[00:00] [Applause]
[00:02] hi Charlie is that an Obama shirt yeah
[00:05] yeah okay president I'm going to read
[00:08] off my phone because I wasn't really
[00:09] expecting to ask a question okay I
[00:12] completed my degree in economics last
[00:13] semester and I'm currently wrapping out
[00:14] my data science minor uh I was really
[00:17] with you about the fact that the
[00:18] material condition of a young adult now
[00:20] is much worse than that of a student 20
[00:22] years ago you're making a lot of good
[00:24] points about the state of the society
[00:25] through an economic lens thank you
[00:27] unfortunately we disagree on the reason
[00:30] for why we've got to this point I feel
[00:32] that the problems we face today are
[00:33] rather a result of a shift in the
[00:35] American economic culture during the
[00:37] Reagan Era when he promoted austerity
[00:39] and reaganism economics extreme wealth
[00:41] inequality isn't A New Concept it's
[00:43] something that's been on trend for the
[00:45] past half century don't you feel like
[00:46] the transfer of wealth you described
[00:48] earlier is a result of monetary policy
[00:50] enacted by politicians on both sides
[00:52] that cut spending for social services
[00:54] and keeps the effective tax rate for the
[00:55] 1% low so you almost had me there
[00:58] monetary policy yes cheap money benefits
[01:00] rich people it does and it
[01:01] disincentivizes saving um you also said
[01:04] what was the other part you said the so
[01:05] sling social welfare benefits right yeah
[01:07] you're not going to get me at that I do
[01:09] not believe that a heavy burden of
[01:11] social welfare uh is good for The Human
[01:13] Condition I don't think it materially
[01:15] has evidence to actually show people
[01:16] that elevate um you know kind of the one
[01:19] liner that I think uh we use a lot is we
[01:21] want a safety we want a safety net not a
[01:23] hammock right we don't want to get
[01:24] people addicted to government assistance
[01:26] unfortunately there's like 40 to 50
[01:27] million Americans that are just
[01:29] perpetually Andover assistance but
[01:30] something I think you and I could
[01:31] actually agree on is a proper diagnosis
[01:34] of the Reagan Era um I think Reagan's a
[01:36] mixed bag I'm not someone who just you
[01:38] know defends him at all costs um I think
[01:40] he was really good in the Soviet Union
[01:41] generally good on anti-socialism and
[01:43] communism but he also ushered in a lot
[01:45] of other things such as incredibly
[01:46] radical abortion policy here in
[01:48] California but there was an agreement
[01:50] post Reagan and kind of George HW Bush
[01:52] which was kind of part of his regime
[01:54] that I think you and I could agree on
[01:55] which is that we really want to try to
[01:57] internationalize the American economy
[01:59] and there was a betrayal of the American
[02:01] worker allowing China into the World
[02:03] Trade Organization in the late '90s
[02:04] right the repealing of glass deagle
[02:06] which I'm against just we're clear that
[02:08] I think that that was actually good to
[02:10] keep commercial and Investment Banking
[02:11] separate I think it created a massive
[02:13] moral hazard the lowering of interest
[02:15] rates unnecessarily throughout the 90s
[02:16] and early 2000s which I think were all
[02:19] things that factored in some of these
[02:20] economic conditions that you talk about
[02:22] but I would be careful just kind of
[02:24] blaming only that's not true you did say
[02:27] both parties but it's not just it was
[02:28] continued by Clinton aot in the 9s as
[02:30] well but the question is what do we want
[02:33] and this is something I can actually
[02:34] find common cause with a lot of people
[02:35] on the left is I look at middle- class
[02:37] wages how easy easy to have children can
[02:39] you flourish and how many new businesses
[02:41] are we starting right and I think under
[02:43] Donald Trump which is something you'll
[02:45] definitely disagree with those things
[02:47] actually were improving dramatically it
[02:49] was a blue collar boom U middle class
[02:52] wages were going up more than anyone
[02:54] realized in fact the wage growth for
[02:55] middle class workers and bluecollar
[02:56] workers far outpaced wage growth for the
[02:59] one % at the top ladder of the the
[03:01] economy now was it perfect of course it
[03:03] wasn't I would have liked to see uh even
[03:06] harsher trade policies against China to
[03:08] actually prioritize our own industry and
[03:10] our own manufacturing the last thing
[03:12] I'll say is this I think NAFTA was a
[03:14] disaster you may disagree or not agree
[03:16] the left can't really make up their mind
[03:18] on this they used to hate NAFTA now they
[03:19] love NAFTA I think that the kind of
[03:22] bargain that was sold to us which is we
[03:24] are going to send all of our labor
[03:27] through a massive Arbitrage close down
[03:29] our Factory send it to Wuhan China and
[03:31] get a bunch of plastic in return was a
[03:33] bad deal for America and that did play
[03:36] in to a lot of the economic and income
[03:37] INE equality we're seeing right now so I
[03:39] don't think we're that far off to be
[03:40] perfectly honest I would just kind of I
[03:42] would push back a little bit on some of
[03:44] the critique of supply side and
[03:45] market-based policy I think is generally
[03:47] a good thing for society and does have
[03:49] some benefits so
