Pecuniary Valuation in the Age of Trump

Abstract

Pecuniary valuation is the peculiar characteristic of present-day American political life, with no better illustration than our incumbent president. This paper considers the responsibility of economists for this condition, in light of the inequality dynamics that helped to produce the 2016 election outcome. I show that states with the greatest increases of inequality from 1990 to 2014 invariably voted for the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, while states with smaller inequality increases generally voted for Donald Trump. This outcome reflected an underlying rebellion against the professional elites. Though members of those same elites, economists have greatly undermined the reputation of this class, because their doctrines work to deny the utility of other professionals—scientists, engineers, lawyers, accountants—who serve a regulatory function in the market system. Economists therefore serve as enablers of the oligarchy, of the predator class, of the systems of direct rule under which we live.