Yeah, there are a lot of talking points in here. I'll publish some criticisms/rebuttals in a bit. But if you want to understand where Democratic policy ideas are headed, you have to look past that...
I can appreciate the usefulness of getting the official talking points, but this interview is the exact opposite of candid and insightful. It may as well have been a press release.
Thank you for telling us in advance that the subject of your "interview" would have hours to consider and polish her responses. When there was nothing of any value after the first 2000 words, I knew it would not get any better and just stopped. I already know the platitudes offered by political operatives to support these positions. I was hoping to learn a bit more of their economic basis from an economist who was helping draft them. Perhaps that was not her job?
Wow.....some deep prog state religion in this. Industrial policy will work this time because....equity? I am sure Heather was the captain of the good ship MMT, too.
Some many assertions to push back on....GDP suppressed by climate change? Europe's GDP stagnated in about 2010 while the US has gone up by 30%. The middle class is only shrinking because more people have become upper middle class in the last 20 years. How many billions of people pulled out of poverty globally since 2000, many to become consumers of US exports, due to globalized markets?
The cost-of-living sectors she cites (education, housing, health care and child care) are the markets least free of regulation (i.e., based on industrial policy), meanwhile market-driven sectors have reduced prices. Imagine what inflation would have looked like the last 2 years without globalization.
Yes, NEPA is a problem, but we are going to work around that by increasing equity through community groups chiming in on infrastructure projects?
Good news....Georgia just started a new nuclear power plant after battle people like Heather for a decade. Finally, clean energy is coming.
The climate change having already caused decreased GDP also stuck out for me, what is the actual theory or data for this? The increased heat making workers lazy? Smoke from Canadian wild fires (falsely linked to climate change) getting in the eyes of Wall Street traders? 10 cm of sea level rise making whole stretches of waterfront properties worthless?
And the solution for NEPA delaying transmission line construction is a “dig once” rule for electrical, transport and broadband? The needed transmission lines are from remote sunny, windy areas, so what need is there for broadband and transport to go along with them?
It starts off with a lie in the first paragraph: "It’s important to remember that when President Biden was inaugurated in January 2021, this was by many accounts the worst time in the pandemic."
No. The economy was bouncing back smartly from the bottom in a "V-Shaped" recovery. There was still a lot of PsyOp/InfoOp activity on the part of the State, but it was being overcome, gradually, with truth, even though it was being viciously repressed by the State and State-allied actors.
No, this is a tissue of lies. Any sensible person sees through it.
"Industrial Policy"?? When has that worked to any country's long term benefit? USSR, China, India, Germany, France, UK. The globe is littered with the waste of "industrial policy" foolhardiness.
You do realize the Military Industrial Complex is “Industrial Policy” that has benefited America for years and results in solid union jobs that don’t exacerbate inflation?? Biden is essentially expanding Buy American to beyond the Military Industrial Complex in response to deficiencies of the global supply chains uncovered by Covid.
The example I use is Senator Ron Johnson who was instrumental in thwarting Trump’s attempts to withhold lethal aid from Ukraine. RJ’s biggest donor is Oshkosh Defense—he fights for the jobs in military equipment manufacturing to remain in Wisconsin but is fine with their USPS trucks being made in non-union South Carolina. The logic behind that is we ostensibly have to pay for USPS equipment and so he wants cheaper labor but we don’t have to pay for military equipment.
It's sad to see how badly a smart person's words get warped by the vetting required of a government official. I'm sure Dr. Boushey didn't like it either. I understand the rationale but I wish there were a way to take the administrations talking points as given and read just the differential information coming from the individual.
Time for it sure, but I don't see any way to make it happen. There's just no way for a high level employee of the government to say "these are my opinions not the government's". There's just too much media and such that will tie whatever she says to the government.
Terrible. Needless interventions, ridiculous amounts of spending, the “recovery” from Covid is laughable - it was a bounce back not created by Biden, carbon capture is complete garbage and dangerous. Intervening in race and sexual relationships is disgusting over reach. How do we fire these people permanently and forever? Btw, the government creates fights between interest groups in order to accrue power. They are the primary race baiters. 2030 is an oligarchs playground, stealing private property. There are corporate private armies in the heartland right now intimidating ranchers and farmers.
Talk about a slow pitch softball interview! I wondered how Heather came to exist in such a fantasy world until I discovered she received her econ ed at The New School.
This did not read like an interview but a script for the Democratic presidential campaign. It was borderline disrespectful of the economic qualifications of the interviewer and it’s readership.
Actually, I have come to the conclusion that Noah may have been used to train the Democratic Party economic platform chatbot. This would explain the markedly robotic nature of the answers.
As an economist, I have a somewhat different perspective. Any time a state actor, as opposed to the free market, is making resource allocation choices, those choices are susceptible to political influence and likely to be economically sub-optimizing. The USSR is the answer to the question "where does this approach ultimately lead?"
Wow. I was going to leave a comment disagreeing with a couple of things Boushey said about childcare, but since everyone else has decided to trash the entire piece I guess that's not necessary.
Seriously, what is wrong with y'all?
Boushey works for the president, so of course her answers sound like talking points. It would have helped if Noah had been able to do more follow-up but as he explained, Boushey's schedule didn't allow for that. (Her "schedule" was probably an excuse for not wanting to take tough questions, but what else would you expect from a government official?) Even a big-time substacker is not going to turn down an interview with someone this highly placed in the administration, just because the interview format is more restrictive than it could have been.
Can people not take this for what it's worth and come up with some polite, well-reasoned criticisms of what she said?
What did anyone learn from this that they wouldn’t get from a Biden stump speech, other than relief from not having to transcode his meandering into meaning.
Spoken by a true Biden believer. Low inflation? Really, much of the damage has already been done. Prices have increased substantially, sometimes double or triple what they were pre the Biden 5 $Trillion free money dump. Look at the bogus inflation index and compare it to the older and more reflective standards and you will see that real inflation is at least double what is being reported. High employment? Look at the level of participants, the real issue is the vast number of work age people who have left the workforce and are no longer counted. the number is about 60% of those capable who are actually in the work force. High growth? It is the result of $trillions of government (our tax payer) money that is fueling it, and that takes us back to inflation and employment. Look at what is happening in the real world - Yellow Freight. all the lay-offs across the tech industry where real private jobs are being cut, not added. The only Fox I watch is Guttfeld, you should try it for a little reality therapy . Or maybe try the WSJ.
Kind of wild that she talks about the importance of enabling chip manufacturing domestically while in the same breath promoting their policy that requires major semiconductor plants to have a plan for providing high quality childcare. That’s exactly the kind of thing that’s making it harder to get things built.
She also completely side stepped the question how to ensure cost overruns don’t swallow up spending and we don’t just pat ourselves on the back for spending a ton of money without actually constructing anything. Then she gave a non answer for the NEPA question and straight up ignored Noah’s question on immigration to talk about domestic workforce development (plus more childcare!)
Understand this is probably a throughly groomed response but some pretty deeply unsatisfying answers in here. Curious to see Noah’s thoughts on some of these answers.
a tangent: did anyone else raise an eyebrow at "when President Biden was inaugurated in January 2021, this was by many accounts the worst time in the pandemic."
Without a moment's hesitation, I would say April 2020. But is that only an NYC view of the world?
She is making a political speech not subject to cross-examination. Everything before Biden was Terrible Trump. Then, at that very inauguration, the clouds parted, unicorns farted, and the healing started.
Thank you for sharing and illustrating a leader in the ruinous progressive economic policies of which we now suffer. Who but a radical liberal would promote this as positive?
Thank you Noah for exposing just how much trouble this country is in. It is easy to just roll your eyes at the malarkey coming from Biden and "transitory" Yellen and dismiss it as harmless rambling emanating from the senior center - on the contrary, this is dangerous.
Did I mistakenly subscribe to a DNC campaign web site?
Yeah, there are a lot of talking points in here. I'll publish some criticisms/rebuttals in a bit. But if you want to understand where Democratic policy ideas are headed, you have to look past that...
I can appreciate the usefulness of getting the official talking points, but this interview is the exact opposite of candid and insightful. It may as well have been a press release.
This was completely worthless, waste of my subscription money.
Well, it wasn't paywalled, so at least there's that. 😉
I was trying to be nicer about it.
Thank you for telling us in advance that the subject of your "interview" would have hours to consider and polish her responses. When there was nothing of any value after the first 2000 words, I knew it would not get any better and just stopped. I already know the platitudes offered by political operatives to support these positions. I was hoping to learn a bit more of their economic basis from an economist who was helping draft them. Perhaps that was not her job?
Wow.....some deep prog state religion in this. Industrial policy will work this time because....equity? I am sure Heather was the captain of the good ship MMT, too.
Some many assertions to push back on....GDP suppressed by climate change? Europe's GDP stagnated in about 2010 while the US has gone up by 30%. The middle class is only shrinking because more people have become upper middle class in the last 20 years. How many billions of people pulled out of poverty globally since 2000, many to become consumers of US exports, due to globalized markets?
The cost-of-living sectors she cites (education, housing, health care and child care) are the markets least free of regulation (i.e., based on industrial policy), meanwhile market-driven sectors have reduced prices. Imagine what inflation would have looked like the last 2 years without globalization.
Yes, NEPA is a problem, but we are going to work around that by increasing equity through community groups chiming in on infrastructure projects?
Good news....Georgia just started a new nuclear power plant after battle people like Heather for a decade. Finally, clean energy is coming.
The climate change having already caused decreased GDP also stuck out for me, what is the actual theory or data for this? The increased heat making workers lazy? Smoke from Canadian wild fires (falsely linked to climate change) getting in the eyes of Wall Street traders? 10 cm of sea level rise making whole stretches of waterfront properties worthless?
And the solution for NEPA delaying transmission line construction is a “dig once” rule for electrical, transport and broadband? The needed transmission lines are from remote sunny, windy areas, so what need is there for broadband and transport to go along with them?
There's nothing that climate change can't accomplish.
It starts off with a lie in the first paragraph: "It’s important to remember that when President Biden was inaugurated in January 2021, this was by many accounts the worst time in the pandemic."
No. The economy was bouncing back smartly from the bottom in a "V-Shaped" recovery. There was still a lot of PsyOp/InfoOp activity on the part of the State, but it was being overcome, gradually, with truth, even though it was being viciously repressed by the State and State-allied actors.
No, this is a tissue of lies. Any sensible person sees through it.
"Industrial Policy"?? When has that worked to any country's long term benefit? USSR, China, India, Germany, France, UK. The globe is littered with the waste of "industrial policy" foolhardiness.
You do realize the Military Industrial Complex is “Industrial Policy” that has benefited America for years and results in solid union jobs that don’t exacerbate inflation?? Biden is essentially expanding Buy American to beyond the Military Industrial Complex in response to deficiencies of the global supply chains uncovered by Covid.
I would say it is military policy first and foremost......we can't buy the most advanced equipment from other countries and maintain hegemony.
The example I use is Senator Ron Johnson who was instrumental in thwarting Trump’s attempts to withhold lethal aid from Ukraine. RJ’s biggest donor is Oshkosh Defense—he fights for the jobs in military equipment manufacturing to remain in Wisconsin but is fine with their USPS trucks being made in non-union South Carolina. The logic behind that is we ostensibly have to pay for USPS equipment and so he wants cheaper labor but we don’t have to pay for military equipment.
It really gets me when she says the market can't deliver prosperity, when the reason is the market is hamstrung by government. ???
It's sad to see how badly a smart person's words get warped by the vetting required of a government official. I'm sure Dr. Boushey didn't like it either. I understand the rationale but I wish there were a way to take the administrations talking points as given and read just the differential information coming from the individual.
i agree that i think it's time for more straight talk and more transparency.
Time for it sure, but I don't see any way to make it happen. There's just no way for a high level employee of the government to say "these are my opinions not the government's". There's just too much media and such that will tie whatever she says to the government.
Terrible. Needless interventions, ridiculous amounts of spending, the “recovery” from Covid is laughable - it was a bounce back not created by Biden, carbon capture is complete garbage and dangerous. Intervening in race and sexual relationships is disgusting over reach. How do we fire these people permanently and forever? Btw, the government creates fights between interest groups in order to accrue power. They are the primary race baiters. 2030 is an oligarchs playground, stealing private property. There are corporate private armies in the heartland right now intimidating ranchers and farmers.
Talk about a slow pitch softball interview! I wondered how Heather came to exist in such a fantasy world until I discovered she received her econ ed at The New School.
This is the one really notable piece of information I've picked up from the comments.
This did not read like an interview but a script for the Democratic presidential campaign. It was borderline disrespectful of the economic qualifications of the interviewer and it’s readership.
Actually, I have come to the conclusion that Noah may have been used to train the Democratic Party economic platform chatbot. This would explain the markedly robotic nature of the answers.
As an economist, I have a somewhat different perspective. Any time a state actor, as opposed to the free market, is making resource allocation choices, those choices are susceptible to political influence and likely to be economically sub-optimizing. The USSR is the answer to the question "where does this approach ultimately lead?"
Wow. I was going to leave a comment disagreeing with a couple of things Boushey said about childcare, but since everyone else has decided to trash the entire piece I guess that's not necessary.
Seriously, what is wrong with y'all?
Boushey works for the president, so of course her answers sound like talking points. It would have helped if Noah had been able to do more follow-up but as he explained, Boushey's schedule didn't allow for that. (Her "schedule" was probably an excuse for not wanting to take tough questions, but what else would you expect from a government official?) Even a big-time substacker is not going to turn down an interview with someone this highly placed in the administration, just because the interview format is more restrictive than it could have been.
Can people not take this for what it's worth and come up with some polite, well-reasoned criticisms of what she said?
What did anyone learn from this that they wouldn’t get from a Biden stump speech, other than relief from not having to transcode his meandering into meaning.
Spoken by a true Biden believer. Low inflation? Really, much of the damage has already been done. Prices have increased substantially, sometimes double or triple what they were pre the Biden 5 $Trillion free money dump. Look at the bogus inflation index and compare it to the older and more reflective standards and you will see that real inflation is at least double what is being reported. High employment? Look at the level of participants, the real issue is the vast number of work age people who have left the workforce and are no longer counted. the number is about 60% of those capable who are actually in the work force. High growth? It is the result of $trillions of government (our tax payer) money that is fueling it, and that takes us back to inflation and employment. Look at what is happening in the real world - Yellow Freight. all the lay-offs across the tech industry where real private jobs are being cut, not added. The only Fox I watch is Guttfeld, you should try it for a little reality therapy . Or maybe try the WSJ.
Wow, those were definitely...answers.
Kind of wild that she talks about the importance of enabling chip manufacturing domestically while in the same breath promoting their policy that requires major semiconductor plants to have a plan for providing high quality childcare. That’s exactly the kind of thing that’s making it harder to get things built.
She also completely side stepped the question how to ensure cost overruns don’t swallow up spending and we don’t just pat ourselves on the back for spending a ton of money without actually constructing anything. Then she gave a non answer for the NEPA question and straight up ignored Noah’s question on immigration to talk about domestic workforce development (plus more childcare!)
Understand this is probably a throughly groomed response but some pretty deeply unsatisfying answers in here. Curious to see Noah’s thoughts on some of these answers.
a tangent: did anyone else raise an eyebrow at "when President Biden was inaugurated in January 2021, this was by many accounts the worst time in the pandemic."
Without a moment's hesitation, I would say April 2020. But is that only an NYC view of the world?
Just curious.
She is making a political speech not subject to cross-examination. Everything before Biden was Terrible Trump. Then, at that very inauguration, the clouds parted, unicorns farted, and the healing started.
900 deaths a day from spread prior to any mitigation measures in NY…essentially a 9/11 every 3 days had we done nothing.
Thank you for sharing and illustrating a leader in the ruinous progressive economic policies of which we now suffer. Who but a radical liberal would promote this as positive?
Thank you Noah for exposing just how much trouble this country is in. It is easy to just roll your eyes at the malarkey coming from Biden and "transitory" Yellen and dismiss it as harmless rambling emanating from the senior center - on the contrary, this is dangerous.
Transitory Yellen works, but I prefer Old Yellen.
I can't take people with PhDs from the New School seriously, sorry