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Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Listen to this silliness from Alan Blinder, Princeton Economics professor and vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, 1994-96.

In Praise of the Great Society

Blinder wants to raise the minimum wage, encourage unions and fight monopsony by handing out a “predistribution” of free money and by making the government the buyer of last resort.

Please consider Alan Blinder’s WSJ op-ed, Shore Up the Social Safety Net With ‘Predistribution’

Amazingly, Blinder moans …

… Which explains why the EU is the beacon of global leadership, technology, jobs production, and innovation. /not

The Need for Predistribution

Absolutely! And we even did a comprehensive test proving how well the idea works. When we paid people not to work in the Covid pandemic. They didn’t. Prices soared and companies had a miserable time finding workers.

I see the problem here. Do you? As Blinder suggests, we did not “pursue these policies vigorously enough.” /not

Predistribution How?

Of course. Polling also suggests people want a chicken in every pot and a free EV to drive. But is there a test of this idea?

Yes!

Please note the Cost of Running a McDonalds Jumps $250,000 in CA Due to Minimum Wage Hikes

Tut! Tut! you might say, and those are indeed harsh words. I sympathize. California must be booming after pursuing policies like those for decades, leading the nation in employment.

Hmm. That might look damning, but I am quite sure you are with me right now.

[ZH: this morning's jobless claims data showed a massive surge in California]

The problem is obvious. California is just not doing enough! /not

The Need for Antimonopsony Policies

This is another promising idea, fully tested in Chicago.

Please note Chicago Teachers’ Union Seeks $50 Billion Despite $700 Million City Deficit

Wait a second. Did Blinder forget to address the public union monopsony where corrupt politicians get in bed with corrupt union leaders, holding the taxpayers hostage?

Well. Tut Tut again. I am sure this is unique to Chicago. /not

Do It Voluntarily (Or Else?)

In his last op-ed paragraph, Blinder finally gets to the key point. I am sure everyone who is still following along agrees.

We need to voluntarily destroy capitalism to save it. The unfortunate corollary is … otherwise, governments will have to destroy capitalism to save it.

We fully tested this idea in the Vietnam War decades ago with the philosophy “We have to destroy the town to save it.”

Somehow, the idea never quite caught on. The reason is clear. We did not pursue the policy vigorously enough! If only we did, we could be better than the EU and more like Venezuela.

Who wouldn’t want that?