It was the battle of the speeches as both presumptive nominees launched into each other while also promoting their own economic agendas for the nation. 

Its back! 

Okay, so the politics of envy never really ever went away but it is election season and we are going to hear about how unfair the country is and how important it is to find ways to redistribute the wealth.

In many respects, both political parties are saying there should be limits to how much corporations can make.  Hillary of course doesn’t care about profits as much as sharing them with stakeholders including employees.

The notion that this concept is already widely practiced through the distribution of paychecks hasn’t dawned on Clinton. Instead, she wants a government that forces higher wages and overtime pay and also gets a say in pay to rank and file employees.

While Donald Trump gave a speech focused on Hillary and Bill Clinton’s scandals and their good fortune of enriching themselves simply from a resume of public service, Hillary was more concerned with getting in bona-fides with the ultra-left wing of her party.

That means politics of envy and promoting the notion of fairness.  Get ready to be ashamed as we’ll hear over and over how America’s income inequality gap is closer to the worst nations on the planet than the best with respect to the GINI coefficient measure of such things.

I have reminded people throughout the years that you can close that gap by bringing the top part lower or by bringing the bottom half higher.  Progressives prefer schemes that supposedly do both by confiscating wealth at the top and hiking minimum wage at the bottom. That’s actually a formula that doesn’t work for anyone and makes the bottom half sag even more.

Wave of Pessimistic Optimism

Her biggest overtures during her speech went to Bernie Sanders supporters and Union workers because large chunks of both voting blocks are up for grabs after many have indicated a willingness to vote for Donald Trump.

• 55 Hillary
• 22 Donald
• 18 Johnson

Maybe those numbers change when and if Bernie actually becomes a democrat and touts their nominee but of course the GOP has similar issues.  The bottom line is it’s all about revolt and frustration in rich nations that have seen their lives crest with the fading glory of the past.  This is why Hillary echoed many themes you heard from Donald earlier in his blistering attack on her credibility and history of misconduct (or some would say bad luck).

• Infrastructure spending
• Punishing companies moving offshore
• Enforcing trade rules
• Cutting (some) regulations

Meanwhile, the slow train wreck that has been this so-called Brexit is coming to a conclusion and soon we’ll learn if the old folks of England can take a big step to feeling like they control their own sovereignty and destiny or if the younger generations that grew up without borders think leaving the EU is unnecessary isolationism.

This mix of isolationism and nationalism has swept through the world in the past.  Its use, however, has been more often as a tool to protect cultures at their peak rather than used to put the brakes on in the way through decline.  Of course, the forces behind a one-world government have gained momentum and should be stopped but the West must be careful not to erect too many barriers so that there are no winners.

On that note, I hope England votes to leave but I think they will stay.