Economic Growth Program
 

LAUNCH: New American Contract

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The United States faces historic challenges in surmounting the global financial crisis, adopting a strategy for long-term economic growth in the context of a rebalanced world economy, investing in the nation's intrastructure and productive economy and restoring the link between productivity growth and wages.  To bring together the best and most timely thinking on these challenges to America and the world is the mission of the New American Contract, a partnership among the New America Foundation's Economic Growth Program, Next Social Contract Initiative and Smart Globalization Initiative.

About Us

The United States could help drive a new era of rising global prosperity and rapid economic growth -- fueled by new technologies and production processes -- that in turn could help alleviate many of the most daunting problems we face domestically and internationally. Yet inadequate investments in public infrastructure, the skills of our workforce, and research and development, combined with an unsustainable level of consumer debt, undermine our ability to promote sustainable economic growth. The purpose of the Economic Growth Program is to develop an integrated strategy and a set of specific policy proposals to overcome these problems and promote widespread growth and prosperity.

The Economic Growth Program appreciates the generous support of Bernard L. Schwartz.

Articles

Landing a Job Like Getting into Harvard

The 650,000 jobs created or saved by the stimulus package so far make up only a small step toward correcting the gap between the tens of millions of unemployed people and the few openings that those people are fighting over.

Even the administration's goal of creating 3.5 million jobs is far below what the economy really needs. With an official unemployment rate of 10.2 percent, the gap between the number of full-time job openings and the number of people who are unemployed has widened.

Samuel Sherraden | CNN.com | November 6, 2009

Why Dilbert Is Doomed

Where are tomorrow's jobs going to come from? The question is more urgent than ever, with official unemployment hovering around 10 percent and with nearly one in five Americans unemployed, if you count part-time workers who want full-time jobs and people so desperate that they have given up looking for work entirely.

Michael Lind | Salon | November 3, 2009

Death by Renminbi

Over the last several weeks, the dollar's depreciation against the euro and yen has grabbed global attention. In a normal world, the dollar's weakening would be welcome, as it would help the United States come to grips with its unsustainable trade deficit.

But, in a world where China links its currency to the dollar at an undervalued parity, the dollar's depreciation risks major global economic damage that will further complicate recovery from the current worldwide recession.

Thomas Palley | Korea Times | November 3, 2009

The Tax Breaks That Ate America

Here's the latest bold new idea for reconciling the costs of national defense with the need to avoid adding to federal deficits or raising taxes. A bipartisan coalition of "New Democrats" and moderate Republicans has proposed buying weapons for the U.S. military through the IRS rather than the Pentagon. Here's how it would work. Instead of being paid to deliver planes, missiles and tanks, defense contractors would receive "weapon supply tax credits" (WSTC). The defense contractors would be

Michael Lind | Salon | October 26, 2009

That Sound You Hear is the Social Fabric About to Snap

According to official statistics, the unemployment rate in the United States is now 9.8 percent. But those statistics understate the severity of the jobs crisis. The official statistics do not include the 875,000 Americans who have given up looking for work, even though they want jobs. When these "marginally attached" workers and part-time workers are added to the officially unemployed, the result, according to another, broader governement measure of unemployment known as "U-6," is shocking. The United States has an… more

Michael Lind | Salon | October 19, 2009

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Policy Papers

The Jobs Deficit

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.

Samuel Sherraden | October 20, 2009

POLICY ROUNDTABLE: The Challenge of Job Creation

What the Government Can Do to Better Promote Job Creation

Timothy J. Bartik, Senior Economist, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

The federal government could significantly increase U.S. employment rates over the next two years using targeted job creation policies. Such policies could more quickly turn a jobless recovery into a recovery for workers.

October 18, 2009

Toward Bretton Woods 3?

Back in 2007 we used to refer to the current crisis as the "U.S. subprime crisis". But while it was the area where troubles first emerged, the subprime mortgage sector turned out to be only the tip of the iceberg. Today, the Lehman crisis of mid September 2008 is still widely seen as the critical blunder that pushed the U.S. and world economies off the cliff. And yet, the Lehman bust may have been no more than just the trigger of an implosion of underlying financial… more

October 7, 2009

The Fiscal Austerity Trap

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.

Thomas Palley | September 15, 2009

Overcoming America's Debt Overhang: The Case for Inflation

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.

 

Christopher Hayes | September 9, 2009

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Events

The Next Stage

The current state of the "shadow banking system," rising unemployment rates, the sinking value of the dollar, and the lasting mortgage crisis demonstrate the need for long-view reform. The Next Stage will consider the larger implications of the new administration's economic policy on the economy and the international financial and monetary system.  Featured speakers include James K. Galbraith, Stephany Griffith-Jones, Jan Kregel, Robert Johnson, and others. 

11/13/2009 - 8:30am
11/13/2009 - 1:00pm

The Jobs Deficit: The Challenge of Putting America Back to Work

More than one in six working Americans is now unemployed or underemployed, with more job losses yet to come. At this Oct. 20 event, some of America's leading policymakers and economic thinkers gathered to discuss how public policy should respond to this unprecedented unemployment crisis.

10/20/2009 - 9:00am
10/20/2009 - 1:00pm

Risky Business

Long before the complete meltdown of the financial industry last fall, Senator Byron Dorgan warned us about the risks posed by one of the key ingredients in that catastrophe: the complex financial packages known as derivatives. In a Washington Monthly cover story, "Very Risky Business" (October 1994), the North Dakota Democrat predicted with uncanny precision what actually happened in September 2008 -- the
10/15/2009 - 8:00am
10/15/2009 - 9:00am

Fixing Finance

On October 13, 2009, Adrian Blundell-Wignall discussed the origins of the financial crisis and requirements for reform at the New America Foundation, as part of the OECD Breakfast Series.  Blundell-Wignall, Deputy Director for Financial and Enterprise Affairs at the OECD and author of a recent paper in the Journal of Asian Economics, delivered technical yet impassioned remarks from an international perspective, linking the explosion of complex derivatives to lax regulation, international tax arbitrage, and the persistent "equity culture" on

10/13/2009 - 8:30am
10/13/2009 - 10:00am

Saving Capitalism

On September 21, 2009, author and economist Pat Choate discussed his new book, Saving Capitalism: Keeping America Strong, at the New America Foundation.  In a conversation with Michael Lind, Policy Director of the Economic Growth Program at New America, Choate offered his perspective on the ongoing economic crisis and outlined his book's comprehensive policy prescription for recovery and sustainable growth. 

09/21/2009 - 12:15pm
09/21/2009 - 1:45pm

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Bernard L. Schwartz

Bernard L. Schwartz's generous support underwrites New America's Economic Growth Program.

One of the nation's leading philanthropists in the realms of medical research, higher education, foreign affairs, and public policy, Mr. Schwartz is the former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Loral Space & Communications, Ltd., one of the world’s largest satellite manufacturing and satellite services companies. In recent years, he has established endowed programs at the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University, at the Graduate Faculty at the New School University, and at the Council on Foreign Relations.

For more information on Mr. Schwartz, please click here.

Staff

 
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