How Are You Going to Pay for That?: Smart Answers to the Dumbest Questions in Politics

Journalist Cooper debuts with a brisk if one-sided takedown of free market ideology. He contends that the U.S. economy is a “huge collective enterprise” that depends on government controls and the “daily activities of the whole American people,” and can be engineered to eradicate such contemporary social ills as a failing health-care system, climate change, and income inequality. Extolling the expansive welfare programs of Finland and other Nordic countries, Cooper brushes aside concerns about balancing the federal budget and raising taxes and any suggestion that the economy is “beyond human control.” The government, Cooper argues, can print more money to pay its debts and stimulate economic growth, and should prioritize full employment over concerns about inflation. Unfortunately, he doesn’t fully reckon with historical examples of hyperinflation (such as the Weimar Republic) and draws some questionable conclusions about human behavior, claiming, for instance, that people “seem to naturally sort themselves into relatively equal groupings.” By simply dismissing theories and facts that run counter to his beliefs, Cooper undermines the force of his argument that neoliberalism and unchecked free market capitalism are economically and environmentally unsustainable. This feisty screed is unlikely to change minds. (Jan.)