On the Economy: Could Trump Be Right about Rate Hikes?
Thursday, 03 January 2019
At its December meeting, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate a quarter point. The move, while widely expected, represented a clear rebuke to President Trump, who has repeatedly urged the Fed to keep rates low. He took to Twitter after the move to attack Fed head Jerome Powell as a golfer who has
- Published in Blog, Economy & Growth, homepage-slider, Work and Labor
The Labor Market Impact of the Proposed Sprint–T-Mobile Merger
Monday, 17 December 2018
In partnership with the Economic Policy Institute, Roosevelt Research Associate Adil Abdela and Research Director and Fellow Marshall Steinbaum examine the impact of the proposed Sprint/T-Mobile merger on the labor market. Cutting the number of national players in the U.S. wireless industry from four to three, this move would escalate market power in the industry
- Published in Economy & Growth, homepage-slider, Publications
We Can’t Address the Student Debt Crisis until We Understand Its Effects
Monday, 03 December 2018
To address the $1.5 trillion in outstanding student debt that is held by American borrowers today, it is vital to have a full debate about the costs and benefits of potential solutions. But this debate must be grounded in a solid understanding of the problem. David Leonhardt’s recent takedown of universal student-debt cancellation flows from
- Published in Blog, Economy & Growth, Education, homepage-slider
Corporate Stocks: Moving More Money out to Shareholders Than Back in through New Equity Issuances
Tuesday, 27 November 2018
One justification made by proponents of stock buybacks is that the practice is an effective way for funds to flow from companies that do not “need” the cash out to shareholders, who will then invest it in companies that are issuing new shares to finance firm activity. Does this explanation show up in the data?1
- Published in Blog, Economy & Growth, Finance & Wealth, homepage-slider
When an Economic Model Fails to Capture Reality
Thursday, 01 November 2018
Last week, Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced a sweeping, bold economic policy idea: the LIFT the Middle Class Act. The LIFT (Livable Incomes for Families) Act would essentially be a dramatic expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), making it much larger and available to many more Americans. A few days later, the conservative
- Published in Blog, Economic Inclusion, Economy & Growth, homepage-slider, Work and Labor
The Student Debt Crisis, Labor Market Credentialization, and Racial Inequality: How the Current Student Debt Debate Gets the Economics Wrong
Tuesday, 16 October 2018
As tuition has risen over the last several decades in the U.S., student loan debt has ballooned. Despite growing debt loads, federal policy encourages the use of loans for financing higher education, based on the assumption that student debt supports increased postsecondary attainment—and, in turn, improved outcomes for individuals and our economy as a whole.
- Published in Economy & Growth, Education, homepage-slider, Publications, Report
Left Behind: Snapshots from the 21st Century Labor Market
Wednesday, 03 October 2018
In Left Behind: Snapshots from the 21st Century Labor Market, Roosevelt Program Director Rakeen Mabud and Program Associate Jess Forden explore today’s changing economy and the future of work through the lens of six occupations: carework, food service, manufacturing, mining, nursing, and trucking. Despite a seemingly robust and healthy economy, as indicated by headline measures
- Published in Economy & Growth, homepage-slider, Publications, Report, Work and Labor
The Effective Competition Standard: A New Standard for Antitrust
Tuesday, 25 September 2018
America’s failing antitrust system is, in large part, to blame for today’s market power problem. Lax antitrust law and enforcement have allowed troubling trends like corporate consolidation to remain unchallenged, further embedding our skewed economy. In highly consolidated markets, consumers have limited choice and little power to pick their price, quality, or provider for the
- Published in Economy & Growth, homepage-slider, Publications, Report
Seven Strategies to Rebuild Worker Power for the 21st Century Global Economy: A Comparative and Historical Framework for Policy Action
Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Is globalization good or bad for workers? One view sees it as an inevitable and desirable process of making economies more efficient: It may displace workers in the short run, but it has the potential to make them richer in the long run. Another view sees globalization as a net negative, leading to a loss
- Published in Economy & Growth, homepage-slider, International, Publications, Report, Work and Labor
10 Years After the Financial Crisis
Friday, 14 September 2018
It has been ten years since the financial crisis dealt the biggest blow to the world economy since the Great Depression. While growth has returned, and the jobmarket has by now tightened—especially in the United States, where the crisis originated—the reverberations of the crisis continue to affect us in ways both large and small, both obvious
- Published in Economy & Growth, homepage-slider, Publications, White Paper
