David Frum's Weird Attack on Larry Kudlow

Wealth aggregation is the point, and the problem.

Frum is one of the more plainly honest conservative commentators out there. His point about wealth aggregation is the most important point, and it isn't wrong. It's palpable and obvious to anyone, including several of my own clients (who are the very top of the very top, and themselves recognize that at a certain point inequity -- which is not the same as inequality -- of wealth distribution can be very problematic). While there is nothing wrong with "the rising tide raising all boats" and there is also nothing wrong with stellar financial reward for stellar real-world performance, the culture we are just now starting to (maybe) move away from that rewarded, essentially, those most equipped to play the highest-stakes shell game the fastest, is not capitalism and doesn't deserve a rigorous defense. You're right that cause and effect needs to be understood in order to plot a way forward. I respect Kudlow's viewpoints on what he knows best -- markets -- and respect Frum's on his -- policy. The idea that market intelligence should set policy, or that policy needs to be beholden to a particular type of market behavior isn't addressing the problem at all. If Frum and Kudlow disagree, it's the same way my wife and I disagree -- from such disagreements come the best outcomes and progress. The recent boom was largely a castle made of sand. To criticize castles, per se, would miss the point. But to criticize the sand hardly means you endorse an end to free markets or reject basic supply-side thinking. It's a false narrative to suggest otherwise, and in my view conservatives -- of all stripes -- need to work together get the good ship America back on course, not engage in internece fingerpointing.

Andrew of CT @ Oct 15, 2008 11:08:58 AM