I wrote last June that Zohran Mamdani’s platform for New York City was akin to a suicide note.
Today, let’s see how the “Caviar Communist” wants to deal with fiscal policy.
But let’s first look at two graphs so we can understand New York City’s finances.
First, via Matt Yglesias, here’s a look at how much New York spends compared to other major cities. Simply stated, the burden of government spending in New York City is far higher than in comparable jurisdictions.
Next, I asked ChatGPT to prepare a chart showing what has happened to inflation-adjusted per-capita spending over the past 25 years.
Lo and behold, New York City’s budget has grown rapidly, even after adjusting for both population and inflation.
I have no idea if Mamdani knows or understands these numbers, but that doesn’t matter. He is a self-identified socialist who wants bigger government.
So I imagine if he looked at these charts, he would say something like “we’re making progress, so let’s do more of the same.”
But what about New York City taxpayers. What would they think?
Well, if they read the New York Times, they won’t be well-informed. Sally Goldenberg, Dana Rubinstein and Grace Ashford just wrote a lengthy article about New York City’s fiscal troubles (more than 1,500 words) and failed to include any information that would inform readers about the relative size of the budget or how fast government has been expanding.
Instead, the article focused on two different plans to raise taxes. Here are some excerpts.
Zohran Mamdani…fueled his rise with a simple message about affordability and the moral imperative of properly taxing the rich. But on Tuesday, Mr. Mamdani sent out a conflicting message, floating a property tax increase that would affect middle-class New Yorkers… In his $127 billion executive budget proposal, Mr. Mamdani had to confront a $5.4 billion budget gap over two years… While there are many ways for the city, working with the state, to raise revenue, Mr. Mamdani asserted that only two are available to him: raising the city’s property taxes or persuading Ms. Hochul to increase taxes on the wealthy. …Mr. Mamdani has warned that if the governor and State Legislature do not institute tax hikes on the wealthy to bring in roughly $4 billion a year, he would have no choice but to lean on one of the few revenue mechanisms the city does control: property taxes.
To the extent the spending side of the budget was mentioned, it was simply to note that Mamdani wants a net increase in the size of government.
The executive budget proposal calls for $5 billion in new spending… The mayor…is also disinclined to propose a so-called austerity budget that cuts popular programs, even as he projected $1.7 billion in savings on Tuesday.
I’ll close with three comments, two about public policy and one about media bias.
First, Mamdani’s policy agenda will fail, just like Bill de Blasio’s policy agenda failed.
Second, the New York Times has a bad track record when covering Mamdani.
