Planet Money's Fake Presidential Candidate

We assembled five prominent economists from across the political spectrum. We gave them a simple task: Identify major economic policies they could all stand behind.
They did. They gave us five tax proposals — plus one change to the criminal code — based on good economics.

And in the process, they gave us an economic platform that would surely sink any candidate that supported it.

We decided to bring him to life anyway. Here you have him: A political candidate who could potentially fix the economy, but would never win an election.

[TheClanRobertson]

NPR is finally getting into the spin machine! Love it! =)

[zabzec]

because if there is one set of professionals who know how to not not prevent economic collapses, that group is the economists

[HaoSci]

An ad that economists will shake their heads, and political consultants will love, and the general population could be possibly brought into. A brilliant idea for NPR Planet Money for consulting/marketing experts.
Mortgage interest deduction.

[zachmohr]

Sam Brownback wanted to try this in Kansas this last legislative session. His proposal didn't last 15 minutes. The realtors literally began lobbying the minute after he gave his State of the State speech. There is an obvious and a not-as-obvious lesson here. First, good economic policy is not always politically feasible. Second, politicians should never listen exclusively to economists.

[jarryda]

Frame it as a subsidy to banks and McMansion companies. It'll test better.