Keynesian economics

Keynesian economics is largely focused on demand, changes in which, it posits, cause the business cycle to fluctuate.

We saw this in a big way between 1950 and 1980, when Keynesian economics reigned and labor unions helped wages — and the taxes they paid — steadily rise for working people.

At the same time, though, and to a degree that almost seems self-aware, it either ignores or denounces any policy for dealing with those problems that has a hint of a connection to Democratic Party know-it-alls, dismissing the Green New Deal’s clean-energy infrastructure spending for its alleged connection to “social justice,” attacking “Keynesian” economics, and arguing in favor of “shrinking the regulatory state.”

He studied Keynesian economics at M.I.T., ultimately becoming the first Italian to receive a doctorate there.

A nimble code switcher, Obama is comfortable being the poet, as he describes the majesty of the Hindu Kush from the window of a helicopter; the professor, as he delves into Keynesian economics; and the openhearted family man, as he recounts the death of his grandmother.