Roosevelt is thrilled to celebrate the release of two upcoming books written by and for Roosevelters. On April 24, 2024, Roosevelt Institute Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz discussed his new release The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society and Natalie Foster, cofounder of the Economic Security Project discussed her new release, The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy.
Both Joseph and Natalie’s books explore the crucial role that the federal government plays in shaping the economy and ways in which its power can be used to provide for ordinary Americans. As the long-standing neoliberal economic order is being called into question and populist movements gain traction, we will explore what exactly our government owes to its citizens, why it seems our system is meant to work for the few and not the many, and how we should think about freedom and the role of the state in a 21st-century society.
In Conversation
Natalie Foster
President, Economic Security ProjectNatalie Foster is the author of the forthcoming book, “The Guarantee” (April 2024, The New Press), and is president and co- founder of the Economic Security Project, a network dedicated to advancing a guaranteed income in America and reining in the unprecedented concentration of corporate power. She is a senior fellow at the Future of Work Initiative, an initiative of the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program.
Foster served as digital director for President Obama’s Organizing for America and the Democratic National Committee. She built the first digital department at the Sierra Club and served as the deputy organizing director for MoveOn.org. She’s launched and run several successful progressive startups, and she has been awarded fellowships at the Institute for the Future, Rockwood Leadership Institute, and New America California. She is a board member of the California Budget and Policy Center, Higher Ground Labs, Liberation in a Generation, and Next River.
Joseph Stiglitz
Chief Economist, Roosevelt InstituteJoseph E. Stiglitz is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University – and author of the forthcoming book, “The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society.” He is also the co-chair of the High-Level Expert Group on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress at the OECD, and the chief economist of the Roosevelt Institute. A recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001), he is a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank and a former member and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Felicia Wong
President and CEO, Roosevelt Institute [Moderator]Felicia Wong is the president and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute, where she directs the organization’s mission, vision, and strategy in pursuit of a high-care, low-carbon economy that works for all. She was the US representative on the G7 Economic Resilience Panel in 2021, served on the Biden-Harris administration transition advisory board, and currently serves as vice chair of the Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity. Since Felicia joined the Roosevelt Institute in 2012, she and the team have quadrupled the overall budget and made Roosevelt a key collaborator with the nation’s top public officials, academic experts, and progressive movement organizers.