To discuss this article visit First Drafts, Prospect’s blog
At Barack Obama’s press conference to announce his dozen-strong transition economic team, the faces behind him had a distinctly Clintonite look—including former treasury secretaries Robert Rubin and Larry Summers. Dotted among them were a few faces from the party’s left, including Clinton’s Labour secretary Robert Reich. But they looked isolated amid the centrist economists and big-name CEOs. Was this, some liberals asked, the change we voted for?
The appearance of Rubin and Summers at the heart of Obama’s economic team brought to the surface an old split in the Democratic party, often obscured during the campaign, between economic centrists and liberals. At the beginning of the 1990s, Rubin and his allies worried that excessive public spending and a ballooning deficit would lower American savings and, ultimately long-term growth. The victory of “Rubinomics” came when Clinton sided with Rubin over liberals like Reich, and prioritised deficit reduction over public investment.
If you are a subscriber, please log in »
This article is available to subscribers only
Subscribing to Prospect is the most reliable and convenient way to receive the magazine every month, and offers the best value.Subscription Types:
Online
An online subscription offers you complete and unlimited access to the entire website, including our searchable archive of every back issue of Prospect, and a PDF edition of each new issue: all this for just £20 per year. Purchase an online subscription »Renewal
Renew an existing subscription »Institutional access
If you are a library, business organisation or any other large institution that needs a multi-user licence, you can obtain institutional access.
Share
Subscribe to post comments
Print
