Politics, Public Goods and Fiscal Policy

Healthcare, Politics and Fiscal Policy

Robert Samuelson notes

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-health-care-controls-us/2017/07/23/cd157e00-6e38-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html

“If we learned anything from the bitter debate over the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) — which seems doubtful — it is that we cannot discuss health care in a way that is at once compassionate and rational. This is a significant failure, because providing and financing health care have become, over the past half-century, the principal activity of the federal government.”

Related: Why Obamacare Survived by Jeffrey Frankel

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/why-repeal-and-replace-obamacare-failed-by-jeffrey-frankel-2017-07

Why deficits might be with us forever by Robert Samuelson

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-deficits-might-be-with-us-forever/2017/07/19/c9a118ae-6c96-11e7-b9e2-2056e768a7e5_story.html

Robert Samuelson wisely observes:

“There is a giant mismatch between what Americans want from government and what they’ll pay for with taxes.”

Democracy and Economic Policies

Noah Smith’s interesting column on fiscal policies

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-07-21/be-clear-eyed-about-democracy-s-weaknesses