A Landmark—but Flawed—Achievement

A Reorientation of Policy

Just passed by the House, the Inflation Reduction Act is now on its way to President Biden’s desk. 

The soon-to-be law is a landmark, though flawed, achievement. 

As Roosevelt experts have explained, it makes historic and essential investments in clean energy, green industrial policy, and the IRS. But it still falls short of what is necessary to combat the climate crisis and achieve true environmental justice for Black, brown, and Indigenous communities.

“The best that can be said of the bill is that it represents a significant reorientation of policy in a number of areas,” Roosevelt President and CEO Felicia Wong told the New Yorker’s John Cassidy ahead of the House vote.

“It starts things in the direction we need to be going.” 

Now, the work to create a high-care, low-carbon economy for all continues.

Catch up with our Understanding the Inflation Reduction Act series and a new piece by Roosevelt Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz.

Why the Fed’s Interest Rate Hikes Were Premature

This past Wednesday, we learned that there was 0 percent inflation in July.

“Seems like a good day to call into question the wisdom of those who insisted that manufacturing mass unemployment was the only path to lower prices,” said Roosevelt fellow Lindsay Owens—a reference to the Fed’s multiple interest rate hikes in recent months. 

As Roosevelt’s Suzanne Kahn argues in the Washington Post, “The Fed’s actions were rooted in the decision that lower prices are more important than continued job growth.” 

“It’s not clear its actions will significantly impact prices, but history shows, they probably will harm American workers—especially people of color, those with less education and other already marginalized workers who benefit the most from a tight labor market and are often the first to suffer in a slack one.”

Read more from Kahn in More than Consumers: Post-Neoliberal Identities and Economic Governance.

What We’re Reading and Listening to

Holy Sh*t, the US Just Got Serious about Climate Change! [feat. Roosevelt’s Rhiana Gunn-Wright] [podcast] – How to Save a Planet

The Clean Energy Transition Will Create a Lot of Jobs—for Men [feat. Gunn-Wright] – The 19th

A New Era of Industrial Policy Kicks off with Signing of the CHIPS Act [feat. Roosevelt’s Todd N. Tucker] – Washington Post

Raising Young Kids in America Has Become Hell, and the Government Should Finally Acknowledge That [feat. Roosevelt’s Darrick Hamilton] – The New Republic