Next Social Contract: Policy Papers

A Better Way to Regulate Financial Markets

Economic Growth — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:14:00 -0500

There is widespread recognition that the financial crisis which triggered the Great Recession was significantly due to financial excess, particularly related to real estate. Now, policymakers are looking to reform financial systems in hope of avoiding future crises. But like the drunk who looks for his lost keys under the lamppost because that is where the light is, policymakers remain fixated on capital standards because that is what is already in place.

All Power to the Choice Architects

Next Social Contract — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:43:00 -0500

If we go by election results, and no better guide to our national mood exists, the years of conservative hegemony in the United States are over, at least for the foreseeable future. Not only has the country elected a Democratic president and Congress, but conservative ideas, which once had seemed so innovative, are increasingly stale or non-existent. Meanwhile, the Republican Party seems both directionless and leaderless.

The Jobs Deficit

Economic Growth — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:06:00 -0400

The economy has lost 8 million jobs since the beginning of the recession. But because the population is growing, we need to create over 9.6 million jobs. Due to severe job loss and steady population growth, the unemployment rate has soared to 9.8%, nearly as high as during the early 1980s.

To read more, click on the slideshow below.

POLICY ROUNDTABLE: The Challenge of Job Creation

Next Social Contract — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:30:00 -0400

What the Government Can Do to Better Promote Job Creation
by Timothy J. Bartik

Jobs: What Can We Do?
by James K. Galbraith

The Time Has Come for Direct Job Creation
by L. Randall Wray

The Fiscal Austerity Trap

Economic Growth — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:32:00 -0400

Fiscal conservatives are opportunistically looking to use the recession induced spike in the budget deficit to revive their crusade for fiscal austerity. The case for fiscal austerity is based on flawed economic analysis and it is not supported by thoughtful budget analysis. It was the wrong agenda before the crisis and it is even more wrong now.

Overcoming America's Debt Overhang: The Case for Inflation

Next Social Contract — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:18:00 -0400

It might be called the "World's Scariest Chart." It is a snapshot of the fragile foundations of the American economy and the epic boulder it now finds itself trapped beneath. The graph shows total debt outstanding in the United States, both secured and unsecured, as a percentage of GDP. In 1981 it was a manageable 168 percent, in 1996 253 percent, and by the first quarter of 2009 with the collapse of the housing and credit bubbles it had reached a staggering 373 percent of GDP.

America’s Exhausted Paradigm: Macroeconomic Causes of the Financial Crisis and Great Recession

Economic Growth — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 07:00:00 -0400