Since the middle of the past century, our political economy has relied upon the insidious metaphor of the “economic pie,” which measures success by the amount of gross domestic product (GDP) available to every American for consumption. When serving a pie, each portion's size depends on both the size of the dish and the share allocated to each slice. Likewise, the thinking goes, each person's consumption depends on the size of the overall economy and the share he receives. Fighting over shares is a zero-sum game, but if we concentrate on baking an ever-larger pie, then everyone's slice can grow. If some slices are too small, pie can be redistributed among the plates. And who doesn't like pie?
The phrase economic pie first appeared in the presidential lexicon in 1952, when Harry Truman quoted from a Business Week article that used the term. John F. Kennedy used it when addressing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Presidents Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama used it, too. The media and think tanks across the political spectrum bandy it about with ease.
Read Full Article »