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Economics

The New New Left How American Politics Works Today Tax Eaters vs. Taxpayers

By Steven Malanga
Ivan R. Dee 2005 ISBN: 9781566636445
Contact
communications@manhattan-institute.org
212-599-7000

About the Book

A new dynamic has sprung up in American politics today: the contest between those who benefit from an ever-expanding public sector and those who pay for this bigger government—in other words, it’s the tax eaters vs. the taxpayers.

Steven Malanga shows how coalitions of public employee unions, workers at government-funded social service organizations, and recipients of government benefits have seized control of the politics of the big cities that make up the heart of Blue America. In New York City, this coalition has helped roll back some of the reforms of the Giuliani years. In California cities and towns, it is thwarting the expansion of private businesses. In nearly 100 municipalities, it has imposed higher costs on tens of thousands of firms by passing "living-wage" laws. Whereas the New Left of the 1960s believed—idealistically, if somewhat naively—that government could solve the biggest problems of our times, this New New Left is much more narrowly and cynically focused on expanding government programs to increase its own power, pay, and perks. And, as Malanga shows, the New New Left is emerging as the most powerful element of the national Democratic Party coalition.

About the Author

Steve Malanga is a contributing editor of City Journal and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He writes about the intersection of urban economies, business communities, and public policy. Prior to joining City Journal, Malanga was executive editor of Crain’s New York Business for seven years, serving on the publication’s editorial board and writing a weekly column. He also supervised special projects, including investigative stories. Before that, Malanga served for seven years as managing editor of Crain’s.

Media

ARTICLES

Key to the City, By Steven Malanga, Wall Street Journal, 11-10-05

Who's eating you alive?, By Steven Malanga, Daily News, 7-3-05

REVIEWS/MENTIONS

Reading List: The New New Left, Fourmilog: None Dare Call It Reason, 12-3-05

INTERVIEWS

The Contest Between Taxeaters and Taxpayers, By Orrin Judd, Tech Central Station, 7-20-05

Interview with Front Page Magazine, 6-28-05

The New New Left, Underneath The Gilding, 11-14-05

New New Left by Steven Malanga, By Matthew Dysart, TownHall.com, 10-2-05

A Book Recommendation, PoliPundit.com, 8-16-05

"Tax-Eaters and Taxpayers" - Steven Malanga, By Katy Delay, Sybil's Star, 7-23-05

The New New Left, By Daniel Weintraub, California Insider, 7-21-05

The tax-eaters are powerful, Dissecting Leftism, 7-20-05

The Contest Between Taxeaters and Taxpayers, Isegoria, 7-20-05

The New New Left, PoliPundit.com, 7-5-05

The Tax-Eating Class Takes a Bite of the Big Apple, By Gerald Russello, New York Sun, 6-21-05

Review: The New New Left: How American Politics Works Today, brothersjudd.com, 6-20-05

THE BIG FIGHT, brothersjudd.com, 6-14-05

Democracy In America, By Ed Driscoll, EdDriscoll.com, 6-14-05

"In this short, punchy polemic from urban affairs expert Malanga, the gloves come off right away." - Publishers Weekly

The Standard Reader: New books on P.G. Wodehouse, progressive politics, and more, The Weekly Standard, 6-13-05

We Hate Wal-Mart, Yes We Do!!!, Overtaken by Events, 6-3-05

Harsh On Hayes, The American Scene, 5-27-05