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Neoconomy: George Bush's Revolutionary Gamble with America's Future
The a place without taxes, without a social safety net, where rich and poor live in different financial worlds -- and it's coming to America.
The first glimpses of the neoconomy appeared during the Reagan administration, but were soon clouded by a legacy of sky-high budget deficits. George H. W. Bush couldn't afford the neoconomy. In the Clinton years, its prospects all but disappeared in a flurry of economic fine-tuning that delivered record-setting budget surpluses and rock-bottom unemployment rates. But just when you might have counted it out, the neoconomy found a savior. George W.Bush was a businessman who understood the neoconomy almost instinctively, and had the will and boldness to make it a reality.
In Neoconomy Daniel Altman explains the intellectual roots of the Bush administration's economic policy; and why Bush has been so intent on implementing it despite the dashed expectations, terror and financial scandals that have buffeted the economy. He shows why the neoconomists remain committed to their vision even though it has contributed to the biggest budget deficit in history, at the end of the nation's fastest-ever swing into the red. The neconomists are seeking to transform the American economy; but inadvertently or not, they are also transforming American society. The revolution is finally coming, and it's coming from above.
The first glimpses of the neoconomy appeared during the Reagan administration, but were soon clouded by a legacy of sky-high budget deficits. George H. W. Bush couldn't afford the neoconomy. In the Clinton years, its prospects all but disappeared in a flurry of economic fine-tuning that delivered record-setting budget surpluses and rock-bottom unemployment rates. But just when you might have counted it out, the neoconomy found a savior. George W.Bush was a businessman who understood the neoconomy almost instinctively, and had the will and boldness to make it a reality.
In Neoconomy Daniel Altman explains the intellectual roots of the Bush administration's economic policy; and why Bush has been so intent on implementing it despite the dashed expectations, terror and financial scandals that have buffeted the economy. He shows why the neoconomists remain committed to their vision even though it has contributed to the biggest budget deficit in history, at the end of the nation's fastest-ever swing into the red. The neconomists are seeking to transform the American economy; but inadvertently or not, they are also transforming American society. The revolution is finally coming, and it's coming from above.
304 pages, Paperback
First published August 10, 2004
14 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Altman
18 books3 followers Daniel Altman is an American-born author, journalist and economist. His
latest book, Connected: 24 Hours in the Global Economy, was published
in May 2007 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He is also the author of Neoconomy:
George Bush's Revolutionary Gamble With America's Future, which was
published by PublicAffairs in 2004.
Altman began his career as an academic economist with a doctorate from
Harvard University. His first job outside the ivory tower was as the London-
based economics correspondent for The Economist. Later he became one
of the youngest-ever members of the editorial board of The New York Times.
He current writes regular columns on globalization for the International Herald
Tribune. In between, he was an economic adviser to the British government.
For the past year, Altman has been writing a weekday blog for the Herald
Tribune called Managing Globalization. He lives in Buenos Aires, Hong
Kong and New York. (from the author's website)"
latest book, Connected: 24 Hours in the Global Economy, was published
in May 2007 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He is also the author of Neoconomy:
George Bush's Revolutionary Gamble With America's Future, which was
published by PublicAffairs in 2004.
Altman began his career as an academic economist with a doctorate from
Harvard University. His first job outside the ivory tower was as the London-
based economics correspondent for The Economist. Later he became one
of the youngest-ever members of the editorial board of The New York Times.
He current writes regular columns on globalization for the International Herald
Tribune. In between, he was an economic adviser to the British government.
For the past year, Altman has been writing a weekday blog for the Herald
Tribune called Managing Globalization. He lives in Buenos Aires, Hong
Kong and New York. (from the author's website)"
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 28, 2008
Another knot in my rope on which I have swung away from conservative politics toward an embrace of liberalism. Not a lot in politics makes sense (unless you count reelection as the only thing that matters) on either side. I have become interested in economics and tax policy and this book is a layman's guide to the W. Bush years that sheds light on some basic economic theory. Great if read in conjunction with Jonathan Chait's book, The Big Con.
July 9, 2019
What's really going on economically speaking
In this modest volume, economic journalist and Harvard-trained economist Daniel Altman attempts to explain what the so-called neoconservatives, who are directing President Bush's economic policies, are up to. Altman calls it a revolution that will greatly increase the chasm between the rich and the poor and create a new kind of society based not on merit but on inherited wealth and advantage.
The neocon's main idea is to abolish taxes on capital and earnings from capital. Their rationale is that untaxed capital will be more readily invested leading to a rising tide of economic prosperity that will lift all segments of society. Yes, the rich will get richer, but through "trickle down" and a booming economy, the poor and the middle class will also gain.
Such is the theory. Because such theories cannot be adequately tested on models, we can only find out if they work by testing them in the actual economy (which may be the real reason economics is called "the dismal science"). The problem--as Altman advises--is that if they fail, the consequences may be horrific. If the rich get too rich and the poor too poor and the middle class disappears--well, such is the stuff of revolutions, witness Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Here are the taxes the neocons want abolished: the estate tax; taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains; and the corporate income tax. Here's what famed invested Warren Buffet thinks about the abolition of the estate tax:
"Without the estate tax, you in effect will have an aristocracy of wealth, which means you pass down the ability to command the resources of the nation based on heredity rather than merit." (p. 250) Clearly he's agin it. I might add that the ironic example of the very mediocre George W. Bush as president of the United States is perhaps an early example of what Buffet is afraid of.
Feeling much the same way is Thomas Piketty, director of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, whom Altman quotes as saying: "These new high-income tax cuts, together with all the previous tax cuts (including the repeal of the estate tax), will eventually contribute to rebuild a class of rentiers in the US, whereby a small group of wealthy but untalented children controls vast segments of the US economy and penniless, talented children simply can't compete... If such a tax policy is maintained, there is a decent probability that the US will look like Old Europe prior to 1914 in a couple of generations." (p. 241)
I don't have any doubt that people like George W. Bush are partially motivated by a desire to create sharp class distinctions and to increase the privilege of their friends and relatives. But there is more to the lopsided tax cuts than that. As Altman explains on pages 166-167, one of the effects of the huge tax cuts by the Bush administration is to tie the hands of his successors. "Forced to deal with deficits...they would [read: will] be hard-pressed to spend money on...social programs... They might even have to raise taxes just to avoid cutting spending." To put it bluntly: Bush 43 is spending not only our children's and our grandchildren's money, but the money of future administrations.
As Altman notes, this strategy was employed before by Ronald Reagan. Only trouble was, "his successor was not a Democrat, but his own vice president, George H. W. Bush." (p. 167) And, as you'll recall, Bush 41 turned out to be a one-term president, giving way to Bill Clinton.
Okay, is Altman's critique correct? Or are the neocons really working to take the nation to an economic heaven on earth?
I'm not sure, and the economists I have read are in disagreement. This book does not prove anything one way or the other of course. What Altman does, and he does it admirably with a calm voice and verbal restraint (too much restraint for my taste, by the way) is chronicle what has happened and point to what we can expect in the future if the neocons get their way. Obviously, he doesn't like the potential consequences, and neither do I.
Bottom line: a nice primer on Bush's economy policies, a bit too leisurely developed, but all told a kind of eye-popping indictment.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
In this modest volume, economic journalist and Harvard-trained economist Daniel Altman attempts to explain what the so-called neoconservatives, who are directing President Bush's economic policies, are up to. Altman calls it a revolution that will greatly increase the chasm between the rich and the poor and create a new kind of society based not on merit but on inherited wealth and advantage.
The neocon's main idea is to abolish taxes on capital and earnings from capital. Their rationale is that untaxed capital will be more readily invested leading to a rising tide of economic prosperity that will lift all segments of society. Yes, the rich will get richer, but through "trickle down" and a booming economy, the poor and the middle class will also gain.
Such is the theory. Because such theories cannot be adequately tested on models, we can only find out if they work by testing them in the actual economy (which may be the real reason economics is called "the dismal science"). The problem--as Altman advises--is that if they fail, the consequences may be horrific. If the rich get too rich and the poor too poor and the middle class disappears--well, such is the stuff of revolutions, witness Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Here are the taxes the neocons want abolished: the estate tax; taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains; and the corporate income tax. Here's what famed invested Warren Buffet thinks about the abolition of the estate tax:
"Without the estate tax, you in effect will have an aristocracy of wealth, which means you pass down the ability to command the resources of the nation based on heredity rather than merit." (p. 250) Clearly he's agin it. I might add that the ironic example of the very mediocre George W. Bush as president of the United States is perhaps an early example of what Buffet is afraid of.
Feeling much the same way is Thomas Piketty, director of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, whom Altman quotes as saying: "These new high-income tax cuts, together with all the previous tax cuts (including the repeal of the estate tax), will eventually contribute to rebuild a class of rentiers in the US, whereby a small group of wealthy but untalented children controls vast segments of the US economy and penniless, talented children simply can't compete... If such a tax policy is maintained, there is a decent probability that the US will look like Old Europe prior to 1914 in a couple of generations." (p. 241)
I don't have any doubt that people like George W. Bush are partially motivated by a desire to create sharp class distinctions and to increase the privilege of their friends and relatives. But there is more to the lopsided tax cuts than that. As Altman explains on pages 166-167, one of the effects of the huge tax cuts by the Bush administration is to tie the hands of his successors. "Forced to deal with deficits...they would [read: will] be hard-pressed to spend money on...social programs... They might even have to raise taxes just to avoid cutting spending." To put it bluntly: Bush 43 is spending not only our children's and our grandchildren's money, but the money of future administrations.
As Altman notes, this strategy was employed before by Ronald Reagan. Only trouble was, "his successor was not a Democrat, but his own vice president, George H. W. Bush." (p. 167) And, as you'll recall, Bush 41 turned out to be a one-term president, giving way to Bill Clinton.
Okay, is Altman's critique correct? Or are the neocons really working to take the nation to an economic heaven on earth?
I'm not sure, and the economists I have read are in disagreement. This book does not prove anything one way or the other of course. What Altman does, and he does it admirably with a calm voice and verbal restraint (too much restraint for my taste, by the way) is chronicle what has happened and point to what we can expect in the future if the neocons get their way. Obviously, he doesn't like the potential consequences, and neither do I.
Bottom line: a nice primer on Bush's economy policies, a bit too leisurely developed, but all told a kind of eye-popping indictment.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
February 5, 2011
I read this book in a few hours and literally could not put it down! I'm not an economist and honestly did not enjoy any of my economics classes. Daniel Altman is a talented writer. He's done a great job making some very dry materiel, extremely engaging.
February 14, 2011
A simple overview of the Bush administration's rationale behind the tax cuts and other economic policy. Given the way he conducted everything else in his administration, none of this is going to be very surprising.
November 17, 2012
Stunning! Shameful! Very scathing treatise on "Supply Side/ Free Market Capitalism".
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews