One idea unites the left and right lately: a zero-sum view of the world

 



The zero-sum view manifests itself in both rhetoric and policy, with the left aiming to redistribute from the rich to the poor, and the right from foreigners to natives. 

Both sides are very much mistaken.

Today’s world economy is not zero sum. It is not without its problems but real wages and wealth are increasing, as is our standard of living.

There is a tendency to assume that if someone is getting more, someone else must be getting less. That’s because for most of human history, this assumption was basically true. 

Allison Schrager Bloomberg 28 July 2025

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-07-28/don-t-be-seduced-by-zero-sum-thinking-about-the-economy


Globalisering har varit ett av de mest omdebatterade begreppen i västerländsk samhällsdebatt under de senaste decennierna.

Gros ingick i det team hos EU-kommissionens dåvarande ordförande Jacques Delors som tog fram planen för införandet av euron. 

När den infördes 1999 var det allmänt förväntat att bristen på flexibilitet på den europeiska arbetsmarknaden skulle göra det svårare att hantera ekonomiska chocker. 

Denna farhåga bekräftades efter den globala finanskrisen ett decennium senare som ledde till en långvarig nedgång i eurozonen. 

En viktig skillnad ligger i det sociala skyddsnätet, som är mycket svagare i USA än i Europa

Detta bidrar till att förklara varför USA i Mellanvästern har upplevt en ökning av ”dödsfall av förtvivlan” ( självmord, drogöverdoser och alkoholism), under de senaste decennierna

Janerik Larsson SvD 27 juli 2025

https://www.svd.se/a/XjVd6r/usa-s-problem-blir-hela-varldens-problem


Hur kan det komma sig att så många röstade på Trump - Janerik Larsson

https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2025/03/hur-kan-det-komma-sig-att-sa-manga.html


I don’t want to be a tone deaf CEO; while the company is doing fine, it is absolutely obvious that a big chunk of [people] have been left behind 

40% of Americans make less than $15 an hour, 40% of Americans can’t afford a $400 bill, whether it’s medical or fixing their car, 15% of Americans make minimum wages. 

70,000 die from opioids.

Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase

https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2025/07/junk-bond-investors-pile-into-riskiest.html







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