In this round, I’m not going to worry about my opening, just the core ideas/principles.
1) Power Is at the Center of the Economy
– Movement Perspective: How Economic Institutions/Actors Build/Undercut Power, Foster Engagement/Disengagement, Mobilize/Demobilize
– Checks & Balances
(and if you want people to make real trade-offs, they need to be sure they won’t get stepped on – e.g., climate tax)
2): Own Our Use of Power to Shape the Economy
–”Market failure” narrows & cramps discussion. 1940s & 50s: not about fixing “market failures” but about building a vision of a (white) middle-class-centered, credit-based economy. One way of thinking about it: Stack the Odds in Favor of the Good Guys
– Lefties need to own responsibility that comes with power: “All Corporations Are Evil” won’t cut it. One way of thinking about it: how do the Good Guys make payroll?
3) Own the Limits of Our Power
– “market-based” solutions screw up just as much as “government bureaucrats.” There’s no getting around the fact that we often don’t know what’s really possible in the economy and that it’s really easy to screw up. So, deal with the uncertainty head-on & admit that We’re Not As Smart As We Think We Are
