Another Reason for a Federal Job Guarantee
November 9, 2023
A public option could bring competition and quality jobs to distressed labor markets.
The Roosevelt Rundown features our top stories of the week.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
How a Job Guarantee Can Ease Geographic Inequality
The poorest residents of rural and distressed urban communities are falling to the bottom of a growing place-based wealth and opportunity gap. A federal job guarantee might be the key to combating this geographic inequality, Roosevelt Fellow Hiba Hafiz writes in a new brief.
Employers in rural and distressed urban areas can act like monopsonies, leaving “workers at the mercy of strong employers” and making it “nearly impossible” to achieve “fair or even competitive levels of employment, compensation, and workplace quality.”
Introducing a public option in the form of a federal job guarantee could protect workers from economic shocks and provide them with high-wage, unionized employment opportunities.
Read more in “A Federal Job Guarantee to Combat Geographic Inequality.”
Join Us Next Thursday for “The Fight for a New Economic Model,” a Webcast Conversation between Franklin Foer and Felicia Wong
From student debt to climate action and worker empowerment, the last three years have seen remarkable shifts in policymaking approaches. Landmark legislation and executive action hold the promise not just of important investments but of a real and lasting shift in the government’s role in our economy.
On Thursday, November 16, at 2 pm ET, join Felicia Wong, Roosevelt Institute President and CEO and coauthor of our forthcoming report Sea Change: How a New Economics Went Mainstream; and Franklin Foer, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future, for a conversation about our current economic moment, how we got here, and the achievements and challenges of implementing President Biden’s economic agenda.
Honors for the FDR Library
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum is proud to have received the Dutchess County Executive’s Award for Overall Distinction from Dutchess Tourism. The award honors the library’s hard work over the past year, including the opening of the special exhibition, “Black Americans, Civil Rights, and the Roosevelts,” which presents critical perspectives on the Roosevelt administration’s policies and practices.
Learn more about the exhibition, and how the FDR Library is representing the stories of the Roosevelts as well as those traditionally underrepresented in museums and cultural attractions.
What We’re Talking About
PUBLISHED TODAY 🎉 To win the fight for a better society, we must hold big visions, face hard realities, and act strategically.
In Practical Radicals, @dbhargava68 & @stephanie_luce_ define 7 strategies to bring about transformative change: pic.twitter.com/0Ug5E8nDql
— Roosevelt Institute (@rooseveltinst) November 7, 2023
What We’re Reading
The Problem Isn’t Inflation. It’s Prices. – feat. Roosevelt’s Felicia Wong and Mike Konczal – Vox
White House Says 5.5M Borrowers Enrolled in Biden’s New Student Loan Plan – POLITICO
SAG-AFTRA Committee Approves Deal with Studios to End Historic Strike – Los Angeles Times
Solar Manufacturing Lured to US by Tax Credits in Climate Bill – New York Times