Trumponomics What Is the Anti-Trumponomics Agenda?
Aug 27, 2025
Noah Smith, a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist and Substack writer renowned for his expertise in economics, joins the discussion about the political landscape after Trump's return to the White House. They explore what a Democratic alternative might look like, debating between returning to Obama-era neoliberalism or adopting a new populist message. Smith highlights the challenges of austerity measures and the need for a competent response to rising public frustration, advocating for practical solutions to economic discontent instead of ideological battles.
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Neoliberalism Had Measurable Wins
- Neoliberalism combined market freedom with redistribution and public goods provisioning, and it produced measurable social improvements in the 1990s–2010s.
- Critics should explain exactly which core failures demand a wholesale rejection rather than targeted reform.
Past Growth Was Partly Luck
- The 1990s–2010s boom owed a lot to benign global and technological forces, not just policy genius.
- Those disinflationary forces have faded, so returning to past policies won't automatically recreate that era.
Address The Debt With Deficit Reduction
- Treat the grown national debt as a real, long-term problem that requires deficit reduction.
- Pursue fiscal rigor through tax increases and spending restraint rather than financial shenanigans.