What Today’s Jobs Numbers Say about Inflation
April 7, 2023
Another Goldilocks Jobs Report
Today’s jobs report confirms what Roosevelt experts have argued for months: “The unemployment rate never needed to rise to bring inflation down,” as Roosevelt fellow Justin Bloesch reiterated this morning.
With 236,000 jobs added in March and wage growth slowing to 2018–2019 levels, “. . . this was a really good report for inflation optimists,” Paul Krugman explained.
And it’s another reminder that aggressive interest rate hikes don’t address the realities of today’s economy.
“At this point the Fed, reporters, and commentators need to start updating their priors on the idea that this is a ‘too hot’ labor market, and instead think of it as where the 2019 labor market would have gone,” Roosevelt’s Mike Konczal tweeted.
Read more of Konczal’s analysis.
The Art of Progressive Persuasion
In recent years, deepening polarization has led to a renewed focus on voter turnout.
But as Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, sees it, persuasion needs to be a bigger part of progressive strategy.
On the first episode of How to Save a Country season 2, Mitchell talks with hosts Felicia Wong and Michael Tomasky about how progressives can better engage with those outside their politics—or outside politics altogether.
“It’s helpful that we have ideas that work, but we need to persuade others that our ideas are their ideas,” he says.
And later, Mitchell discusses how progressive organizations can focus on the most important battles, by expanding on his essay that shook the movement last fall: “Building Resilient Organizations.”
Listen now, and follow for new podcast episodes every Thursday.
The Case for Climate Reparations
“If societies and governments desire to confront climate change in a serious and just way, they must confront the drivers of climate inequality,” Adrien Salazar writes in a new Roosevelt issue brief.
“The transformative potential of climate reparations lies in the ability of reparatory investments to fundamentally address systemic and institutional racism and discrimination
at the root of inequitable environmental burdens.”
What We’re Reading
Why We Need a Public Interest Council [by Roosevelt senior fellow Saule Omarova] – The American Prospect
The Origins of Biden’s Most Important Policy, Explained – Vox
The CHIPS Act Reinforces the Obvious: Childcare Is a Public Necessity – The Hill
What If the IRS Did Your Taxes for You–for Free? – Bloomberg