Krugman: The Issue That Won’t Go Away

[HomerRamone]

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/20/the-issue-that-wont-go-away/

So another atrocity has us talking about race again. And rightly so. Nothing about America makes sense without understanding the long shadow cast by the original sin of slavery.

And yes, it’s an integral part of the left-right divide. Look at “Why Doesn’t the United States Have a European-Style Welfare State?” by Alberto Alesina — yes, that Alesina — Ed Glaeser, and Bruce Sacerdote. The authors are hardly big lefties; nonetheless, they were driven to the conclusion that it’s mainly about you-know-what:

Racial discord plays a critical role in determining beliefs about the poor. Since racial minorities are highly overrepresented among the poorest Americans, any income-based redistribution measures will redistribute disproportionately to these minorities. Opponents of redistribution in the United States have regularly used race-based rhetoric to resist left-wing policies. Across countries, racial fragmentation is a powerful predictor of redistribution. Within the United States, race is the single most important predictor of support for welfare. America’s troubled race relations are clearly a major reason for the absence of an American welfare state.

To see what they’re talking about, and why their point remains so relevant, look at two maps. First, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act:

(The states that haven't expanded Medicaid match the states that had slavery pretty closely...)

[tblue37]

1. K&R for visibility. nt

[roamer65]

2. Krugman right on the money as usual.

Truth be told, the old Union states have much more in common with the provinces of Canada than they do the states of the old Confederacy.

Like Britain and her commonwealth, The Union states had no problem enacting and enforcing anti-slavery laws. We also now do not differ than much on healthcare insurance as well.

[hifiguy]

4. This is an old meme but it is still depressingly accurate

[Springslips]

5. Hardly.

Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois is as jesus crazy as my State, so too is Penn, New York, Iowa and Maryland. Some of the mega-churches in California are as fundamentalnuty as anything I have ever seem here. This is accurate as a stereotype only. People need to get out and see the world.

[hifiguy]

6. Well, we have a lot of elected progressives in MN

Starting with our outstanding Governor, Mark Dayton, Senators Klobuchar and Franken, and Reps Ellison and McCollum.

What has happened to Wisconsin is inexplicable. It used to be a sane and progressive place, with a tradition that included Bob LaFollette, William Proxmire, Russ Feingold and Pat Lucey,

[Jack Rabbit]

7. What happened to Wisconsin is not at all inexplicable

It's called Koch addiction.

[hifiguy]

8. That is true.

Money can erase history, apparently.

[JDPriestly]

11. Money, especially Koch money, can certainly overpower morality. At least for a while.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. It's the white evangelical numbers

http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/2004/11/State-By-State-Percentage-Of-White-Evangelicals-Catholics-And-Black-Protestants.aspx

Look at the states above 30%. Or the counties where Southern Baptists are the largest sect:

https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=

[hifiguy]

3. Kick and rec.

Once again, the good professor hits the nail squarely on the head.

[WillyT]

9. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[lovemydog]

10. Big k & r

[Hekate]

12. KnR for Krugman

[Enthusiast]

13. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch!

[Betty Karlson]

14. K & R.

This is where economic injustice, historic injustice, prejudice, and even the problems of economic volatility and income disparity all roll into one.

Mr. Krugman deserves better exposure of his ideas.

[lumberjack_jeff]

15. Exactly. n/t