A Call for the New Possible

William Greider’s Come Home, America provides a blueprint for possibility.

There’s a lot of talk these days about something called the New Normal. Some of it is justified. Consumer spending, for example, will not be going back to pre-crash levels anytime soon. The heedless mass-consumption society looks to be behind us: don’t count on buying that new PlayStation for your kid this Christmas. Or the next one. It’s hard to argue that a profound adjustment in the way we think about spending is happening whether we like it or not. This we must accept.

But sometimes talk of the New Normal sounds like…

Viva La$ Vega$

Gonna set my soul on fire
Got a whole lot of money that’s ready to burn
So get those stakes up higher
I’m gonna keep on the run
Gonna have me some fun
If it costs me my very last dime
If I wind up broke up, well
I’ll always remember I had a swingin time
– Viva Las Vegas

The WSJ has a must read report from the currency table, which rolls 24/7. The Journal writes,

Currency trading volume around the world has hit $4 trillion a day,…the $4 trillion mark represents a 20% gain from $3.3 trillion in 2007, the last time the global foreign-exchange markets were surveyed,…

Daily Digest »

September 2

What you need to know to navigate today’s most critical debates.

Obama was too cautious in fearful times (FT)
Martin Wolf reflects on Barack Obama’s missed opportunity to take bold action and steer the economy toward a robust recovery.

Stimulus Averted Depression, Romer Says (NYTimes)
Departing White House economic adviser Christina Romer used her farewell speech to call for more spending to alleviate unemployment.

Impediments to Rapid Recovery from Financial Crisis Are More Political Than Economic (Think Progress)
Matthew Yglesias disagrees with the suggestion that slow growth in the wake of a financial crisis is inevitable, as does one of the economists suggesting it.

Banks Playing ‘Foreclosure Roulette’ With Delinquent Homeowners (HuffPo)
Banks…

Marshall Auerback on BNN: More and Better Fiscal Policy, Please

Last Sunday, Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Marshall Auerback offered his take on Ben Bernanke’s speech at Jackson Hole and concluded that the Fed chairman was still underestimating the need for active fiscal policy.  In an interview with BNN’s Andrew Bell, Marshall elaborates on that argument and explains what needs to be done to get the economic recovery back on track.

Marshall says that Bernanke’s speech contained “a few rare glimpses of honesty” about the limited power of central banks and monetary policy, but he is frustrated by Bernanke’s continued attempts to downplay fiscal policy options.  He notes that countries like Australia and Canada, which…

New Deal Dictionary »

What is the Communications Act of 1934?

What is the Communications Act of 1934?

Written and passed during FDR’s first term, the Communications Act of 1934 consolidated existing radio, television, and telephone regulations and created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to oversee all interstate and foreign communications. It was intended to streamline the regulatory process and expand affordable access to communication services.

The bill also established regulatory standards for various types of communications, including Title I services, which are subject to looser restrictions, and Title II services, which fall under more rigorous “common carrier” rules intended to protect equal access to these networks.

What’s the significance?

As communications networks came to…

Daily Digest »

September 1

What you need to know to navigate today’s most critical debates.

Record number in government anti-poverty programs (USA Today)
As the recovery stalls, one in six Americans are relying on our public safety nets.

Will we ever recover from the financial crisis? (WaPo)
Ezra Klein highlights a study of the aftermath of severe financial crises that may make you regret getting out of bed today.

Tax Cuts Weighed to Spur Economy (WSJ)
President Obama’s economic advisers are considering business and payroll tax cuts and new infrastructure spending, but expect (surprise!) Republican obstruction.

Tax Cuts That Make a Difference (NYTimes)
David Leonhardt writes that tax cuts aren’t a long-term solution to America’s economic…

Surprise, Surprise! Ben Bernanke Discovers the ‘Paradox of Thrift’ (Sort Of)

When consumers are trying to save, the government must step in to create growth.  That’s going to require smart and imaginative fiscal policy.

That “central bankers alone cannot solve the world’s economic problems” was the most extraordinary concession to come out of the mouth of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke during last Friday’s speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.

Of course, he’s right, but, rather than acknowledging that fiscal policy is the most effective counter-stabilisation tool available to national governments, Bernanke still trumpets the idea that monetary policy is the only game in town. Despite huge efforts by the Fed to stimulate…

On Bigness and Reform

“The continuing survival of classical (economic) beliefs protects business autonomy and its income and serve to obscure the economic power exercised as a matter of course by the modern enterprise by declaring that all power rests, in fact, with the market.” — John Kenneth Galbraith

Michael Sandel is a professor at Harvard, who is distinguished in the last few years for one reason; he’s written on the history of American liberalism, particularly its economic roots, from an American perspective. In a new piece, he points out how until a few decades ago, American politicians weren’t so deferential to concentrated economic power.…

Legacy Lessons »

Time to Bring Back the Home Owners Loan Corporation?

The New Deal’s mortgage relief program offers an effective alternative to the Obama administration’s failed strategy.

Continued high unemployment is unfortunately not the only bad piece of economic news that the nation has had to face this summer. It now appears as if the level of home foreclosures will continue at an alarming pace, with many economists now predicting that the number of Americans likely to lose their homes in 2010 will exceed one million — a figure that would surpass the more than 900,000 homes lost to foreclosure in 2009.

With so many homes at risk, the current housing crisis certainly rivals…

Daily Digest »

August 31

What you need to know to navigate today’s most critical debates.

Obama promises new efforts to boost economy (WaPo)
Yesterday’s speech offered few details, but the president called out GOP obstructionism and promised new measures to encourage hiring.

Meet the 18 People Who Could Determine the Fate of Social Security (TPM)
Brian Beutler has the rundown on the members of the deficit commission, their professional backgrounds, and their worrying views on Social Security.

Senator Simpson’s Quick Budget Quiz (HuffPo)
Dean Baker poses seven important questions to the deficit commission’s co-chair and supplies a helpful cheat sheet for the rest of us.

The case against reforming Social Security (WaPo)
Ezra Klein suggests that…