Note to Hillary: Clintonomics Was a Disaster for Most Americans By Robert Pollin/The Nation

[ErisDiscordia]

http://www.thenation.com/article/note-to-hillary-clintonomics-was-a-disaster-for-most-americans/

Under Bill Clinton, Wall Street created a ruinous bubble, while workers lost wages and power...

[Jarqui]

1. That is a pretty good take on those years

Thanks

[SylviaD]

2. I think most economists would disagree with you.

The Clinton years had their problems but The Nation needs to take it down a notch. Revisionist history.

[yeoman6987]

4. I think most Americans would disagree to

I hear so many say they wish for the economy of the 90's. Not sure where this change is coming from.

[ErisDiscordia]

6. From the complete collapse of the Clinton bubble economy since 1999

which is still happening, as the government desperately keeps trying to re-inflate the economy, and the new bubbles just keep right on popping.

Economics has consequences. A bubble economy is not a good thing (even short-term).

And when that bubble collapsed, all poor children on welfare, no longer on welfare because of the Clinton Welfare-Deform, were worse off than ever before, not to mention their families, the communities and schools, and the larger groups: states and the nation.

[daleanime]

10. +1

[Baobab]

50. people dont realize this because of the bubble

But if you dig into things a bit you will see that not only was it a sham, they laid the foundation for disasters which have already hit us, like bad health care really being because of GATS, and Glass Stegall's 1998 repeal causing 2008 and huge sellouts already coming like Mode Four, TISA

[SoapBox]

19. +1

[TIME TO PANIC]

29. Exactly.

[Perogie]

11. Memories are short term and subject to a life span

If you didn't live in the 50-60's then you wouldn't be aware how much better the economy was. The 90's were better than now but not as good as when I was a kid.

[yeoman6987]

17. Good point. I'm 46.

My first economy was Clinton so I have had Clinton bush and Obama so I guess it makes sense I'd pick Clinton out of the three.

[Fawke Em]

44. I'm exactly your age and I didn't have the same perception.

I was working for peanuts.

[yeoman6987]

46. Well I was working for less money then now too just out of college 40 grand. Not great.

Actually my highest paying Job was during bush years. But that really doesn't prove the economy was good. I am making good money in the Obama years but it has a way to go for others.

[winter is coming]

16. Bubbles look good while you're inside them.

It's what happens after the bubble pops that's the problem.

[ErisDiscordia]

7. No, actually, they don't

When economists take a long look back (which they don't often get the time to do) they point to this as the turning point for all that's happened since.

[Mbrow]

9. Sorry the Nation

Tends to get most things right, not everything, but most. I guess the "truth" is a matter of opinion and how thing impact you.

[Perogie]

13. Are you an economist that can refute what the Nation claims?

Or are you just presenting an opinion?

[Gregorian]

15. Only the ones who have an agenda.

I haven't heard a single legitimate economist who disagrees that things were set up that created housing and market bubbles.

[appalachiablue]

22. Maybe you saw the Op in #20 about economists, quite informative.

[DhhD]

23. FAIR Act of 1998; where Bill Clinton began the privatization activities of and for, Third Way.

[dlwickham]

27. Another case of a publication trying to make itself look important

The right wing ones do that all the time

[SylviaD]

49. Apparently sometimes the left wing ones do too.

Horrible for The Nation to attack the Clinton achievements when they used to pillory Bush by comparing his economic blunders to the Clinton years. Now this revisionism. Very disappointing and more typical of a right wing rag.

[Docreed2003]

3. Excellent read...thank you!

“we’re Eisenhower Republicans here…. We stand for lower deficits, free trade, and the bond market. Isn’t that great?”

No...not so much...

[hedda_foil]

48. Well, well. Here's what happened to both Clinton and Obama.

We've wondered for years just how and why both presidents flipped on economic policy between election and inauguration. Here it is.

The starting point for understanding Bill Clinton’s economic program is to recognize that it was thoroughly beholden to Wall Street, as Clinton himself acknowledged almost immediately after he was elected. Clinton won the 1992 election by pledging to end the economic stagnation that had enveloped the last two years of the George H.W. Bush administration and advance a program of “Putting People First.” This meant large investments in job training, education, and public infrastructure.

But Clinton’s priorities shifted drastically during the two-month interregnum between his November election and his inauguration in January 1993, as documented in compelling detail by Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in his 1994 book The Agenda. As Woodward recounts, Clinton stated only weeks after winning the election that “we’re Eisenhower Republicans here…. We stand for lower deficits, free trade, and the bond market. Isn’t that great?” Clinton further conceded that with his new policy focus, “we help the bond market, and we hurt the people who voted us in.”

How could Clinton have undergone such a lightening-fast reversal? The answer is straightforward, and explained with candor by Robert Rubin, who had been co-chair of Goldman Sachs before becoming Clinton’s Treasury secretary. Even before the inauguration, Rubin explained to more populist members of the incoming administration that the rich “are running the economy and make the decisions about the economy.”

.New question: what convinced Clinton to make Rubin his Sec Treas? I can understand why Obama brought back the Clinton crew in the face of a looming depression. The natural thing to do was to turn to the economists from the last successful Democratic president.

[appalachiablue]

5. What a Summary.

>"Throughout the bubble years, Clinton’s policy advisers, led by Rubin and his then protégé Larry Summers, maintained that regulating Wall Street was an outmoded relic from the 1930s. They used this argument to push through the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall financial regulatory system that had been operating since the New Deal. The Clinton team thus set the stage for the collapse of the Dot.com bubble and ensuing recession in March 2001, only two months after Clinton left office. They also created the conditions that enabled the even more severe bubble that produced the 2008 global financial crisis and Great Recession.

>Clinton’s position on global trade was virtually identical to that of his Republican predecessors, proclaiming the universal virtues of free trade. Clinton moved quickly after taking office to push through the final passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that had been promoted by Presidents Reagan and Bush. It was clear then, and has been borne out with time, that the benefits from NAFTA would flow overwhelmingly to American businesses, while wages and bargaining power for American workers would suffer. The gestures Clinton made to labor and environmentalists during the NAFTA negotiations were almost completely empty of content.

>In sum, Bill Clinton’s presidency accomplished almost nothing to improve conditions for working people and the poor on a sustained basis. Gestures to the poor and working class were slight and back-handed, while wages for the majority remained below their level of a generation prior. Wealth at the top exploded with the Wall Street bubble. But the stratospheric rise in stock prices and the debt-financed consumption and investment booms produced a mortgaged legacy. The financial unraveling began even as Clinton was basking in praise for his economic stewardship. Throughout the current presidential campaign, this reality needs to be recognized every time Hillary Clinton invokes her husband’s record as a compelling argument for supporting her own candidacy." •

[daleanime]

12. +1

[tk2kewl]

8. If only...

“we’re Eisenhower Republicans here…. We stand for lower deficits, free trade, and the bond market. Isn’t that great?” - Bill Clinton

The Democratic establishment is to the right of Eisenhower on economics today as evidenced by the next quote:

Clinton further conceded that with his new policy focus, “we help the bond market, and we hurt the people who voted us in.”

[cantbeserious]

14. Thank You For Sharing These Truths

eom

[SoapBox]

18. No More Clintons! America can't afford it...

When Hillary was asked at the January 17 Democratic debate whether Bill Clinton would be advising her on the economy, she responded, “I’m going to have the very best advisers that I can possibly have, and when it comes to the economy and what was accomplished under my husband’s leadership in the ’90s—especially when it came to raising incomes for everybody and lifting more people out of poverty than at any time in recent history— you bet.”

Load of crap.

READ the article if you want to be really scared of them.

Rubin, Summers...the whole lot need to be kept away from us.

[appalachiablue]

20. *170 PROMINENT ECONOMISTS BACK BERNIE SANDERS' PLAN TO REIN IN WALL STREET*

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511009063

>"170 Prominent Economists Back Bernie Sanders’ Plan to Rein in Wall Street", U.S.Uncut, Jan. 14, 2016
http://usuncut.com/politics/170-top-economists-back-bernie-sanders-plan-to-rein-in-wall-street/

Among the 170 economists and professors backing Sanders’ plan are former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, professor James K. Galbraith of the University of Texas, and John Miller of Wheaton College. Other experts listed on the sign-on letter teach at top universities like Harvard, Cornell, and Cambridge (UK). Also included is a former member of U.S. Congress, a former researcher for the Federal Reserve Board, and even a former associate at Goldman Sachs, as well as numerous financial advisors and wealth management experts....
Here’s the full list:

1. Robert Reich, University of California Berkeley

2. Robert Hockett, Cornell University

3. James K. Galbraith, University of Texas

4. Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research

5. Christine Desan, Harvard Law School

6. Jeff Connaughton, Former Chief of Staff, Senator Ted Kaufman

7. William Darity Jr., Duke University

8. Eileen Appelbaum, Center for Economic and Policy Research

9. Brad Miller, Former U.S. Congressman and Senior Fellow, Roosevelt Institute

10. William K. Black, University of Missouri-Kansas City

11. Lawrence Rufrano, Research, Federal Reserve Board, 2005-2015

12. Darrick Hamilton, New School for Social Research

13. Peter Eaton, University of Missouri-Kansas City

14. Eric Hake, Catawba College

15. Geoff Schneider, Bucknell University

16. Dell Champlin, Oregon State University

17. Antoine Godin, Kingston University, London, UK

18. John P. Watkins, Westminster College

19. Mayo C. Toruño, California State University, San Bernardino

20. Charles K. Wilber, Fellow, Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame

21. Fadhel Kaboub, Denison University

22. Flavia Dantas, Cortland State University

23. Mitchell Green, Binzgar Institute

24. Bruce Collier, Education Management Information Systems

25. Winston H. Griffith, Bucknell University

26. Zdravka Todorova, Wright State University

27. David Barkin, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco

28. Rick Wicks, Göteborg, Sverige (Sweden) & Anchorage, Alaska

29. Philip Arestis, University of Cambridge

30. Amitava Krishna Dutt, University of Notre Dame

31. John F. Henry, Levy Economics Institute

32. James G. Devine, Loyola Marymount University

33. John Davis, Marquette University

34. Gary Mongiovi, St. John’s University

35. Eric Tymoigne, Lewis & Clark College

36. Trevor Roycroft, Ohio University

37. James Sturgeon, University of Missouri-Kansas City

38. Spencer J. Pack, Connecticut College

39. Thomas Kemp, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire

40. Ronnie Phillips, Colorado State University

41. John Dennis Chasse, SUNY at Brockport

42. Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Bard College

43. Silvio Guaita, Institution, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)

44. Glen Atkinson, University of Nevada, Reno

45. William Van Lear, Belmont Abbey College

46. James M. Cypher, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas

47. Philip Pilkington, Political Economy Research Group, Kingston University

48. Eric Hoyt, PhD candidate, UMass-Amherst

49. Jon D. Wisman, American University

50. James K. Boyce, University of Massachusetts Amherst

51. Hendrik Van den Berg, Professor Emeritus, Universities of Nebraska

52. Thomas E. Lambert, Northern Kentucky University

53. Michael Nuwer, SUNY Potsdam

54. Nikka Lemons, The University of Texas-Arlington

55. Scott T. Fullwiler, Wartburg College

56. Charles M A. Clark, St. John’s University

57. John T. Harvey, Texas Christian University

58. Daphne Greenwood, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs

59. Gerald Epstein, University of Massachusetts Amherst

60. Mohammad Moeini-Feizabadi, PhD candidate, University of Massachusetts

61. Rebecca Todd Peters, Elon University

62. Andres F. Cantillo, University of Missouri-Kansas City

63. Michael Meeropol, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Western New England University

64. Robert H. Scott III, Monmouth University

65. Timothy A Wunder, Department of Economics University of TexasArlington

66. Mariano Torras, Adelphi University

67. Gennaro Zezza, Levy Economics Institute

68. Wolfram Elsner, University of Bremen

69. Larry Allen, Lamar University

70. John Miller, Wheaton College

71. Chris Tilly, UCLA

72. Sean Flaherty, Franklin and Marshall College

73. Clifford Poirot, Shawnee State University

74. Anita Dancs, Western New England University

75. Calvin Mudzingiri, University of the Free State

76. Roger Even Bove, West Chester University

77. Andrea Armeni, Transform Finance

78. Anwar Shaikh, New School for Social Research

79. Steven Pressman, Colorado State University

80. Frank Pasquale, University of Maryland, Carey School of Law

81. John Weeks, SOAS, University of London

82. Matías Vernengo, Bucknell University

83. Thomas Masterson, Levy Economics Institute

84. Antonio Callari, Franklin and Marshall College

85. Avraham Baranes, Rollins College

86. Janet Spitz, the College of Saint Rose

87. Nancy Folbre, University of Massachusetts Amherst

88. Jennifer Taub, Vermont Law School

89. Irene van Staveren, Erasmus University

90. Yavuz Yaşar, University of Denver

91. Scott McConnell, Eastern Oregon University

92. Don Goldstein, Allegheny College

93. J. Pérez Oya, Retired UN secretariat (Spain)

94. Elaine McCrate, University of Vermont

95. Thomas E. Weisskopf, University of Michigan

96. Jeffrey Zink, Morningside College

97. Scott Jeffrey, Monmouth University

98. Lourdes Benería, Cornell University

99. Frank Thompson, University of Michigan

100. Baban Hasnat, The College at Brockport, State University of New York

101. Ilene Grabel, University of Denver

102. Tara Natarajan, Saint Michael’s College

103. Leanne Ussher, Queens College, City University of New York

104. Kathleen McAfee, San Francisco State University

105. Victoria Chick, University College London

106. Steve Keen, Kingston University

107. Heidi Mandanis Schooner, The Catholic University of America

108. Louis-Philippe Rochon, Laurentian University

109. Jamee K. Moudud, Professor of Economics, Sarah Lawrence College

110. Timothy A. Canova, Shepard Broad College of Law, Nova Southeastern University

111. Karol Gil Vasquez, Nichols College

112. Mark Haggerty, University of Maine

113. Luis Brunstein University of California, Riverside

114. Cathleen Whiting, Willamette University

115. William Waller, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

116. Kade Finnoff, University of Massachuettes-Boston

117. Maarten de Kadt, Independent Economist

118. Timothy Koechlin, Vassar College

119. Ceren Soylu, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

120. Dorene Isenberg, University of Redlands

121. Barbara Hopkins, Wright State University

122. Matthew Rice, University of Missouri-Kansas City

123. David Gold, The New School for Social Research

124. Cyrus Bina, University of Minnesota

125. Mark Paul, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

126. Xuan Pham, Rockhurst University

127. Erik Dean, Portland Community College

128. Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr., George Washington University Law School

129. Rohan Grey, President, Modern Money Network

130. Tamar Diana Wilson, University of Missouri—St. Louis

131. Radhika Balakrishanan, Rutgers University

132. Alla Semenova, SUNY Potsdam

133. Yeva Nersisyan, Franklin and Marshall College

134. Linwood Tauheed, University of Missouri-Kansas City

135. Michael Perelman, California State University, Chico

136. Janet T. Knoedler, Bucknell University

137. David Laibman, Brooklyn College and Graduate School, City University of New York

138. Ann Pettifor, Director, Policy Research in Macroeconomics, London

139. Steve Schifferes, City University London

140. Al Campbell, University of Utah

141. Faith Stevelman, New York Law School

142. Kathleen C. Engel, Suffolk University Law School

143. Jack Wendland, University of Missouri-Kansas City

144. Ruxandra Pavelchievici, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis

145. Zoe Sherman, Merrimack College

146. Donald St. Clair, CFP, Financial Planning Assoc. of Northern California

147. Carolyn McClanahan, CFP, Life Planning Partners, Inc.

148. Thomas Ferguson, Senior Fellow, Roosevelt Institute

149. Saule T. Omarova, Cornell University

150. Josh Ryan-Collins, City University, London

151. June Zaccone, Hofstra University

152. Alex Binder, Franklin & Marshall College

153. Albena Azmanova, University of Kent, Brussels School of International Studies

154. Hans G. Ehrbar, University of Utah

155. Devin T. Rafferty, St. Peter’s University

156. Reynold F. Nesiba, Augustana University

157. David Zalewski, Providence College

158. Claudia Chaufan, University of California-San Francisco

159. L. Randall Wray, Levy Economics Institute and Bard College

160. Richard B. Wagner, JD, CFP, WorthLiving LLC

161. Joseph Persky, University of Illinois-Chicago

162. Julie Matthaei, Wellesley College

163. Peter Spiegler, University of Massachuetts-Amherst

164. James Ronald Stanfield, Colorado State University

165. William D. Pitney, CFP, Director of Advocacy, FPA of Silicon Valley

166. Ora R. Citron, CFP, Oak Tree Wealth Management

167. Susan Webber, Former Associate at Goldman, Sachs & Co.

168. Richard D. Wolff, Democracy at Work and New School for Social Research

169. Mu-JeongKho, University College London

170. Kevin Furey, Chemeketa Community College

[Enthusiast]

31. PLUS ONE, a huge bunch!

[SoapBox]

42. Absolutely plus ONE!

[dembotoz]

21. never liked bill

his elections were more at least he is not a republican vs happy happy joy joy

[Peregrine Took]

30. Yes, He was supposed to have this fantastic charisma...just sounded like ELvis to me. n/t

[Enthusiast]

33. I did like Bill. I defended him during the 1990s. Like many of us I was mistaken.

[SoapBox]

43. Ditto.

And now he makes my skin crawl, as we have put together a complete history of the Clintons.

[yeoman6987]

47. The Repugs picked weak candidates too

Dole and bush Sr lost because no new faces pledge he broke.

[UCmeNdc]

24. This is not true. The United States was at its pinnacle of power in the 1990's going into 2000.

Everyone had a job who wanted one, it is the GOP congress that eventually won out with its propaganda war. That is why Gore was not elected in a landslide. The GOP got its way in 2000 and the country took a crash from there on.

[TIME TO PANIC]

32. Everyone had a job who wanted one?

Bull fucking shit!

[DrBulldog]

38. Gore was not elected because of two things: (1) Monica Lewinsky, (2) The Supreme Court.

[ErisDiscordia]

39. Let's face it. Gore was a bore. He had no belly for the fight.

And I never felt the Clintons supported him, either. There was bad blood between them.

[Geronimoe]

25. Wrecking Crew

I recall 2000 & 2001 pretty well. Dotcom bomb, irrational exuberance, everyone cooking the books. Enron collapse, the utility companies with predatory practices. People in the tech industry returning to college in order to get into the healthcare industry. 28% credit card finance charges plus any excuse to charge late fees. Consolidation of the media. Privatization of utility companies. Consolidation of cable. Consolidation of Big Pharma. Privatization and consolidation of community hospitals.

All financial market indexes lower than when Bill had been sworn into office eight year earlier.

[appalachiablue]

45. +1

[jillan]

26. NAFTA - need I say more?

[Enthusiast]

35. NAFTA helped ruin the nation. Gramm-Leach-Bliley and the SCOTUS making Bush pres did the rest.

The Telecommunications Act Bill signed turned out to be a disaster.

[Peregrine Took]

28. Exellent article. It drives me crazy to hear that meme about how great those years were....

for millionaires, yes, of course.

[elias49]

34. Thank you. nt

[elias49]

36. This should be cross posted to GDP. Please

May I? It's wasted here.

[ErisDiscordia]

40. Feel free! I don't own it or even rent it.

[DrBulldog]

37. Excellent well-done analysis.

I now regret missing Pollin's book when it came out over ten years ago.

[SoapBox]

41. Still available...

http://www.amazon.com/Contours-Descent-Fractures-Landscape-Austerity/dp/1844675343/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1454173443&sr=8-3&keywords=Robert+Pollin

Although not inexpensive for a paperback...may be some used or folks cold check their local library systems.

He's still writing...a book out in 2015.