Your Reactions #1

From TPM Reader JG …

Usually I agree with your takes, but not with what seems to be your acceptance of the idea that the Trump victory was part of the global rejection of incumbents because of post-pandemic misery.  The failures were two:  first, Biden’s signal failure to educate the American public about the post-pandemic situation and what his policies were doing to get us through this period.  We see the trade off: a few more points of unemployment means suffering for a relatively small group but reduces inflationary pressures that would lead to price increases for the population as a whole.  Inflation — precisely because it expresses itself across the general population is politically riskier than protecting the well-being of the otherwide unemployed, a fraction of the population.  You can defend the policy choice for more stimulus on grounds of compassion and the common enterprise, but do recall any such case?  I don’t.  You know Bill Clinton would have been making that case.  And more generally to explain and defend success in navigating the post-pandemic environment.