New York Magazine has the article Democrats Must Reject Howard Schultz and His Radical Centrist Ideology.
In recent interviews, Schultz has argued that progressive Democrats have grown so rigidly ideological, they can no longer recognize basic political and policy realities.
He has also contended that the wealthiest nation in human history can’t afford to provide public health insurance to all of its citizens; that the national debt is a bigger threat to the United States than climate change; and that Democrats would be wise to demonstrate “leadership” to the electorate — by calling for cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
Good article. I just wish the author would take the problem of inflation more seriously. There are plenty of reasons why inflation is not a worry if we behave rationally, but those rational requirements should be addressed. Deficits, per se, are not the problem, but how they get spent makes all the difference in the world. A strong military depends on a strong economy. In the long run, a strong economy can be undermined by too much concentration on spending for the military. Investing money that creates more value than it consumes will help keep our economy strong.
Inflation is not so much of a problem as long as we have the currency that is the reserve currency of the world. We can destroy our currency’s standing in the world by using economic sanctions as a weapon of foreign policy. Engaging in trade wars is another way we can undermine our economy and our currency.
Free trade is a better policy than trade wars, but it needs to be free trade that promotes the welfare of people, not exclusively the welfare of oligarchs. Unlike the defunct TPP proposal of the Obama/Clinton administration, it should not give corporations the power to override a nation’s ability to rein in corporate excess. This power is used to further the maldistribution of income and wealth. This poor distribution leads to world political instability which does not promote the welfare of non-defense industries. Defense industries that produce products that destroy themselves and destroy people and the world’s productive capacity are not the type of investment that leads to a healthy world and healthy economy.