Jude Thaddeus Wanniski (June 17, 1936 – August 29, 2005) was an American journalist, conservative commentator, and political economist.
Early life and education
Wanniski was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, the son of Constance, who worked at an accounting firm, and Michael Wanniski, an itinerant butcher. His father was of Polish descent and his mother was a Scottish immigrant. When he was still very young, his family moved to Brooklyn, where his father became a book binder.
He also began directly advising politicians on economic policy, first candidate Ronald Reagan and later presidential hopefuls Jack Kemp and Steve Forbes.
Polyconomics as a corporation ceased operations on June 30, 2006, ten months after Wanniski's death, but the name (a combination of "politics" and "economics") lives on at The Polyconomics Institute, where one can find the Wanniski's collected works for Polyconomics, as well as correspondence with economic policy makers, and lectures.
Economic and political beliefs
Wanniski consistently advocated the reduction of trade barriers, the elimination of capital gains taxes, and a return to the gold standard.
Lower taxes
Wanniski was instrumental in popularizing the ideas of lower tax rates embodied in the "Laffer Curve" and was present in 1974 when Arthur Laffer drew the curve on the famous napkin for Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.
A simplified view of the theory is that tax revenues would be zero if tax rates were either 0% or 100% and somewhere in between 0% and 100% is a tax rate that maximizes total revenue. Laffer's postulate was that the tax rate that maximizes revenue was at a much lower level than previously believed, so low that current tax rates were above the level for revenue to be maximized. Wanniski suggested that the United States was on the wrong side of the Laffer curve.
The Two Santa Claus Theory
The Two Santa Claus Theory is a political theory and strategy published by Wanniski in 1976, which he promoted within the United States Republican Party. The theory states that in democratic elections, if members of the rival Democratic Party appeal to voters by proposing programs to help people, then the Republicans cannot gain broader appeal by proposing less spending. The first "Santa Claus" of the theory title refers to the Democrats who promise programs to help the disadvantaged. The "Two Santa Claus Theory" recommends that the Republicans must assume the role of a second Santa Claus by not arguing to cut spending but offering the option of cutting taxes.
The Way the World Works
Wanniski's 1978 book, The Way the World Works, documented his theory that the United States Senate's floor votes on the Smoot–Hawley tariff legislation coincided day to day with the Wall Street stock market Crash of 1929,
Iraq
Wanniski is also notable for his journalism on the alleged weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq. As early as 1997, Wanniski posted columns on his website alleging that after November 1991, inspectors of UNSCOM had never found WMD in Iraq but had found and destroyed all of Iraq's WMD programs with the help of Saddam Hussein's regime in the months following the first Gulf War. Wanniski not only recognized the prospective importance of the Iraqi WMD question before other journalists, but also argued correctly that Iraq had no WMD and stated that the US would never allow UNSCOM to end the inspections regime regardless of what Iraq did.
He became a somewhat controversial figure in the conservative movement at the beginning of 2003, when he vocally opposed the impending US war with Iraq. On October 27, 2004, he publicly denounced President George W. Bush, saying, "Mr. Bush has become an imperialist—one whose decisions as commander-in-chief have made the world a more dangerous place." Eventually Wanniski endorsed the 2004 Democratic candidate, Senator John Kerry, although he clearly preferred the Republican platform on issues related to taxation.
Wanniski's last published work was an article for the 2005 IHS Press antiwar anthology, Neo-Conned!
Influence
Wanniski has been credited with coining the term supply-side economics to distinguish it against the more dominant "demand-side" Keynesian and monetarist theories.
The rising GOP star Jack Kemp became a supply-side economics advocate due to Wanniski's tutelage, and would work to put his proposals into legislative practice.
The Way the World Works was named one of the 100 most influential books of the 20th century by National Review magazine. Conservative commentator Robert D. Novak said, in the introduction to the 20th anniversary edition (1998) of the book, that it was one of two books that "shaped [Novak's] mature philosophy of politics and government." (Whittaker Chambers' Witness is the other.)
Starting in 1987, Wanniski edited an annual "Media Guide" in which he rated pundits on a four-star scale. Some conservatives, such as George F. Will and Norman Podhoretz, received only a single star. He was running his economic consultancy from its Parsippany offices. He spoke of having many Wall Street clients, although he complained that some had left due to his politics. He posted personal commentaries several times a week on his personal website, on topics ranging from international politics and trade policy to reviews of films.