Right, they can't get through the current Congress. But did you get that the list of policies was explicitly proposed as part of a Democratic election-year campaign to take back the House? It could well happen. Maybe the Senate too, but less likely, of course. It could certainly happen if people turn out to vote and pay attention to what policies/politicians they are voting for. JF

M M, You are right about "perceptions," if the proposition is that (since the turn of the century) the economic gains have gone to the rich and typical workers have been left behind. That is not just a perception but a reality: real median family income is barely above where it was in 2000, Bill Clinton's last year in office. But if the proposition is that the reason for this stagnation in median income is international trade (as opposed to a long list of reasons, starting with technological change), then I disagree, and call that a perception rather than a reality. Personally, I think Hillary Clinton would have done a competent job. (I don't have to say "compared to you-know-who." Trump isn't even competent at promoting his own bad policies.) I don't see how we can expect her to have calculated that although she would win the popular vote she would lose the Electoral College (possibly in part due to Russian interference) and therefore expect her to have groomed somebody more competent to take her place. (Who?) JF

Reply to Steve Hurst: No matter how many times I hear this argument, I still don't fully understand it. I do get the part about how the median American worker is upset that his wages, employment and health have been stagnating. What I don't get is the part about how that anger leads to support for Donald Trump, who stands for everything that will worsen those problems. How do tax cuts for the corporations help these people? Or taking 20 million of them off health care insurance? The economists' proposals that you claim not to have heard are the Affordable Care Act, infrastructure spending, progressive taxation, Earned Income Tax Credit, universal pre-school, CFPB, and so forth. JF

Actually, I'd say that it is much more likely that the tax-cut-induced budget deficit will lead to a trade deficit and more imports, than that it will lead to dollar depreciation and fewer imports. It's the old twin deficit, as played out in the Reagan and Bush Administrations. See, for example, https://nyti.ms/2jzZRGQ. JF

Luca Grande, On your point (1), I think that stock market ownership has actually been down among middle class Americans ever since 2008. But is that the direction it would take to support the argument that lower interest rates have increased inequality by boosting stock prices? JF