How Are You Going to Pay for That?

Smart Answers to the Dumbest Question in Politics

By: Ryan Cooper

Narrated by: Ryan Cooper

A compelling alternative view of the relationship between our politics and our economy.

Throughout America, structural problems are getting worse. Economic inequality is near Gilded Age heights, the health-care system is a mess, and the climate crisis continues to grow. Yet most ambitious policy proposals that might fix these calamities are dismissed as wastefully expensive by default. From the kitchen table to Congress, debates are punctuated with a familiar refrain: “How are you going to pay for that?”

This question is designed to shut down policy pushes up front, minimizing any interference with the free market. It comes from neoliberalism, an economic ideology that has overtaken both parties. Proponents insist that markets are naturally occurring and apolitical and that too much manipulation of the economy will make our society fall apart.

Ryan Cooper argues that our society already is falling apart and that the logically preposterous views of neoliberalism are to blame. Most progressives understand this instinctively, but many lack the background knowledge to make effective economic counterarguments.

How Are You Going to Pay for That? is filled with engaging discussions and detailed strategies that policymakers and citizens alike can use to assail even the most entrenched lines of neoliberal logic and start to undo these long-held misconceptions.

Equal parts economic theory, history, and political polemic, this is an essential road map for winning the key battles to come.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Ryan Cooper (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Yay, Taxes!!!

This author demonstrates a superficial to mid-level understanding of economic thought and lumps multiple economic schools in one category he calls propertarians (from an old libertarian terminology).
These are supposedly the school of thought that property is a right… of course he disagrees.

As usual, no one can disagree with the plight of the poorer classes and the weak in our society. Let’s not forget racial injustice and the environment. Most all can agree that these are real problems, but the answer is far more complex than a snap of our socialist fingers, as he suggests.

He seems to be preaching a religion full of fantasy while undermining good data with biased arguments from fringe sources or cherry picked statements from mainstream. He is a classic Marxist or Piketty ideologue with broad religious-like statements, accusing, everyone, that does not think like him as “bullshit“ (his words).

This is not an intellectual discussion, but simply an argument for socialism in the pure sense or what he calls collectivist economics. Certainly parts of it are open for healthy discussion, and other parts are nothing more than made up fantasy.

Let me save you time as to “how we will pay for this”…ready?…broad based taxes and A centralized authority. Oh my, I would’ve never thought this would be his answer. This is a totally new idea…brilliant!

As an aside, his comments about the COVID-19 pandemic have not aged well with time, and he certainly knows nothing about the statements he made about Covid and the medical literature…this is clear. Enjoy the “Golden straight jacket.”

One sided arguments

The author seems well read but loses most credibility by mixing in opinions loosely disguised as facts. They ignore reasonable arguments from the opposition or criticize them without discrediting them. They also chose to not include the word “communism” in the title which is understandable because that would hurt sales but that’s basically what they are pointing toward throughout the book.

Loved it

Cannot recommend enough. This book gives the perfect explanation for modern economics and condenses history economics and politics into a short form. I have been recommending to everyone because of how explanatory it is on economic policies from the left position. You won't regret this buy.

Not horrible but not correct either

Was really looking forward to a scathing and deserved takedown of neoliberalism, but he kind of both-sides it vs his misconceptions of Marxism