RFK Populism

Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) economic plan can be described as a left of center populism.   He identifies the problem by noting, “Since then, rising interest rates have also put homeownership out of reach for even more Americans. In the last two and a half years, home financing costs have risen by 150% and the average cost of a home has increased by 23%. As more and more people are priced out of home ownership, rents have skyrocketed as well, rising 17% over the last year.”

His solutions are traditional old fashion liberal Democrat beginning with including raising the minimum wages, allowing students to declare bankruptcy and have college loan as zero interest rate and Medicare for all.  He also wants to renegotiate trade deals and put tariffs on lower developing countries.  His view on trade, “Free trade agreements have put American workers in competition with low-wage workers elsewhere in the world. “Free trade” sounds like a good idea, but it means that employers move production to places where environmental regulations are lax and where worker protections are non-existent. Companies in the US have to either offshore or extract concessions from their workers” and his solution, “Renegotiate free trade agreements and impose compensatory tariffs on imports from low-wage countries.” 

His goal is to strengthen unions as a counter to major corporations returning the days in which three out of every ten workers belonged to a union. Of course, today, the biggest problem is that while workers in private sector unions had declined, public sector unions have increased and, in the process, use their power to support the increase of government powers.  Many of the policies have led to the results he deplores including increase housing prices and college education going up. 

Here is what is missing in the RFK thesis, promoting economic growth, and expanding the economic pie.  Most studies show that raising minimum wages actually hurts those at the bottom of the economic ladder and while RFK calls for a minimum fifteen dollars an hour but in many communities, fifteen dollars an hour is the reality.  Around Cedar Rapids, jobs are advertised starting at 15 dollars, showing that markets can adjust as right now there are not enough workers to fill slots and wages have gone up accordingly.

As previously discussed, we have seen many Republicans governors leading their own revolution of tax reform, spending restraint and economic growth producing lower unemployment and more growth than their Democratic counterpart.  RFK still believes in government directed economic strategy.

A few years ago, we did survey and found that many conservatives may be classified as populist capitalist and while they hate socialism, they view capitalist as benefitting the rich as the expense of them.  Over the years, many voters, right or left, have expressed in our polls the view that the system is rigged against them, and they may not be wrong.  Writers like Carol Roth and Joel Kotkin have made the case that over the past decade many in the middle class and lower class lost ground while the wealthy have increased their wealth. CNBC Jim Kramer declared the pandemic produced the greatest transfer of wealth from the main street, middle class, and small businesses to the wealthy 1 percent. This is why RFK populism will attract some on the right as he is making the case that they have lost ground and he will help them gain some of it back.