Doug Henwood responded:
>I'm curious which part. Kuttner has a streak of
social conservatism -
> he flirts with anti-immigration economics, has some
critical things
> to say about day care, seems to miss the
one-paycheck Golden Age,
> though he mostly pulls back from those flirtations.
Peterson: Well the clearest part was the damnation of people excusing their lack of time for proper child rearing, but then spending hours watching TV. As I said, watching TV is relaxation (i.e., not work) for many people in this overworked nation. Talking to children is important, therefore "work".
Henwood:
> But would you disagree with this? 1) Kuttner's love
of "market
dynamism" makes no damn sense if he doesn't like
insecurity and
polarization; you can't separate them.
Peterson: OK, I'd have to read the book to respond to that wisely, and it isn't worth the trouble for me.
But there's a lot in your work which doesn't totally damn markets either. Trade is markets. It's hard (for me) to see what part of markets you see as good and bad.
Henwood: 2) Liberal/soc dem reforism is dead in the water without a more radical movement to which it seems like a palatable alternative.
Peterson: Maybe, maybe not. Sufficient public mobilization for reform alone might also yield reform. Chavez.
Henwood: 3) Right now, populist economics has only a limited appeal with the American electorate - otherwise the Edwards campaign would be doing a lot better.
Peterson: Yeah, it sucks. But that's no reason to shoot the few populists there are. And there are a lot more of them than socialist/leftists. I find socialists pretty hard to find, and hang with populists mostly, and they're fighting good fights. They're fighting toll roads, coal plants, and nukes, creationism, torture, CO2 emissions, and so on. And pushing for national healthcare, public election financing, and keeping social security. Sometimes even self-described conservatives are with us.
Meanwhile, in our "left", there are endless arguments about dead white guys. A centrist friend of mine wonders if there have been any new ideas on the left since Marx. I told him I like Keynes too.
Charles Peterson (made typo in previous signature, that was me too, and sorry about last hotheaded paragraph in previous message)
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