Source: The Bulwark
by Will Saletan

“As Donald Trump and his allies lay plans for his second term, they’re hammering one word. ‘The American people gave President Trump a mandate,’ Sen. Markwayne Mullin told CNN on Sunday. On ABC, Sen. Bill Hagerty concurred: ‘The mandate that came from the American public is overwhelming.’ It’s normal to say you have a mandate after winning an election. Trump’s staff did as much after the 2016 election, when he didn’t even win the popular vote. If the claim is believed this time around, it could intimidate Democrats and embolden Republicans in Congress. But when you look closely at what voters actually think, there’s no mandate for a Trump agenda.” (11/29/24)

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/calling-trumps-win-a-mandate-is-ridiculous-no-support-for-policy-agenda

Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman

“Fairness and its synonyms are among the most abused words in English. By that I mean they are commonly manipulated for ideological ends. Wokeness has aggravated a situation that has existed for some time. What better way to score points for a political position than to declare that fairness demands it? The tactic puts the unprepared opponent on the back foot.” (11/29/24)

https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2024/11/tgif-on-fairness.html

Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen

“The most overused phrase since Donald Trump chose billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as his Treasury secretary nominee is ‘sigh of relief.’ As the theory goes, Bessent would command respect from the markets, steering the next administration toward the usual conservative agenda of tax cuts and deregulation, and away from anything disruptive. That sigh lasted all of one day. The president-elect, in a familiar declaration of policy by way of a post on social media, announced his intention to impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, and a 10 percent one on China, specifically to impede an ‘invasion’ of migrants and drugs into the U.S. This would affect around $1 trillion in annual imports from America’s three largest trading partners, spawn retaliation, do little to prevent border crossings that are already muted and typically dependent on job availability, and of course, raise prices on many goods and services.” (11/27/24)

https://prospect.org/economy/2024-11-27-trumps-economy-brute-force-favor-trading/

Source: Beat The Press
by Dean Baker

“New York Times columnist Christopher Caldwell devoted his Thanksgiving piece to describing the German sociologist Wolfgang Streeck’s views on capitalism and democracy. I have not read much of Streeck’s work, but as recounted by Caldwell, he gets many of the basic facts about the U.S. economy badly wrong. According to Caldwell’s account, capitalists were willing to sacrifice profits in the decades after World War II for stability. This meant less dynamism but allowed for broadly shared prosperity and thriving democratic institutions. … The problem with this account is that, at least in the United States there is no evidence that capitalists were sacrificing profit. … There was also no lack of dynamism in this period when capital was supposedly sacrificing profit. The quarter century from 1947 to 1973 was by far the most rapid period of productivity growth the U.S. has seen.” (11/29/24)

https://cepr.net/capitalism-and-democracy-the-market-is-far-more-flexible-than-christopher-caldwell-imagines/

Source: Law & Liberty
by Elizabeth Amato

“Freedom from Fear: An Incomplete History of Liberalism, is a formidable volume. In it, Alan S. Kahan aims to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the intellectual history of liberalism, what drives changes within liberalism over time, and the future of liberalism. Clocking in at just over 500 pages, the book is an extensive, dense history that traces delicate, nuanced ideological twists and turns from liberalism’s origins to the present day. … it is an impressive example of scholarship, and demonstrates Kahan’s extensive knowledge of liberal thinkers and their intellectual genealogy. This is not just a work of history, however. Kahan has his own agenda. He wants to advance a particular view of liberalism as a quest for freedom from fear, while at the same time airing his fears about the uncertain future of liberalism.” (11/29/24)

https://lawliberty.org/book-review/the-sword-in-the-liberal-stone/