Budgets as Propaganda

Trump's budget proposal formalizes the paranoid style as government policy, writes University of Michigan public policy professor Don Moynihan.

May 06, 2025

∙ Paid

If you are wonky enough to be reading this blog, you have probably heard the expression, “a budget is a moral document”. Budgets are not just pages of numbers, they are also statements of values. It is one of those insights, once learned, that seems indisputable and never to be forgotten. It forces us to ask “what values does this document represent?”

“A…

Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Lincoln Square.

Or purchase a paid subscription.

A guest post by

Don Moynihan

Guggenheim Fellow, Professor of Public Policy, Ford School, University of Michigan. Immigrant. Researches and teaches about state capacity, tech in government, administrative burdens, and politicization.