In case you missed it, there's a big old fight in the blogosphere between Linda Hirshman and Megan McArdle/Dan Drezner over which gender is the biggest loser in the economic downtown. It looks like Megan and Dan have the last word. They say that the overall recession has hit men the worse even if the last couple of months were worse for women.
I'm less interested in the numbers and more interested in Hirshman's other point. She points out that there are clear gender divisions in the labor force and, as we make some rather large investments in the economy, we should think about shelling out money to professions where women congregate. Investment in auto industry, Wall Street, and energy technology are mostly going to help men.
David Brooks would like money to be given to improve community life. He wants to investment in suburban town centers, instead of just of it all being lost in the auto industry quicksand.
Progressives are frustrated. We have a JFK-esque president, Democrats everywhere, hope, free spending. It should be good times. We should be able to think creatively about reducing inequality, about interesting public policy, about improving people's lives with education and art and town centers. We want a War on Poverty, a New Deal, a Great Society.
Instead, we have to bailout the auto industry. A bunch of polo shirt wearing, country club attending executives who still think that making Oldsmobiles is a good idea. I drive a Toyota. Everyone in my family drives a Toyota. But even I think that letting Michigan go down the toilet is a bad idea.
Do I really want to Merrill Lynch to walk away with billions, after I know what kind of assholes work there? Does anybody really need a $10 million bonus? But letting Wall Street go down the toilet is a bad idea, too.
Sigh. This isn't the end of it. I'm not sure which industry is about to tank next. Major media? Didn't the NYTs just put its own building up for a collateral on a loan? Didn't the Tribune just go bankrupt? Might have heard something about that. It also might be the airlines or entire cities that need a handout.
So, until this whole mess is cleared up, progressive wish lists are going to have to remain on opinion pages. It's disappointing.
