Progressing Ahead in 2019
September 13, 2019
By Felicia Wong
Summers are never slow at Roosevelt, and now we’re gearing up for an even busier fall. At the top of our to-do list is explaining how and why the public sector must make big investments to tackle our nation’s toughest challenges; promoting our ideas to influence the Democratic presidential debate; and welcoming two new fellows to the Roosevelt team.
With Congress now back in session, we’re focused on explaining not only why we need bold progressive policies for issues like climate change, our crumbling infrastructure, and student debt; but also that our government actually has the means to pay for it. As you’ll hear us argue in the coming months, more public spending and borrowing is not a problem to be explained away—it’s actually a desirable feature of policymaking that will help our economy reach its full potential.
The economics of our current economy are increasingly clear: The government can and should pay for robust public programs. To learn more, I invite you to read JW Mason’s issue brief, “Fiscal Rules for the 21st Century: How to Pay for the Public Sector.”
Like us, you’re probably watching the Democratic debates to hear how the presidential hopefuls plan to fix our economy and democracy. We’re especially eager to hear how the candidates intend to address corruption and rebalance economic and political power. Why? Because, as I note in my recent Boston Review article, a new economics is being born—one that is being argued everywhere from academic journals to the 2020 campaign trail and is moving with surprising speed to mainstream consciousness. Read more about what we expect to hear at this week’s debate—and beyond—at the Roosevelt Forward blog.
Finally, I’m excited to welcome two new fellows to our team, Naomi Zewde, our new Novo Fellow who will focus on economic inequality in wealth and in health insurance; and Suresh Naidu, who will focus on antitrust and labor market power dynamics. Naomi is a health economist whose work explores the national insurance reforms, including the Affordable Care Act, “single payer,” and the “public option,” and how they would affect health care consumers. Suresh is currently working on a policy adaptation of his academic work around the limits of antitrust law alone as an answer to labor market monopsony. As we’ll be reading in the near future, he’ll examine how an “antitrust plus” approach is necessary to tackle outsized employer power. We are excited to have them on our team as we continue to extend the Roosevelt worldview across disciplines.
Thank you, as always, for your support!
Onward,
Felicia Wong
President and CEO
