Brian Garst

VP @CFandP. Mostly memes, some analysis

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@RoKhanna The actual difference: People with no knowledge of economics, history, or economic history manage to hold onto the fantasy that politicians will wisely "invest" taxpayer dollars instead of feathering their nests, buying votes, and just generally letting it go to waste.

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

Politicized envy is the biggest threat to the modern economy.

[Clifford Asness @CliffordAsness]

And another thing that’s related…

Wealth / income is stupid for another reason and it’s under-appreciated and under-discussed. The super rich are not about to consume (e.g., buy 14% of everything) more than a tiny fraction of their wealth. Consumption inequality is way lower than income or wealth inequality (another way of saying the rich save/invest more). What a rational re-distributionist wants to re-distribute is consumption because they care about the poor and middle class living better. That’s actually harder to do than you think. When you move some wealth from the super-rich to others, and the super-rich don’t change their consumption, because barring gigantic confiscation (don’t give comrade Zuc any ideas) they don’t have to, you don’t just magically get more goods for the whole world to consume. On the other hand, because their MPC is higher, it is far easier to redistribute from say the middle class to the poor (you cut their wealth and they will consume less), which is essentially one big reason why Europe is more regressive than the USA. This is not a nefarious plot it’s just “maths.” Unless you think all “maths” are a nefarious plot.

Oh, I stipulated a “rational re-distributionist” above. What is an irrational re-distributionist? Funny you should ask. It’s one actually not trying to make the poor (and maybe the middle-class) better off, but one just filled with hate who just wants to hurt the rich.

Guess which one the French Socialists and their Stiglitz back-up singer are?

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@bourscheid @ErikVoorhees "Sorry, I was wrong" isn't hard to type.

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@TVietor08 @charlescwcooke Cringe

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@ewarren Yes, it's time for people to wake up to your petty jealousy.

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@JonahDispatch

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@asymmetricinfo "Breakfast for dinner" is one of my favorite meals.

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@HistoryBoomer It's dumb; I agree. But you got to makes rules for the populace you have, not the one you want. And the populace we have is not able to handle election results that slowly trickle in over time so we should stop designing our elections to operate that way.

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

Respectfully, while the founding principles were not adequately applied at the time, they nevertheless provided a powerful standard to which civil rights leaders could point in their efforts to persuade the public to support expanding rights. They didn't have to argue for a new set of principles, but rather for the full and faithful implementation of those already laid down and accepted.

"Interpreted as it ought to be interpreted, the Constitution is a glorious liberty document." - Frederick Douglass

"In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir... It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. ...But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check" - MLK Jr.

One can choose to see only the flaws, the rights delayed or denied.

Or one can see that the ability of Americans to rectify mistakes and expand liberty is a testament to the enduring relevance of its Founding principles, and choose to celebrate how far we have come and will yet go.

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@mattyglesias That's a bad way to evaluate whether a particular tax is a good idea, actually.

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@mattyglesias How about instead of demagoguing for one of the most economically destructive forms of taxation, we strive to construct a tax code that raises only those funds that are absolutely necessary while at the same time doing the least amount of economic damage possible.

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

Yes, but we also need better institutional hygiene.

People are going to fill the space of an election that takes a long time to resolve with all manner of conspiracies. That's a problem even when there is no merit to it.

Slow elections breed distrust and therefore elections should be quickly resolved and results promptly delivered.

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

It is abusive to forcefully restrain your partner in a room until they "calm down."

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@TPCarney

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

This is really nice to see. And not in any partisan way; I would enjoy it just as much if the parties were reversed. It's just nice to see the performative assholery that has consumed Congress being treated with the sneering disdain that it deserves.

More of this, please.

[RedWave Press @RedWavePress]

HILARIOUS: *Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) RAGES for 5 minutes*

Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “Oh she gets to scream now too? Scream and shout!… What kind of thing is this?… It’s not a hearing. It’s like a dunk tank.”

*Kamlager-Dove STORMS out*

Marco Rubio: “Why is she leaving? I'm going to answer her questions. Oh, I got it. Well, thank you for coming.”

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@WhiteHouse It's harder to build up, since you're apparently unaware how gravity works

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@royermattw These lies are an attempt to destroy democratic institutions and undermine the rule of law, and the people who spread them should be ostracized just the same as any Jan 6er.

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@omgsidewalks Scrooge McDuck is not real. Wealth is not "hoarded" like gold coins in a vault. It is deployed as investment and benefits the whole economy. Likewise, wealth is generally acquired by creating value for others, so they have already "give[n] back."

[Brian Garst @BrianGarst]

@Timodc Doing the meme.