How Washington Works in the New Gilded Age | David Wessel

Hidden Forces

Demetri Kofinas

Business, Government

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 October 2021

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Episode 213 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with David Wessel, a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution and director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy. David is also the author of a new book titled, "Only the Rich Can Play: How Washington Works in the New Gilded Age."

In the book, Wessel tells the story of the creation of a lucrative tax break in which wealthy elites attend to one another, under the guise of social justice and redistribution. This tax break, known as "Opportunity Zones," was sold as a way to incentivizing people to invest in distressed, low-income communities, with the official purpose of spurring economic growth and job creation, but which in practice, seems to have served primarily as yet another tax loophole in an already convoluted tax code full of them.

The first part of today's conversation is spent discussing the Opportunity Zone provision itself, the story of its creation and implementation into law, and what this tells us about how financial and political power are wielded in Washington. The second part includes a discussion about political corruption, corporate concentration, the current infrastructure bill and its associated tax provisions, as well as the upcoming elections and Trump's chances in 2024.

You can access the second part of this episode, as well as the transcript and rundown to this week's conversation through the Hidden Forces Patreon Page. All subscribers gain access to our premium feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.

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Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas

Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou

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Episode Recorded on 09/29/2021

Transcript

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0:00.0	What's up everybody? My name is Demetra Caffeines and you're listening to Hidden Forces,
0:06.0	a podcast that inspires investors, entrepreneurs and everyday citizens to challenge consensus narratives
0:14.0	and to learn how to think critically about the systems of power shaping our world.
0:19.0	My guest in this week's episode is David Wessel, a senior fellow in economic studies
0:24.0	at the Brookings Institution and Director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy.
0:30.0	He is also the author of a new book out tomorrow titled Only the Rich can Play,
0:36.0	How Washington Works in the New Guilded Age.
0:39.0	The book tells the story of the creation of what are known as Opportunity Zones,
0:44.0	which supposedly incentivize people to invest in distressed areas in the United States
0:49.0	with the official purpose of spurring economic growth and job creation in low-income communities,
0:55.0	but which in practice seemed to serve primarily as yet another tax loophole
1:01.0	in an already convoluted code full of them.
1:05.0	We spend the first part of our conversation discussing the bill itself,
1:09.0	the story of its creation and implementation into law,
1:12.0	and what this tells us about how financial and political power are wielded in Washington.
1:18.0	The second part includes a discussion about political corruption,
1:22.0	corporate concentration, the infrastructure bill that recently failed to make its way through Congress
1:27.0	and its associated tax provisions, as well as the upcoming elections,
1:31.0	and Trump's chances in 2024.
1:34.0	If you enjoy the first half of today's conversation,
1:37.0	I encourage you to take the leap and become a premium subscriber.
1:41.0	There's no commitment you can cancel at any time
	...

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