite the fact that this largely plays against the traditional ideas of
even leftist economics. What are your thoughts? In time, could his ideas work?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/magazine/bernienomics-might-not-be-feasible-but-its-useful.html?ref=economy
I think that these are such radical changes, and with so many people in congress stuck in their ways, I don't see a lot of it happening even if he were president. I think that he could have an influence on many of these policies he would like to have in place, but that the policies in his presidency that would actually result would at best only contain traces of the many scenarios he has presented.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Chris. Regardless of whether one supports Bernie's polices or not, the question is what kind of impact can he really have. It seems that someone more moderate may be the most production whether its a republican or democrat. Often the general public will put a lot of weight on what they think the president can do to improve the economy, but often its more the social changes that the president impacts. The president may be sort of stuck with whatever the economy is like when he/she walks into office and issues can be too complex for a president to make any effective moves.
ReplyDeleteCould they work? Probably. However, I don't see Congress, or a solid portion of the United States supporting it. People don't like change, even if that change could potentially lead to a better well being in the future. Therefore, I don't see his policies ever truly coming to fruition.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Samuel. I don't see Sanders having a large economic impact if elected president. His proposed changes are impulsive and rather extreme, and I don't see Congress backing him. While his ideas may seem appealing to the public, they most likely won't be put into action anytime in the near future.
ReplyDeleteI think Bernie Sanders' policies have the right intentions but some of them are just so far out an unrealistic that they will be difficult to carry out and make everyone involved happy.
ReplyDeleteWith a like minded Congress and House, anything is possible, though such extensive changes like Senator Sanders proposes are unlikely to go through. Not only will the mostly Republican House be unlikely to ever even give it to the Senate to see, there are no immediate reasons on the whole to pass this type of plan. A good example is The New Deal, which was on a much larger scale in comparison to these plans. However, it was also in response to the Great Depression, where 25% were unemployed. Modern day America thankfully doesn't have that, and thus lacks the immediate call for intervention. Many far left activists are calling for free college amongst other things, but the nation as a whole is not facing a crisis and will be hesitant even under pressure to act. You could say like with the 2008 Recession, until things are bad, it is unlikely to be fixed. Simply put, not enough people want it fixed.
ReplyDeleteHis policies would "Work" but the question of if they would work well or for the benefit of society is the real question. I think Sanders ideas are noble but there are problems that exist with them. Raising the minimum wage is something we have done countless times in the past. While I do not want to get into a debate on the morality of the minimum wage, from an economic standpoint it is a price floor. Given the fact that most low skilled jobs have an equilibrium that is lower than this floor it would cause businesses to hire less workers. In addition to fix our infrastructure it would require a lot of money which would most likely come from an increase in taxes. This would increase government spending. Ultimately I have to agree with everyone from the comments above, I do not think any of these policies would pass through congress. I think Sanders is using these ideas in order to attract a certain demographic of voters. Once we get to the general election, both sides will calm down and each candidate of both sides will calm down on these hasty promises.
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