Kinda fun - are you a Supply Sider? Rubinite? Innovative (Austrian)? Keynesian?
www.innovationeconomics.org/taketest/
I took it three times and made minor tweaks and came up with strong Innovative. I went back thru a 4th time and selected some things I was on the fence or didn't fully agree but could live with in the absense of better policy and came up with moderate Rubinite. I was convinced going in I would be a moderate Keynesian
I came up with strong innovative on the first run
but I think that the test is sort of like those four square political tests that put the socially liberal and economically conservative liberatarian at the top of the diamond as though it were the true (and only reasonable) shining path.
neato
although of course many choices are not that but this is fun.
I was labeled a Rubinomincs, which is incredible for he's the corporate man. I guess it's because I believe the deficits affect the US economy badly.
They didn't have enough choices and I saw a push poll from Zogby that also gave the either you are for current bad trade deals or you are a protectionist mantra.
They never offer the policies and solutions, such as simply going through these trade deals, clause by clause, rule by rule and ripping out the ones which are biased against the United States.
Indeed
definitely a biased poll. After foing threu it several times it seemed highty biased toward innovative, and then it changed me to a Rubinite - which made me highly suspect
But it was still fun 8-)
it is biased
They are promoting some agenda (who are behind these people is another question). When I find a new site or some sort of policy recommendation.
hmmm, maybe we should come up with an "what kind of economics person are you?" test.
Despite their motivation, it is fun and neato.
Hell Yes
I think that we could do a series of questions on issues to lay out the differences between Rubinites, Economic populists, and all out Bush neo-liberals.
you guys write the questions
I can write the code for the actual test. Just email me a rough draft of questions and how to put up the results categories.
We could have of the categories
1. Globalist New World Order
2. Middle Class advocate
3. Math head
4. Ron Paul with a lemon
5. Trickle Upon
6. Road Kill (flat tax)
(or be a little more serious on it, say Hamilton Project, Supply Side, Corporate Lobbyist, Globalist, New Deal (Keynesian) and so on.
I will make it a "page" like the "reads" above.
Honestly is there even one economist who promotes economic populism?
I can start: renegotiate the actual terms of trade agreements current in favor of working America. If there is a huge sudden deficit that is a bad trade deal. Base trade policy on the actual results with the biggest indicator being the trade deficit.
I like the Horizon project policy positions (which are extensive) and could claim those are Populist
Universal single payer health (HR 676)?
Immigration; I know the answer to this one, everything has to be US citizens, Americans 1st in all jobs, infrastructure and so on. Remove the corporate cheap labor agenda from US immigration policy period. Enforce US employment law.
Labor: there is a slew of worker rights issues here
Consumer protection is probably in there
Results based policy: Do you believe in some nebulously ill defined theoretical economic philosophy or do you believe policy should be based in detailed fact based analysis and projected results in the national interest? Are you religious or do you subscribe to the whatever works school?
;)
Good idea
Here is a line of questioning i am thinking along the lines of:
CEO Pay should
1. Be no more than a maximum of 10 times the average wages of the company
2. Should be tied to company performance and be accountable to boards and shareholders
3. Should be transparent and accountable to the employees and communities
4. I am a CEO and I got my golden parachute bwaahaahaahaaa!!!
CEO pay
That's something to seriously get a handle on and while I see the problem, policy solutions seem few and far between.
The AFL-CIO has a good site Executive Paywatch and here's something I had no idea about, Barack Obama actually introduced a bill to try to let shareholders vote on compensation packages (put a check mark on the plus column on Barack, who is racking up the tally on the negative!).
I was pleasantly surprised to see that one.
Because of the massive corporate donor class $$$$ in the elections, we all know DC is surrounded by 41,000 lobbyists but so far nothing has changed the status quo. I'd like to see some real solutions presented to get the money out of DC too.
I think that a foursquare on two
axes is a good start.
This is a preliminary from me.
The idea being that questions can be scored on one of the two axes, so that you can set up a grid. And then you'll get coordinates (+10, -10 e.g.) which put you in the upper left quadrant.
We'd have to have questions, but I think that this would lay the groundwork.
I'm busy as all hell with school and getting unpacked from moving at the moment.
As an afterthough
economic growth could probably be changed to economic wealth so that you don't get the arguments that populists are anti-growth.
that's what I am going to say
Because I believe the statistics show when the US middle class, working America is strong and policy is tuned towards the national interest, we've actually had a much stronger GDP and other macro economic data. So, the premise that it's an either/or choice here I don't think is valid.
I also don't think that what is good for America isn't necessarily bad for Multinational corporations either, in terms of raw profits.
I mean sure maybe short term profits such as our lovely bubbles but in terms of long term strategy, I don't think this is so.