American women’s political economics in one picture
I find myself clicking back to Dani Rodrik’s “American political economics in one picture” about the impact of Democratic vs. Republican presidents on the distribution of income. (To oversimplify, under Democratic presidents poor people do a little better.) It’s a compelling result, but there are some sensible criticisms in the comment thread. Shouldn’t the congressional balance of power be at least as important as the orientation of the executive branch? I would be more convinced by some sort of index which incorporates the affiliations of the party, the House, the Senate, etc.
In any case, I’m wondering what a similar analysis broken down by gender would show. The effect might be more pronounced, to the extent that the US government has done anything to keep women in the work force – and I confess some ignorance on this point, I know much more about European child care and leave policies. Of course, given that women’s widespread participation in the formal sector is only a few generations old, the sample might be too small.
