“Of course, any economic policy will produce winners and losers, and it seems unlikely that policy makers are deliberately sacrificing retirees either to stimulate the economy or to grind down government debt. More likely, older Americans and other savers are just unintended casualties of policies aimed at other economic targets, particularly the policy making it easier for consumers and companies to borrow.
‘If you care about the distribution effects of these policies, and being fairer to the elderly or other people, that seems to argue for carefully designed fiscal stimulus,’ said Robert J. Shiller, an economics professor at Yale. ‘With fiscal stimulus you have more control over who gets taxed at what rate and so on. At least it’s more transparent anyhow.’
But, he added, ‘the whole reason we like using monetary policy is that it avoids those very political discussions of who gets taxed.’” (New York Times)
The State creates zero-sum games, ensures that it wins, and whatever theory justifies those choices will provide the rationale. The casualties are everyone without the means to either survive those policies or bend them to their own benefit.
FEE Timely Classic
“Blowing Bubbles: Getting Ready for the Next Bust” by Richard W. Fulmer