Don’t Be Seduced by Zero-Sum Thinking About the Economy
Populists of both the left and right would like you to think things are getting worse, but that’s not true — and their policies wouldn’t make things any better.
It all adds up to more than zero.
Photographer: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFPOne idea unites the left and right lately: a zero-sum view of the world. Unfortunately, nice as it would be to hail a rare instance of ideological harmony, both sides are very much mistaken.
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. This is a strange preoccupation, since today’s world economy is not zero sum. It is not without its problems — there are pockets of scarcity and widespread uncertainty — but real wages and wealth are increasing, as is our standard of living.