Democratic economics [Bruce]

I see that my old college chum Max Sawicky, whose views are about as far to the left as mine are to the right, is complaining about the campaign economists who addressed Yearly Kos. He points to Austan Goolsbee (Obama), Gene Sperling (Clinton), Robert Shapiro (probably for Clinton), and "some French dude" (possibly related to the guy from "The Big Lebowski").

Max's point is that these guys may be liberal by conventional political definitions, but they are hardly men of the left. He finds this dispiriting; I find it reassuring. It means there is a chance that the Democrats may nominate someone I might possibly be able to vote for. I don't know Goolsbee, but he has an excellent reputation among economists. I know Bob and Gene and would anticipate that if they have anything to say about it, the next Democratic presidency will be a rerun of the Clinton Administration on economics--free trade oriented, fiscally conservative, pragmatic.

Frankly, this sounds good to me. I think we need a few years of sober economic management that is grounded in the real world. This used to be what the Republican Party stood for.