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The Case Against Supply-Side Liberalism Is Weak

nymag.com · 4,346 words · saved by 1 readers

Progressives want to swiftly decarbonize the U.S. economy without lowering Americans’ living standards. That entails rapidly erecting vast constellations of solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal plants, mineral mines, and high-voltage transmission lines, among other things. And liberals also want to bring down inflation without increasing unemployment. One way to do that is to make it easier for the supply side of the economy to grow in response to consumer demand. For example, a key driver of contemporary inflation is shelter costs. One way to slow rent growth is to raise interest rates until the economy enters recession, and workers have less money to spend on homes. But another, better way to lower rents would be to expand the nation’s scarce supply of housing units through zoning reforms and public investment. If meeting modern liberalism’s objectives requires facilitating rapid construction, however, some of the ideological tradition’s tendencies aren’t conducive to that end. In

Photo: John Moore/Getty Images In 2023, meeting liberalism’s goals requires building lots of stuff. Progressives want to swiftly decarbonize the U.S. economy without lowering Americans’ living standards. That entails rapidly erecting vast constellations of solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal plants, mineral mines, and high-voltage transmission lines, among other things. And liberals also want to bring down inflation without increasing unemployment. One way to do that is to make it easier for the supply side of the economy to grow in response to consumer demand. For example, a key driver of

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