Angus Deaton, the Princeton economist, has won the Nobel in economic science – which is wonderful – for his dogged, careful empirical work at the microeconomic level, tracking and making sense of individual households, their choices and why they matter.
Cue the usual complaints that this isn’t a “real” Nobel. Hey, this is just a prize given out by a bunch of Swedes, as opposed to the other prizes, which are given out by a bunch of Swedes.
Anyway, Mr. Deaton is also a fine writer with important things to say about the political economy. On his personal blog, Cardiff Garcia from The Financial Times excerpted a passage from Mr. Deaton’s book, “The Great Escape,” in which Mr. Deaton explains why we should care about the concentration of wealth at the top:
“[T]here is a danger that the rapid growth of top incomes can become self-reinforcing through the political access that money can bring. Rules are set not in the public interest but in the interest of the rich, who use those rules to become yet richer and more influential. … To worry about these consequences of extreme inequality has nothing to do with being envious of the rich and everything to do with the fear that rapidly growing top incomes are a threat to the well-being of everyone else.”
As if to illustrate Mr. Deaton’s point, a remarkable piece of recent reporting in The New York Times by Nicholas Confessore, Sarah Cohen and Karen Yourish documents the incredible fact that campaign finance this election cycle is dominated by a tiny number of extremely wealthy people in the United States: More than half the total funding is coming from just 158 families. And this money is overwhelmingly flowing to Republican candidates.
Some analysts have suggested that this is happening because there is more action on the Republican side, with the presidential nominating contest still wide open. But I’m pretty sure that’s nowhere close to the whole story. The biggest piece of the super-rich, super-donor story is money from the financial sector. And there has been a huge swing of finance capital away from Democrats toward Republicans, which began in the 2012 election cycle – that is, after the passage of financial reform.
Basically, we’re looking at the people who brought you the financial crisis trying to buy the chance to do it all over again.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $125,000 in one-time donations and to add 1400 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy