The liberal vice is thinking that all good things go together. Every progressive goal will simultaneously boost economic growth and create jobs. Any carbon tax increase devastates the economy.
The conservative vice is arguing that costs are so catastrophically large that other policy goals don’t merit consideration. Any Covid social-distancing measure killed jobs. Any carbon tax increase destroys growth. Any regulation devastates the economy.
Sufferers from the liberal vice get the signs wrong about trade-offs. They think raising the minimum wage increases employment without job loss.
Each vice leads to a failure to take trade-offs seriously. Liberals do benefit-only analysis in which everything passes because all good things go together. Conservatives do cost-only analysis in which everything fails because economic effects dwarf all other considerations. In both cases, economic analysis becomes propaganda for predetermined conclusions rather than a tool for making difficult choices.
この記事は The Wall Street Journal の January 08, 2025 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は The Wall Street Journal の January 08, 2025 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン