“I’m a capitalist,” President Biden said in the State of the Union address. Yeah, right. He then added, “But pay your fair share.” He’s missing the fashionable modifiers for capitalism: late, sustainable, patrimonial, state-directed. Real capitalism is, by definition, a meritocracy in which money flows to those providing the highest returns. No modifiers needed.
Why do I suspect this? Because Jared Bernstein—the economist who, like an old REO Speedwagon T-shirt, has been hanging around Joe Biden seemingly forever—said the quiet part out loud. Just before being nominated to run the Council of Economic Advisers, Mr. Bernstein told the Brookings Institution, “We’re trying to do, you know, what we believe, what the president believes . . . is really great, important policy on behalf of strengthening workers. And sometimes that’s not necessarily all kosher economics, sometimes it’s political economics. And sometimes you have to do things that may not be as aesthetically appealing in a neoclassical model.” Lael Brainard, nominated as director of the National Economic Council, worries about “irreversible ‘tipping points’ that introduce new climate shocks.” These aren’t the people who should be making economic policy.
What kickbacks? Start with up to $20,000 in student-loan forgiveness for tens of millions of voters who took on debt to overpay for college. Those who saved and paid retail get nothing. While it’s likely to be struck down by the Supreme Court, it’s also a kickback to universities that constantly raise prices and hire more administrators. In 2021 the average university had 45 diversity, equity and inclusion officers, according to a Heritage Foundation report.