The Reason Roundtable

On the market for political combat and the lack of interest in the Afghanistan War

On the market for political combat and the lack of interest in the Afghanistan War

Because tariffs come in bunches

Here's some really good news: Median household income in the United States is at a record-high, inflation-adjusted $61,372. When you factor in that today's households contain fewer people, the news is even better. In 1975, for instance, average income per person per household was just $19,500. Now it's $34,000 (all figures in 2017 dollars). And get a load of this: Since the 1990s, there is no evidence that income inequality is growing or the ability to move up and down the income ladder is shrinking. More people than ever live in households pulling down $100,000 (again, adjusted for inflation) than ever. Fewer households make less than $35,000 (adjusted for inflation).

All of this comes courtesy of U.S. Census that's compiled and analyzed by economist Mark J. Perry, who works at the American Enterprise Institute and University of Michigan (Flint), and runs the Carpe Diem blog.

Do you feel happy yet? On today's Reason Podcast, Nick Gillespie talks with Perry both about his findings and why we don't feel richer, happier, or more secure than we do. Perry isn't a Trump booster by any means, but he suggests that some of the president's policies—particularly the tax cuts and deregulatory moves in many parts of the economy—are helping to keep an economic expansion that started under President Obama moving along. At the same time, he worries over accumulating debt and trade wars that can raise prices and, more important, introduce wild uncertainty into the economy. When investors "see that there's uncertainty about policy that starts to distort decision making and capital spending."

Perry suggests one reason we don't feel more satisfied with economic improvements is that they are a feature and not a bug of a free enterprise system. "The benefits of a market economy and the march of progress are so constant and so gradual that either we don't appreciate it or don't notice it," he says. "So we have an under-appreciation of how much better things get all the time. If it happened all at once, we'd probably just be amazed."

Audio production by Ian Keyser.

Economist Mark J. Perry talks about rising incomes, flattening inequality, low unemployment, and why none of it seems to make us feel better.

Is Brett Kavanaugh lying about boofing, the Ralph Club, and the Devil's Triangle? And if so, should that be disqualifying for the Supreme Court, even if the process that led to such cross-examination was grotesquely cynical and partisan? Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch are split on these and other questions in this moment of national anger and anguish, as you can hear on the Monday editor-roundtable version of the Reason Podcast, but they do agree on one thing: To quote Robby Soave, "at this lowest of moments for political discourse," it's worth remembering that "the libertarian vision for society is one in which politics plays a much smaller role."

The editors also discuss Sen. Jeff Flake (R–Ariz.) and the hated temperamental center, the latest poll numbers about political self-affiliation, the great reasonminus50 Twitter feed, and more.

Audio production by Ian Keyser.

'The Life and Death of a Certain K. Zabriskie, Patriarch' by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Lying about the Devil's Triangle may or may not be disqualifying for the Supreme Court, but this whole process is a reminder that the federal government's power makes politics too important.

Lying about the Devil's Triangle may or may not be disqualifying for the Supreme Court, but this whole process is a reminder that the federal government's power makes politics too important.

For the last 45 years, no writer has taken a bigger blowtorch to the sacred cows of American life than libertarian humorist P.J. O'Rourke.

As a writer at National Lampoon in the 1970s, he co-authored best-selling parodies of high school yearbooks and Sunday newspapers. For Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, and other publications, O'Rourke traveled to war zones and other disaster areas, chronicling the folly of military and economic intervention. In 1991, he came out with Parliament of Whores, which explained why politicians should be the last people to have any power. Subtitled "A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government," this international bestseller probably minted more libertarians than any book since Free to Choose or Atlas Shrugged. More recently, O'Rourke published a critical history of his own Baby Boomer generation and How The Hell Did This Happen?, a richly reported account of Donald Trump's unexpected 2016 presidential victory.

O'Rourke's new book, None of My Business, explains "why he's not rich and neither are you." It's partly the result of hanging out with wealthy money managers and businessmen and what they've taught him over the years about creating meaning and value in an ever richer and crazier world. It covers everything from social media to learning how to drink in war zones to why the Chinese may be more American than U.S. citizens. He also explains why even though he doesn't understand or like a lot of things about modern technology, he doesn't fear Amazon or Google, especially compared to people who are calling for Socialism 2.0.

Nick Gillespie sat down with O'Rourke to talk about all that, the good and bad of Donald Trump, and why being an "old white man" just isn't what it used to be (and why he's OK with that).

Edited by Ian Keyser.

"Please Listen Carefully" by Jahzzar used under a Creative Commons license.

The libertarian humorist talks about his new book, how to drink in war zones, and why the Chinese are more American than most U.S. citizens.