A columnist called on leftists to combine income redistribution with economic growth
New York City Mayor Zogran Mamdani has appointed Anthony Shorris as president and Lina Khan as chair of the board of the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC). According to Rick McGay, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Race, Power, and Political Economy, these appointments reflect the administration’s desire to combine income redistribution policies with economic growth.
In an op-ed published in the Korea Herald, McGay writes that Mamdani’s campaign platform focused on making life more affordable. It included rent freezes, free rides on city buses, the creation of municipal grocery stores, ensuring racial equality, universal child care, and tax increases for the wealthiest households. The author notes that since taking office at the beginning of the year, the mayor has made significant progress in fulfilling some of these promises.
At the same time, according to McGay’s assessment, the mayor’s authority is limited by the state government on issues of taxation and regulation, as well as by the bond market’s skepticism toward redistributive policies. The author describes New York as the center of an economically fragmented metropolitan region, where the city drives growth while a significant portion of the wealth is concentrated in politically independent suburbs.
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McGee links this problem to the broader situation facing left-wing forces in Europe. He notes that Germany’s Social Democrats were unable to halt the decline in their approval ratings in some states. In France, he says, in 2024 more voters trusted Marine Le Pen’s party on economic issues than they did the left-wing alliance or President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist bloc. In Spain, the author argues, the left-wing governing coalition has delivered some economic growth but is losing support, particularly due to the issue of housing affordability.
As a possible approach, McGee cites the concept of “productivism” developed by Harvard economist Dani Rodrik. It involves creating a large number of high-quality jobs in the service sector—healthcare, logistics, the hospitality industry, and care for children and the elderly. The author believes that the Mamdani administration must not only protect workers and support small businesses but also collaborate with large companies in the financial sector, healthcare, logistics, and technology—sectors that form the backbone of the economy and are a source of revenue for New York City’s budget.
