These days, Robin Hood wouldn’t necessarily be out in left field with the socialists, either. More and more “mainstream” economists are thinking this way. It’s a sea change from a decade ago, when the profession was busy rubber-stamping lawmakers’ embrace of “austerity” budget cuts in the wake of the Great Recession. Since then, many economists have had to acknowledge the harm that approach caused, not only to struggling households, but to the economy as a whole. New voices have come to the fore: dusting off Keynesian arguments, singing the praises of stimulus, writing paeans to public initiative and investment.
When the pandemic hit and the global economy cliff-jumped into
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