Ross Douthat has a good piece on structural problems with the US political system (and, I would add, many other countries.)
To grow in age is supposedly to grow in wisdom, and in theory one might imagine that what an aging society lacked in dynamism and innovation, it would make up for in the sobriety and seriousness of its leaders.
Instead in our would-be presidents we see the weaknesses of age — the debilitation of Joe Biden, the instability of Donald Trump, even the paranoia of their potential third-party challenger, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (who if elected would be the second-oldest American to begin a first presidential term).
While in our younger leaders, instead of counteracting virtues, we have chaotic vices that threaten to make everything ungovernable — the Republican Party, the House of Representatives, the country as a whole.
But this is not accurate:
The irony is that in that moment Trump was mostly right on the merits: Neither 2012 nor 2016 was an ideal time for fiscal retrenchment, given the sluggish comeback from the Great Recession and the resilience of low interest rates.
We accomplished substantial fiscal retrenchment in late 2012, and the economic recovery actually sped up. By 2016, we were already raising interest rates. Fiscal retrenchment would have been an ideal policy at that time.
Now we are a banana republic and it’s too late to fix the fiscal mess. I’m afraid we need to expect some really bad news in the years ahead. Banana republics don’t end well.
Years ago, I was a contrarian when I claimed we were becoming a banana republic and our fiscal situation was out of control. Now both claims are close to conventional wisdom.
[Of course the Washington clown show is great news for Vladimir Putin. Now he can look to the future with increased optimism.]
PS. I’ve sort of come around to Trump’s view of things. Back in 2016, I was skeptical of his claim that we should “lock up” government officials who were sloppy with classified material. Use of a private email didn’t seem like that big a deal. But giving away secrets regarding our nuclear subs? Yeah, I can kind of see how Trump might be correct. Lock them up.
I am also coming around to his view that it’s outrageous when a president’s child earns vast sums of money from foreign entities trying to curry favor with the president.
He’s also correct about it being a big mistake to elect a president who is old and senile.
Strange new respect—we share more and more opinions.
