NEWSROOM
ICYMI: Groundwork’s Lindsay Owens Featured in New York Times Reiterating Economic Case for Bold Reconciliation Bill
As negotiations continue over President Biden’s promised $3.5 trillion infrastructure package, Groundwork Collaborative has been making the case that Congress and the Biden Administration should move quickly to take advantage of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to set our economy on a path that is more equitable and just. As Lindsay Owens told The New York Times over the weekend: “If the bill passes as is right now and we get a major sea change in the progressivity of the tax...
Groundwork Applauds Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’ Bill to Extend Federal Unemployment Benefits
This week, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez will introduce a new bill to extend federal unemployment benefits. The federal unemployment benefits expired on Sept. 6 — leaving millions of Americans without this essential lifeline. If passed, the enhanced jobless aid would be retroactive to Sept. 6 and extended until Feb. 1, 2022. Dr. Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at Groundwork Collaborative, responded to the news with the following statement: “Allowing unemployment benefits to lapse when so many...
Groundwork Announces Jasmin Johansen-Hickman as New Chief of Staff
Groundwork Collaborative announced today that Jasmin Johansen-Hickman has been named the organization’s new Chief of Staff. Johansen-Hickman brings extensive expertise in nonprofit management and operations to the Washington DC-based progressive think tank. “I am thrilled to join an organization like the Groundwork Collaborative that is leading the charge on what a true inclusive economy looks like,” said Johansen-Hickman. “For most of my career, I have worked for organizations...
Memo: August Jobs Day #BeyondTheNumbers
Groundwork Collaborative wants to make sure you have the full context on the U.S. Labor Department’s August Employment Report and the investments we need for an equitable recovery and a truly inclusive economy. Dr. Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at Groundwork, reacted with the following statement: “Today's job report shows us in no uncertain terms that when people around the country are not doing well, the economy is not doing well. Delaying or diluting critical investments —...
UNEMPLOYMENT CLIFF: Ending UI Benefits Could Not Come At Worse Time
After Labor Day, roughly 7.5 million people will lose key pandemic-era unemployment benefits established by the March 2020 CARES Act. Dr. Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at Groundwork, reacted to the impending unemployment cliff with the following statement: “Amid increasing uncertainty in the trajectory of the pandemic, Monday’s unemployment cliff could not come at a worse time. Millions will suffer as they lose this critical source of income and the loss of spending will suppress job...
Experts Agree: Inflation is Transitory, Manageable
The Labor Department reported today that inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), increased 0.5% compared to last month, down from 0.9% in June and 0.7% in May. The largest year-to-year price increases continue to be in sectors related to the economy reopening. At the same time, prices are increasing more slowly, especially when compared to previous months, for core goods and services. In light of this report, experts agree that the recent price increases are transitory...
Memo: July Jobs Day By the Numbers
Groundwork Collaborative wants to make sure you have the full context on the U.S. Labor Department’s July Employment Report and the investments we need for an equitable recovery and a truly inclusive economy. Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Collaborative, explained to Forbes how allowing unemployment benefits to expire next month will disproportionately harm Black and brown workers who face higher rates of long-term unemployment: “The historic inequities in the labor...
Groundwork Responds to Sen. Manchin's Letter to Fed
Yesterday, Sen. Joe Manchin urged the Federal Reserve to reassess America’s stance on monetary policy and additional fiscal stimulus to avoid ‘overheating our economy.’ But the evidence is clear that the costs of an unequal recovery are far greater than those of manageable inflation. As Dr. Rakeen Mabud, Groundwork’s Chief Economist and Managing Director of Policy and Research told The Hill: “We cannot let misguided [inflation] fears keep us from investing in the workers and...
ICYMI: New Report Reveals Political Motivations Driving States Ending UI Benefits Early
New internal documents obtained by The Daily Poster show that North Dakota officials made a calculated decision to cut off jobless aid early based on anecdotal evidence and driven by political motivations. North Dakota is one of 26 states that ended the $300 federal unemployment benefit early. As Groundwork’s Executive Director Dr. Lindsay Owens told The Daily Poster: “This slide deck makes clear what we’ve long known about how officials make decisions about the social safety...
Why Trade Policies Are a Matter of Racial Equity
By Grace Western It’s no secret that trade policies in the United States have been captured by wealthy, corporate interests that prioritize growing their power and profits at the expense of working people. For generations, working people have seen their jobs, wages, and the promise of economic security disappear. While many workers across the country have experienced the devastating effects of failed U.S. trade policies, these policies have disproportionately harmed Black workers and...
Press Call Today, 4PM ET: Economists React to Fed Chair Powell's Testimony
In light of Consumer Price Index projections and in advance of Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell’s appearance before the House Financial Services, it’s important to understand that inflation fears are overstated and misrepresented. We cannot allow misguided fears about temporary, manageable inflation to lead to misguided monetary policies. As Dr. Rakeen Mabud, Groundwork’s Chief Economist and Managing Director of Policy and Research, told Bloomberg Business: “Inflation fears at...
Groundwork Collaborative Names Michael Mitchell Director of Policy & Research
Economic policy expert joins progressive think tank at a critical inflection point for U.S. economy Washington, D.C. (July 8, 2021) – Groundwork Collaborative announced today that Michael Mitchell has been named the organization’s new Director of Policy and Research. Mitchell brings extensive expertise in economic policy to Groundwork, having served as a Senior Policy Analyst and most recently, Senior Director and Counselor, Equity and Inclusion at the Center on Budget and Policy...
Memo: June Jobs Day By the Numbers
Groundwork Collaborative wants to make sure you have the full context on the U.S. Labor Department’s June Employment Report and the investments we need for an equitable recovery and a truly inclusive economy. Groundwork’s Chief Economist Dr. Rakeen Mabud said it succinctly: For all the exciting news in this jobs report, don't forget that the Black unemployment rate is still 9.2 percent. That's intolerable. We can't afford to get complacent when so many around the country aren't yet...
The Infrastructure Debate Is About Black Women
By Kate Taylor Mighty From COVID-related deaths to unemployment rates, Black women have suffered disproportionately in category after miserable category throughout the crisis sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic. In every boom and bust on record, Black women almost always fare worst — and economists have observed that their exclusion holds back the broader economy. Misogynoir, or the combination of misogyny and anti-Blackness directed toward Black women, is even worse than a scourge on...
Climate Change Puts Homeowners of Color at Greater Economic Risk
When Hurricane Harvey struck Texas in August 2017, it dumped 27 trillion gallons of rain on the greater Houston region, submerging about a quarter of the metropolitan area. To this day, it remains the wettest storm on record in the United States. The hurricane, which research would later find was 15 percent more intense and three times as likely due to climate change, caused financial hardship for thousands of families...
New Research from Groundwork Collaborative Shows Impact of Trade on Black Workers, Economy
New Research from Groundwork Collaborative Shows Impact of Trade on Black Workers, Economy The authors, including Dr. William Spriggs of Howard University, examine how U.S. trade policies interact with a fundamentally broken labor market to harm Black manufacturing workers. These results offer a path forward for more equitable trade policies that center workers and communities of color Washington, D.C. (June 21, 2021) – New research from Groundwork Collaborative highlights how...
ICYMI: Groundwork’s Dr. Rakeen Mabud Featured in The Hill re Inflation
ICYMI: Groundwork’s Dr. Rakeen Mabud Featured in The Hill re Inflation Ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, it’s important to understand that inflation fears right now are deeply misguided. The bottom line: Continued investments in our economic infrastructure are deeply needed, popular, and economically sound. As Dr. Rakeen Mabud, Groundwork’s Chief Economist and Managing Director of Policy and Research told The Hill: “We cannot let misguided...
Groundwork Collaborative names Lindsay Owens, PhD, new executive director
Economic policy expert and political veteran will lead and advance progressive economic agenda Selection hailed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, Labor Leader Sara Nelson, and others Washington, D.C. (June 10, 2021) – Groundwork Collaborative announced today that Lindsay Owens, Ph.D., has been named the organization’s second executive director. Owens, a highly-cited economic sociologist and...
Biden Faces Backlash Over 'Shameful' Capitulation to GOP Governors as They End Unemployment Lifelines
Biden administration officials publicly signaled Friday that they have no intention of putting up a fight as the Republican governors of 25 states prematurely cut off emergency unemployment programs, yanking key lifelines from millions of jobless workers and depriving local economies of billions of dollars...
MEMO: Jobs Day #BeyondTheNumbers
Groundwork Collaborative wants to make sure you have the full context on today's jobs numbers and the investments we need for an equitable recovery and a truly inclusive economy. Read a topline summary below and check out Groundwork’s Chief Economist, Rakeen Mabud’s, take on today’s jobs numbers here. To speak with Dr. Mabud, please contact Jae Aron at press@groundworkcollaborative.org. The May Jobs report shows us the deep and urgent need for continued investment in the people...
Opinion: New developments puncture the GOP’s ‘working-class’ makeover scam
Last month, when the GOP purge of critics of Donald Trump was at its frenzied peak, the party hit on a clever way to put a positive gloss on it. This was necessary, Republicans insisted, to maintain the GOP’s new status as a “working-class party,” by keeping millions and millions of salt-of-the-earth supporters of the former president in the fold. ...
Biden’s budget seeks to level racial, economic playing fields despite ‘out of touch’ Republicans
President Joe Biden wants the country to invest $6 trillion by prioritizing working families and children. One of the largest proposed investments in the American public since the New Deal, Biden’s new budget places a premium on equity in several areas and reducing racial and economic disparities. Including previously introduced proposals such as investments in infrastructure, jobs, childcare and early childhood education, the new Biden budget seeks to reposition Americans. Biden’s...
Bosses are acting like the pandemic never happened
For more than a year, the Covid-19 pandemic changed how America worked. Grocery store cashiers, line cooks, janitors, and millions of others — about a third of the American workforce — saw their jobs become dangerous overnight, as they were asked to keep coming to work in person in spite of the viral threat. Meanwhile, millions more transitioned from going to an office to working from their homes — the percentage of workers logging on remotely rose from 17 percent to 44 percent once...
'End this game': Dems urged to ditch GOP after 'woefully inadequate' infrastructure offer
Republican senators on Thursday unveiled an infrastructure counteroffer calling for just $257 billion in new spending over the next eight years, a proposal that intensified pressure on the Biden administration and Democratic leaders to abandon their push for bipartisan compromise and unilaterally press ahead with a sufficiently bold package. While a group of four Senate Republicans led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia presented the GOP offer as a "serious" $928 billion plan...
Seizing the moment to make our care systems more equitable
The Biden administration’s $600 billion in proposed federal funding for childcare and long-term care is rightly being framed as an investment in the nation’s core “infrastructure.” Indeed, a robust and equitable care infrastructure is as necessary for generating economic activity as roads and bridges, with important spillover effects to the rest of the labor market. Beyond boosting the economy as a whole, investments in care can also be configured in ways that directly address...
Elizabeth Warren wants Joe Biden to go bigger on child care
A new report from the Massachusetts senator argues for a bigger investment in what she argues is a key part of infrastructure. When Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) ran for president, one of the first policies she unveiled to establish herself as the wonk candidate was a proposal for universal child care and pre-K. Warren delivered her speech for last summer’s virtual Democratic National Convention from a pandemic-shuttered daycare and used her five minutes of primetime...
The black box economy
The pandemic economy has been strange and unpredictable from the get-go. Throughout the past 14 months, the twists and turns have been surprising: The housing market boomed, the stock market soared, people got into day trading, everyone hoarded toilet paper, and lumber became a must-have. There’s been widespread disagreement about how much support from the government was needed, whether the country was doing too much or not enough, or whether help would come at all. We won’t know...
The resurrection of Reagan's "Welfare Queen"
To supply corporations with exploitable low-wage workers, Republicans and media millionaires are exhuming one of history’s most grotesque lies. In the early 1980s, Ronald Reagan and the GOP settled on a strategy: Building off their “silent majority” dog whistle that signaled a backlash to the civil rights movement, Republicans conjured a racist “welfare queen” myth, pretending that too many lazy, parasitic Americans were getting rich off of unemployment benefits that deterred...
Advocacy groups launch campaign to ‘Stop Deficit Squawks’ in Washington
Groups Call Out Deficit Fearmongering as Pushing an “Artificial Crisis” Used to Block Critical Spending to Help Everyday People WASHINGTON, D.C. — This morning as Congress returns to Capitol Hill, a coalition of nearly twenty progressive advocacy groups launched Stop Deficit Squawks, a campaign targeting so-called ‘deficit hawks’ in Washington. The coalition will push back on the true agenda of ‘deficit squawks’ – groups and individuals that incite fears about the federal...
Progressive groups target Koch network, other critics of Biden spending plans with new campaign
Several progressive organizations have banded together to launch a new influence campaign to target groups, such as billionaire Charles Koch’s political network, which have pushed back on significant elements of President Joe Biden’s multitrillion-dollar agenda. Details of the campaign, called “Stop Deficit Squawks,” were first shared with CNBC. It launched Monday. Nearly 20 groups have signed on to the campaign so far, including Patriotic Millionaires, a group of millionaires who...
US voters want much more Covid-19 relief—and they want it now: Poll
"Simply put, more is required to ensure that we build a more resilient, equal economy that works for more people." A majority of likely U.S. voters—and especially younger ones and people of color—support immediately spending much more on coronavirus pandemic relief than the nearly $2 trillion in President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan, a poll published Monday by ProsperUS, the Green New Deal Network, and Data For Progress revealed. "This new polling shows that voters across the...
Joe Biden wants to transform care work in America
We must start by viewing care work as an essential component not just of the economy but of life itself. President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan seeks to revitalize manufacturing and decarbonize the atmosphere. But one of its most vital elements is how it would transform the care economy. The state has always shaped how care is provided, but in this country the sector has been malformed since its creation. Biden’s proposal, following decades of work by activists and academics, would...
The Nation’s Moment of Truth: The economic and moral case for investing in caregivers
Investing in a robust care infrastructure would not only create new jobs, but would also allow many others to come back, spurring the country’s economic engine. This article is a Part 2 of a two-part adaptation of the feature article from the Spring 2021 issue of Ms. Get caught up on Part 1 here. The Biden-Harris administration and the 117th Congress have an opportunity to center care work as essential work through major public investments that could establish universal access to...
Biden is flirting with a better economic paradigm. Young people need him to commit.
As children of the 90s and early aughts, millennials came of age beset by problems both too large to ignore and too expensive to fix: debilitating student debt, worsening climate change, skyrocketing inequality. When we looked to our government to address these problems, political leaders of both parties clutched nervously at their purse strings. “How will you pay for it?” we were asked again and again, less a question than a rhetorical veto. Promised a world of steady...
The Nation’s Moment of Truth: America’s legacy of devaluing care
Our current caregiving crisis is the inevitable outcome of an outdated ideology that has resulted in insufficient investments in our care infrastructure and in our people. The COVID-19 pandemic “is the most discriminatory crisis we [women and girls] have ever experienced,” Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of U.N. Women, said at the opening of the 65th Commission on the Status of Women in early March. Her statement rings just as true in the U.S. as elsewhere in the world...
Joe Biden is about to test the politics of going big
The Biden administration’s theory of policy so far is to go big. The same goes for its politics. Taken together, President Joe Biden’s $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan and newly introduced $1.8 trillion American Families Plan come out to slightly over $4 trillion in proposed new spending. It’s an enormous investment in American job creation; the last bipartisan infrastructure bill Congress passed in 2015 clocked in at about $305 billion — about one-thirteenth the size of Biden’s...
Planes, trains, and working women
The carpenters training facility near Pittsburgh looked just like the sort of place where President Joe Biden would roll out a jobs and infrastructure plan. There was the circular saw perched on a workbench, easy to spot near the phalanx of American flags behind Biden’s lectern. The emblem of the carpenters’ union, a jack plane within an interlocked ruler and compass, hung high on the wall, perfectly framed in photographs of the president in profile. And then, of course, there was the...
Why big-spending Biden can shrug off GOP warnings of inflation
Republicans are warning that President Joe Biden is taking a risky gamble that he can carry out his massive spending plans without triggering runaway inflation. Biden is betting on history as his defense. The specter of raging inflation — the erosion of consumer purchasing power — has become central to the debate about whether the government can afford Biden’s multitrillion-dollar “Build Back Better” programs. But years can go by before soaring inflation ever takes hold...
“Care is infrastructure, silly”: Feminists defend caregiving funding in Biden’s Jobs Plan
Just a few weeks after President Biden’s American Rescue Plan and his proposed American Jobs Plan demonstrated his commitment to prioritizing care work in the quest towards economic recovery, the idea of investing in the country’s caregiving infrastructure and workforce is being ridiculed and dismissed. We expected it from Senate Republicans who to a person, are opposed to both of the president’s plans—but we were a little surprised to see a POLITICO Playbook article characterize...
This top Biden economist has a plan: Create jobs, address inequality, ignore trolls
The U.S. economy added more than 900,000 jobs last month. For most White House officials, that would be considered a banner number. For Janelle Jones, the top economist at the Labor Department, there is much more work for the Biden administration to do. Jones, the first Black woman to ever hold her position, says it would take a year of similar jobs reports just to get back to where the economy was before the pandemic. But even then, she says, getting back to the status quo is not...
Rejecting Biden's $715 billion proposal, Jayapal says Congress must slash the 'Bloated Pentagon Budget'
Joining fellow progressive lawmakers in rejecting President Joe Biden's request for a $715 billion Pentagon budget, Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Saturday argued that Congress must slash military spending and "invest that money into our communities" as coronavirus infections rise across the U.S. and mass layoffs continue. "This budget adds twelve billion new dollars for weapons of war; just think how that same amount could be used to invest in jobs, healthcare, and fighting...
STATEMENT: Groundwork applauds the Biden administration’s bold approach to investing in our future
Washington, DC – Today, Groundwork Collaborative’s Managing Director of Policy and Research and Chief Economist Dr. Rakeen Mabud released a statement in response to President Biden’s request to Congress to authorize an increase in federal spending in 2022 on domestic priorities: “Today President Biden asked Congress to invest in the future and recovery of millions around the country. By investing in critical issues such as education, public housing, COVID-19 relief, and addressing...
Economists warn Democrats 'going too small' on infrastructure risks economic and climate catastrophe
Pointing to the nation's tepid recovery from the 2009 financial collapse as a cautionary tale, economists are pressing Democratic lawmakers to dramatically expand President Joe Biden's $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal in order to equitably rebound from the coronavirus crisis, achieve full employment, and combat the existential climate emergency. In a 38-page report (pdf) released Thursday, Dr. Adam Hersh of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Dr. Mark Paul of the New...
NEW REPORT: Congress must go big on upcoming investments; Economists warn of costly long-term consequences for America’s future if Congress fails to act
NEW: Economists Adam Hersh and Mark Paul show that inadequate fiscal policy cost the economy at least $8 trillion over past decade – more than $32,000 in lost income per adult Paper calls American Jobs Plan “a step in the right direction,” cites economists’ calls for up to five times the spending in proposed bill – up to $10 trillion – to get economy on track Washington, DC – Today, Groundwork Collaborative released a new report from Dr. Adam Hersh, Director of Washington...
Top White House economist defends 'care economy' as infrastructure
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top White House economist Cecilia Rouse on Tuesday defended President Joe Biden’s plan to spend $400 billion on the “care economy” as a legitimate infrastructure investment and key part of his drive to address persistent economic inequities. Republicans have blasted Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure package as riddled with liberal spending priorities, and want to strip out funding for home- and community-based jobs taking care of kids and seniors. Rouse told...
U.S. must invest heavily to stay no. 1 economy - White House economist
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States must invest heavily in its workforce, infrastructure, research and development to remain competitive and stay the world’s largest economy, Cecilia Rouse, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said on Tuesday. U.S. investments in R&D had fallen by a third as a percentage of economic output since 1960, while spending on infrastructure had been halved over the last 50 years, Rouse told an online event hosted by the Washington Center...
More than 200 economists to Congress: Seize “historic opportunity to make long-overdue public investments” to boost economic growth
WASHINGTON – Today, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth released a statement urging Congress to prioritize “robust and sustained investment in physical and care infrastructure along with science and technology to solve the problems of the 21st century.” The statement—led by Hilary Hoynes, professor of public policy and economics at the University of California, Berkeley; Trevon Logan, professor of economics at The Ohio State University; Atif Mian, professor of economics...
Support increased public investment in home- and community-based long-term care
We support President Biden’s overall plan to improve the care infrastructure of the United States, including his specific proposal to invest $450 billion in expansion and improvement of home and community-based services for the long-term care of those experiencing disability or the frailty of advanced age. A large body of evidence-based research indicates that this investment will help: *Increase access to home and community-based services.1 Current Medicaid funding for such services...
Biden plan spurs fight over what ‘infrastructure’ really means
Republicans say the White House is tucking liberal social programs into legislation that should be focused on roads and bridges. Administration officials say their approach invests in the future. WASHINGTON — The early political and economic debate over President Biden’s $2 trillion American Jobs Plan is being dominated by a philosophical question: What does infrastructure really mean? Does it encompass the traditional idea of fixing roads, building bridges and financing other...
We’re witnessing government in action — and it’s delivering
Over the last half century, U.S. economic theory and policymaking have been rooted in the false promise of “free markets,” and politicians on both sides of the aisle have worked to minimize the government’s role as an economic driver and force for the collective good. Bolstered by the political power of the private sector, elected leaders have spread the misguided belief that markets alone could deliver economic freedom to people and communities. And then through deregulation...
Biden's infrastructure plan does not come close to tackling the vast extent of America's new housing crisis.
Read on Insider...
Biden jobs plan seeks $400 billion to expand caretaking services as U.S. faces surge in aging population
President Biden’s jobs plan proposes a massive investment in home care for the elderly and people with disabilities, as America’s caretaking system faces strain from the nation’s looming demographic challenges. The White House’s American Jobs Plan calls for spending about $400 billion over eight years on “home- or community-based care” for the elderly and people with disabilities. That amounts to roughly a fifth of the overall price tag of Biden’s plan, the first of two related...
Corporate tax increases are good policy, good for the economy
Washington, DC – Today, Groundwork Collaborative, Center for American Progress, Economic Policy Institute, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, and the Roosevelt Institute released the following statement on the revenue proposals in the newly announced American Jobs Plan: “We welcome today’s announcement that the American Jobs Plan (AJP) will increase the corporate tax rate, reduce tax incentives for offshoring, crack down on the games that multinational corporations play to...
The latest economic research demonstrates why concerns about federal budget deficits and U.S. debt levels are overblown
Overview A growing number of economists are reconsidering long-held views about the appropriate level of public borrowing and the consequences of federal budget deficits and debt on U.S. economic growth and well-being. Their cutting-edge research suggests that previous concerns about deficits and debt, such as increases in inflation and interest rates that affect U.S. Treasury bonds, are overblown. Instead, the available evidence indicates that the United States boasts substantial fiscal...
Bold public investment is popular and key to ending this crisis
In the year since the COVID-19 pandemic first gripped the United States, over 525,000 people have perished and millions more – disproportionately people of color, disabled people, women, and those at the intersection of these identities—are still struggling to get by. The historic scale of the economic and public health crises we’ve faced was not inevitable. It was the result of decades of austerity policies and systematic disinvestment in the public sector at local, state, and federal...
Stimulus aid will sustain 1 million child care jobs. Biden’s jobs plan must do more.
The American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Biden earlier this month will help ensure the economic security of millions of families. For many parents, the most meaningful part of the package is the investment in child care. This is especially true for the countless mothers who are burnt out with managing jobs and caregiving, facilitating virtual learning, providing essential work at non-essential wages, or struggling with job loss. Not only will this provision stabilize the sector and...
As Biden prepares to unveil infrastructure plan, progressives push $10 trillion investment
With President Joe Biden set to start unveiling his two-part infrastructure plan later this week, congressional progressives on Monday officially announced their proposal to invest $10 trillion over the next decade in renewable energy, green buildings, and environmental justice initiatives while creating over 15 million well-paying union jobs. Building on the introduction last September of a resolution "recognizing the duty of the federal government to implement an agenda to Transform...
White House dramatically increased tax proposal as it sought to address tensions over next big spending plan
When President Biden’s team began putting together his infrastructure and jobs package this February, the White House National Economic Council circulated an internal proposal calling for about $3 trillion in new spending and $1 trillion in new tax hikes, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. But soon enough, some members of the economic team second-guessed themselves, concerned that the plan could jeopardize the nation’s long-term financial stability. The...
Democrats confident they can pass $3tn infrastructure bill
Biden willing to push through spending package partly funded by tax without Republican support Read on Financial Times...
POLITICO Playbook PM: The public option and the push for earmarks: Nuggets from our latest poll
TRANSITION — Rakeen Mabud is now managing director of policy and research and chief economist at the Groundwork Collaborative. She previously was senior director of research and strategy at the Time’s Up Foundation, where she spearheaded the Time’s Up, Measure Up initiative. Read on Politico...
Economist Rakeen Mabud joins Groundwork Collaborative as Managing Director of Policy & Research, Chief Economist
Washington, DC — The Groundwork Collaborative (Groundwork) announced today that Dr. Rakeen Mabud will be joining its team as Managing Director of Policy & Research and Chief Economist. Dr. Mabud previously served as the Senior Director of Research and Strategy at TIME’S UP Foundation, where she spearheaded the organization’s signature Time’s Up, Measure Up initiative. “Rakeen’s strategic and policy expertise across economic, racial, and gender lines makes her exactly the...
'Even Manchin Called for $4 Trillion': Progressives Say Biden's Infrastructure Plan Falls Short
Having cleared its first major legislative hurdle with the coronavirus pandemic relief package that President Joe Biden signed into law earlier this month, his administration is now hard at work on a long-awaited infrastructure plan—but progressive advocacy groups responded critically on Monday to reporting about the legislation’s possible $3 trillion price tag, warning it is not enough. “The Biden team’s infrastructure proposal signals what the climate justice movement has been...
The U.S. Economy won't recover until Black workers do
Now that President Biden has signed the American Rescue Plan into law, millions of struggling families will get some of the relief they have so desperately needed for the last year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents will have more money in their pockets to make ends meet for their families. Millions of children will begin to be lifted out of poverty. And state and local governments will be able to resist buckling under the pressure of stretched budgets and resources. The American Rescue...
Joe Biden’s economic recovery has a narrative. Now, it needs a legacy.
Joe Biden took a victory lap when he went on the TV airwaves for his first presidential address last Thursday. “America is coming back,” he announced, a comeback premised on the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package he’d signed into law earlier that day. If history proves Biden right, he will have already offered future generations something fond to recall as they gaze upon his oil painting: It was under our 46th president that the United States defeated a pandemic and yanked the economy...
Government spending is a priority for young voters, not the national debt
As the U.S. faces down a continuing pandemic, a decimated economy, and a mounting climate crisis, many debates on Capitol Hill can be reduced to the following question: Should the federal government spend now to build a better world for future generations, or avoid adding to the national debt in the short and long term? However tortured the congressional debate may seem, it is likely voters are clear on their answer: Spend now to save the future. Data for Progress and Groundwork...
Is Tennessee's problem state debt, or the wealthy governing the state?
On March 11, former Govs. Phil Bredesen and Bill Haslam, and Gov. Bill Lee spoke at the right-wing Millennial Debt Foundation about the national debt, we should ask why they are more focused on the deficit than addressing economic recovery or the needs of Tennesseans. The collective wealth of America’s 651 billionaires jumped by more than $1.3 trillion to a total of $4 trillion at the end of December. Meanwhile, that same month more than 185,000 Tennesseans were unemployed. In a time...
The problem is work
Erica, an Indiana mom, was working part time last spring as a computer scientist. At the same time, she was taking care of her first-grader, preschooler, and toddler at home, with schools and day care centers in the area shuttered due to the pandemic. During one of her work shifts, she was nursing her toddler while trying to read at her desk, “and he swung his leg, and it somehow landed in my tea, and it kicked the teacup over,” she told sociologist Jessica Calarco and her team as part of...
Bridging Black and women’s history months: why “Black Women Best” can deliver liberation for all
It’s the end of Black History Month and the start of Women’s History Month, but you know what never ends? The crucial need for our society to center women of color—in everything, especially the economy. This is what “Black Women Best” is all about. Coined by Janelle Jones, the Black Women Best framework contends that when Black women—arguably the most structurally marginalized group in America—are centered in U.S. policymaking and politics, then we can produce better economic...
As Senate rushes $1.9 trillion bill through Congress, Biden faces doubts over whether it’s still the right package
The pandemic was exacting a brutal toll when, six days before his inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden first released his $1.9 trillion relief proposal. The economic recovery was backsliding, coronavirus cases were surging, and vaccines were just starting to get out. Nearly two months later, as the Senate plans to begin voting Thursday on a nearly identical package, the economic and public health outlook appear to have changed. The economy is doing better, coronavirus cases...
US trade policy has failed Black and Latino workers
Last week, President Joe Biden's nominee for US trade representative Katherine Tai -- a well-seasoned trade expert with decades of trade experience -- faced the Senate Finance Committee for confirmation. The job will not be an easy one. As the nation's chief trade representative, Tai will inherit a turbulent legacy of trade policy decisions during a particularly difficult time in which a pandemic continues to ravage countries, communities and working people across the globe, especially...
1 in 7 US children live in poverty. Misplaced fears over single mothers could be why.
One in seven American children live in poverty, according to the Center for American Progress. Despite the nation’s wealth, the United States has one of the worst child poverty rates among similarly developed countries. A new poll from Vox and Data for Progress indicates that despite the popularity of child welfare programs, one of the reasons we’ve failed to help millions of children could be a concern that’s dogged public welfare programs for decades: widespread concern that...
Biden's 36-year-old economist has her eye on an equal recovery
In a one-bedroom apartment above a Washington neighborhood of bars, clubs and brunch spots, Janelle Jones is busy trying to fix the U.S. labor market -- one economic report and one Mario Kart race at a time. The Biden administration appointed the 36-year-old as the Department of Labor’s chief economist, a little-known position that will influence the futures of millions of people. In between wading through endless spreadsheets, enduring hours of video meetings and analyzing reams of...
Concerns cloud Democrats’ scramble to salvage raising the minimum wage with a workaround
After the Senate parliamentarian dashed Democrats’ hopes of crowbarring a $15 federal minimum wage into the COVID-19 relief package Thursday night, members and their staffs have been scrambling to figure out a way around the ruling. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Bernie Sanders (D-VT), who chair the Senate Finance and Budget Committees respectively, have proposed a backdoor approach that the parliamentarian might approve of, one that would involve changing tax policy. Wyden put out a...
How Biden learned to go big
President Joe Biden appears ready to do what it takes to get the American economy back to full capacity — and then some. Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package to help steer the economy through the pandemic, and he’s planning to propose a second spending package — one with an even heftier price tag — that invests heavily in infrastructure, climate, and caregiving. His administration is focusing on those most in need, and is even willing to run the economy a...
Could Biden make U.S.- China trade better for workers?
In November, the Siberian anticyclone blows cold, dry air into Beijing. Lakes freeze over, and social life moves indoors. There was an icy fog on the November evening in 2017 when fire engulfed an informal structure on the sprawling megacity’s periphery. Nineteen migrant workers died in the blaze. City plans called for a reduction in Beijing’s “low-end population,” and its administrators used addressing fire safety as a pretext to comply. Over the following two weeks...
'It is not a budget item,' Democrat Kyrsten Sinema falsely says as she joins Joe Manchin in opposing $15 wage
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on Friday joined fellow conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in opposing the inclusion of an overwhelmingly popular $15 federal minimum wage bill in the coronavirus relief package, falsely claiming that the proposed pay raise for 32 million workers is "not a budget item" and thus should not be part of the reconciliation measure. "What's important is whether or not it's directly related to short-term Covid relief. And if it's not, then I am not going to support it...
The risks of going too big on stimulus are real — but going too small could be riskier
America has badly fumbled the response to the pandemic so far, and it’s hard to imagine the country is on the brink of severely overshooting it. Still, some economists are starting to raise concerns that it’s possible to overshoot the response. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan is getting new scrutiny. Larry Summers, who served as treasury secretary under Bill Clinton and as National Economic Council director under Barack Obama, wrote an op-ed in the Washington...
Despite the historic crisis, Sinclair report focuses on whether the pandemic relief bill is too big
A Sinclair report which focused almost exclusively on the amount of money appropriated and spent so far to address the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States misleadingly suggested that the $1.9 trillion relief package currently under considerations would come at too high a cost. Many economists, however, say that this level of spending is necessary to help those struggling during this crisis -- and indeed some believe it's not nearly enough to ease the huge economic hardship the...
POLITICO Playbook PM: Greene admits 9/11 ‘happened,’ Dems seek Trump under oath
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK I — PRESSURE FROM THE LEFT … A new progressive coalition called ProsperUS, launched by the Groundwork Collaborative, is sending a letter to Democratic Hill leaders urging them to hold firm on a $1.9 trillion relief package — and view it as only “an initial down payment.” The letter … List of signers Read on Politico...
Opinion: As a new economic consensus emerges, lefty groups seek to put muscle behind it
It’s hard to escape the sense that a new consensus is emerging among Democrats of all ideological stripes in Washington, moderates included, one that is finally getting out from under the long shadows of the post-Ronald Reagan neoliberal era. Prompted by the massive crises of the moment and underscored by President Biden’s unexpectedly progressive approach, this consensus has moved beyond reflexive skittishness about deficit spending and prioritizes bold government action...
'Inhumane': As CBO warns employment won't recover until 2024, GOP offers mere 3-month extension of jobless aid
As the Congressional Budget Office projected Monday morning that U.S. employment likely won't recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2024, a group of Senate Republicans unveiled a $618 billion coronavirus relief proposal that would only extend emergency jobless aid for three months—an offer that Senate Democrats immediately rejected as cruel and unacceptable. "The package outlined by 10 Senate Republicans is far too small to provide the relief the American people need," Sen. Ron Wyden...
The GOP stimulus counteroffer, explained
Two weeks after President Joe Biden released his opening bid on an economic stimulus plan, Senate Republicans have put theirs out. And there is quite a bit of distance between them. In an outline unveiled Monday, 10 Republican lawmakers laid out their $618 billion proposal, with less than a third of the funds in the $1.9 trillion rescue plan Biden has introduced. The offer shows a fundamental difference in how Republican lawmakers want to approach the public health and economic crises...
U.S. unemployment rate to remain above pre-pandemic level through decade, CBO says
The nation’s unemployment rate will not return to its pre-pandemic levels through the rest of this decade, meaning millions could be out of work even after vaccines are widely distributed, according to a projection released Monday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The nonpartisan budget office also projected a faster-than-expected rebound in economic growth as the nation’s economy recovers more quickly than analysts had initially expected. The...
First 100: Democrats reconcile themselves to reconciliation
It’s January 29, 2021 and welcome to First 100. You can sign up to have First 100 delivered to your email by clicking here. The Chief The fate of Joe Biden’s first and most important legislative priority looks like it will become an all-Democratic affair. After some discussions yesterday, Democrats are ready to take the first steps to use the budget reconciliation process to pass the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. That begins with passing a budget resolution through the House and...
Biden wants the biggest stimulus in modern history. Is it too big?
President Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion pandemic rescue package includes money for many goals: expediting the rollout of coronavirus vaccines; reopening schools; expanding unemployment benefits; sending more cash payments to most Americans. But when you skip the line-by-line details and look at the overall numbers, something striking becomes evident. The administration’s proposal, when combined with the $900 billion in pandemic aid agreed to in December, would amount to a bigger...
How Biden’s stimulus bill could actually build back better
As President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress gear up to pass an economic relief package, their most pressing task is addressing the recession. But some economists and activists are hoping Biden and other lawmakers will also take a longer view. The Covid-19 recession has revealed many structural problems in the economy. Vast socioeconomic and racial inequality. Insufficient support for parents, who have been asked to do much more as schools and child care close down. Low-wage workers...
As White House floats skimpier relief bill in bid for GOP support, progressives warn going small would Be 'catastrophic'
With the Biden White House reportedly weighing the possibility of splitting its proposed coronavirus relief package into two parts in an effort to attract some Republican support, leaders of the Congressional Progressives Caucus are warning that anything less than the president's $1.9 trillion opening offer would represent an unacceptable betrayal of economically desperate Americans. In a letter (pdf) to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer...
Progressives warn against scaling back relief bill to gain GOP support
With the Biden White House reportedly weighing the possibility of splitting its proposed coronavirus relief package into two parts in an effort to attract some Republican support, leaders of the Congressional Progressives Caucus are warning that anything less than the president’s $1.9 trillion opening offer would represent an unacceptable betrayal of economically desperate Americans. In a letter (pdf) to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer...
POLITICO Playbook PM: Biden’s big vaccine challenge
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — James Hewitt is now comms director for Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.). He most recently was associate administrator for public affairs at the EPA and is a State Department alum. TRANSITIONS — Mike Burns is now deputy assistant HUD secretary for public affairs. He previously was deputy comms director for the House Appropriations Dems. … Todd Kim is now deputy general counsel at DOE. He previously was a partner at Reed Smith. … Rachel Millard is now a VP on...
Biden calls for bold rescue plan to tackle economy
Just days before his inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden announced the “American Rescue Plan,” a $1.9 trillion recovery plan to combat COVID-19 and get the economy and the nation on track. In remarks Thursday night, Biden called for expanding direct financial assistance and relief including another round of direct cash payments to individuals, $400 in supplemental unemployment insurance, economic support for states and local communities. Urging immediate action Biden challenged the...
Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus plan, explained
President-elect Joe Biden has unveiled his opening bid on Covid-19 relief and economic recovery: a $1.9 trillion stimulus deal meant to help the United States address the health and economic crises induced by the pandemic. The proposal, called the American Rescue Plan, is divvied up into three buckets: $400 billion for dealing with the coronavirus, including vaccines and testing; $1 trillion in direct relief to families; and $400 billion in aid to communities and businesses. It includes...
Biden's $1.9 trillion relief plan: $400 unemployment boost, $1,400 checks, and billions in additional aid
With less than a week until he takes office amid a raging public health and related economic crisis, President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief and recovery plan that progressive economists and activists welcomed as "an important start." The need across the nation is extreme, with Covid-19 cases rising and the U.S. death toll nearing 390,000. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) noted Thursday that "another 1.2 million people applied for Unemployment...
Groundwork Collaborative calls Biden Plan “important start,” calls for additional investments to continue getting economy back on track
Washington, DC - Groundwork Collaborative released the following statement in response to President-elect Biden releasing his COVID-19 rescue proposal: “The economic case is clear: only massive government investment in workers, families, and communities can pull us out of this crisis. While this proposal on its own won’t be enough to tackle this crisis, make people whole, and get our economy back on track, it would be an important start. The plan includes key provisions for...
For an equitable economy in 2021, we must center Black women. Here are four ways how.
Post-election, there has been an outpouring of appreciation for Black women voters, whose organizing and turnout at the polls led to victory for President-elect Joe Biden. It is a fact: Without Black voters and high turnout among Black women, President-Elect Biden would not have won. Now, his administration not only has an opportunity, but a responsibility to be accountable, listen deeply to Black women, and implement policies that show up for us the way we showed up for Biden. “Trust...
U.S. needs estimated $4.5 trillion in stimulus to recover, analysis argues
The economy may need up to five times more money than what lawmakers are considering to return to pre-pandemic levels, according to a new analysis. The Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive economic think tank, found that a stimulus package worth $3 trillion to $4.5 trillion would be required for American businesses and workers to work at their full potential and the real unemployment rate to fall to 3.5%. “We need stimulus, and we need it fast,” Mark Paul, a political economist...
Call me ‘pro-Black’ But don’t call me ‘anti-racist’—on Philippians 2:4 and rooting for everybody Black
Covid-19 and the measures taken to contain it over the last several months have contributed to a surge of interest in racial justice and anti-racism, exemplified by nationwide protests, random acts of reparations, book buying, and innumerable social media posts. That Angela Davis quote—“In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist”—started popping up in my Instagram feed regularly. Besides books by Angela Davis, there have been and are still being...
The exponential failure of doing nothing
For the past few weeks, the COVID Tracking Project’s graphs have haunted my Twitter feed with growing regularity. If you, too, are online, then you’ve probably seen them. The data collected from across the U.S. has shown a disturbing uptick of covid-19 cases in spring, a bigger hump in summer, and an uninterrupted sheer mountain of cases still on the rise as we enter winter. Hospitalizations have followed a similar trajectory and now, deaths are set to do the same. We’ve reached the...
'Deeply disturbing' surge in layoffs spotlights cruelty of Trump-GOP refusal to boost unemployment benefits
Hours after the U.S. reported a staggering 3,000 coronavirus deaths in just 24 hours, the Department of Labor announced Thursday that an additional 1.3 million Americans filed jobless claims last week, further bolstering the case for a bold relief package and spotlighting the cruelty of the Republican leadership's continued opposition to boosting unemployment benefits. According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 20 million Americans are currently receiving...
What it would really take to save the economy
The clock is ticking on much-needed stimulus for the economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only is it too late to stop some of the damage, but chances are, any stimulus that does come is going to be much, much too little to be effective. The latest bipartisan offer on the table in Congress is a $908 billion stimulus bill. It’s a substantial number that’s about $500 billion more than Republicans recently proposed. But according to a new paper from economists Adam Hersh and Mark...
Perspective | I’m joining Biden’s economics team. Here’s some of what I’ll be thinking about.
I’m going into the Biden administration as a member of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, so this is my sign-off column. I’ve greatly appreciated the chance to scribble out my thoughts on the economy and economic policy here. By way of saying adieu, I thought it might be fun to look back on a few of the pieces whose ideas and points seem most germane to the nation’s economic challenges, particularly in some of the areas I’ve emphasized over the years, such...
The government’s failure to provide economic relief is killing people
When Covid-19 began spreading across the United States this spring, the federal government put in place a series of protections to help workers and families weather the economic impact. Then, one by one, the government took them all away. Expanded unemployment insurance, which helped keep millions of laid-off workers out of poverty, expired at the end of July. Federal stimulus checks were issued to millions of taxpayers once, beginning in April, but never again. The Paycheck Protection...
It’s not just Trump: COVID-19 Is the test that conservatism was built to fail
Nearly nine months into this COVID crisis, the virus appears to be raging completely out of control in the United States. Last week, we set new, dismal records for both hospitalizations and new cases, and daily deaths from COVID have now reached levels we haven’t suffered since the spring. Worse, there does not appear to be any plan in place to arrest the spread and bend the curve back downward, at least not from this outgoing administration. At the same time, the economic recovery from the...
Are Black women being “centered” in this economy yet?
In her victory speech on Nov. 7, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris referred to Black women as the “backbone of democracy,” but could they be the backbone of the economy too? Janelle Jones, managing director of policy and research at the Groundwork Collaborative, spoke with “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal earlier this year about why focusing on helping workers who are typically left behind — specifically, Black women — could benefit everyone. With the presidential election...
Donald Trump lied about passing pro-worker industrial policy
One of the most striking features of the 2016 presidential race was Trump’s ability to outflank Hillary Clinton on economics. Say what you will about him, but Trump made the return of manufacturing jobs a central component of his political identity. His rallies were filled with lines like this: “If I’m elected, you won’t lose one plant, you’ll have plants coming into this country. You’re gonna have jobs again. You won’t lose one plant again, I promise you.”Like so much of...
Fed's focus on racial inequalities could sharpen under Dem sweep
The Federal Reserve is grappling with how it could play a larger role in tackling longstanding racial disparities in the U.S. economy, even as the COVID-19 pandemic reverses recent progress. The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on people of color, who have lost their jobs and are dying from the virus at a faster rate. It has also underscored existing wealth gaps in the U.S. economy that put them on shakier financial footing heading into the severe downturn brought on by the...
“Where did all these jobs go?"
At a rally in Dimondale, Michigan, in August 2016, candidate Donald Trump promised a shining future in which “millions of workers on the sidelines will return to the workforce.” He went through a list of accurate statistics showing how Michigan and the auto industry had been hurt by trade policy – pointing out, for example, that one in four Michigan manufacturing jobs has been lost since passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trump claimed that he would bring “a...
The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated existing weaknesses in telemental health
Rates of emotional distress are surging amid a deepening economic recession, a reckoning with state violence against the Black community, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The closures and restrictions necessary to mitigate the coronavirus’ spread have also massively disrupted in-person, outpatient mental health care at a time when an unprecedented number of people need support. To preserve people’s access to care during the public health emergency, telehealth availability has been rapidly...
The failed economics of care work
What is something “worth” in the marketplace? Who gets to decide that? If you ask someone steeped in classical economic theory, they will tell you that something is worth exactly what someone else is willing to pay for it. They will say that the “market” decides, through the laws of supply and demand. And they will say that all of these individual market transactions come together to make up “the economy.” It should be clear to most of us by now, but classical economic theory...
The Black woman's guide to the COVID-19 Economy
I wish I had paid more attention in my economics classes in college. But at 20 I didn’t understand how markets, pricing strategy, and monetary policy had anything to do with me. Then, in my 30s, my marriage came grinding to a halt, and I found myself confronted by the prospect of losing my home. I still remember my hand shaking as I called Countrywide to see if I could qualify for my mortgage on my own. I didn’t make enough money to stay in the house. I was surprised when the bank...
U.S. budget deficit breached $3.1 trillion in 2020 as pandemic slammed economy
The U.S. budget deficit eclipsed $3.1 trillion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to government data released Friday, by far the biggest one-year gap in U.S. history. The data are a stark reflection of the staggering blow that the coronavirus pandemic has dealt to the U.S. economy. The deficit — the gap between government spending and tax revenue — shows the dramatic surge in spending the U.S. government approved to contain the pandemic’s...
Majority of Americans believe economy is rigged
As a Black woman and the child of immigrants, Zainab Giwa has felt for a long time like the economic system in the U.S. is rigged. “It’s not built for people like me,” said Giwa, 29, who lives in Providence, Rhode Island. “I think my name is a barrier. I think the fact that I don’t have generational wealth to rely on so that I can take some lower paying jobs with some level of cushion… knowing that I can fall back on something is a reason why I say that.” More than 80% of...
NEW MEMO: Path to repealing Trump’s tax cuts for the rich
Memo lays out how worst of Trump tax cuts can be dismantled quickly while laying foundation for progressive tax reform New memo is a step-by-step guide to quickly repealing the Trump tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations Washington, DC – Today, Groundwork Collaborative released a new memo laying out a roadmap for how President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) could be dismantled quickly and in a way that ends the massive tax breaks for the...
'Maybe we should be': Rebuke and ridicule after Mike Lee says 'we are not a democracy'
Covid-19 infected Sen. Mike Lee has received sharp pushback this week following tweets saying the U.S. is "not a democracy." "Maybe we should be," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quipped in response to the Utah Republican. The latest controversial remarks from Lee, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, came in a series of tweets Wednesday into Thursday during and after the first vice presidential debate. "Democracy isn't the objective; liberty, peace, and...
America needs a stimulus package now. Here are 3 things it should include
With negotiations toward a new economic aid package seemingly at an impasse and President Donald Trump earlier this week threatening to pull the plug on talks until after the election, the already fragile and uneven recovery is being dealt a devastating blow. The president has argued that the economy is "doing very well" and leading the world in recovery. But huge swaths of America are still gripped by a deep recession, and there are some troubling signs that things are going to get...
GUEST VIEW | GM clawbacks make sense, but why the new tax credits?
The union jobs at General Motors Corp.’s massive Lordstown assembly plant provided a good life to thousands of hardworking Ohioans. The plant anchored the Mahoning Valley. Ranked as the top GM North American plant for quality in 2018, it supported jobs at suppliers scattered across the area. The revenue it generated funded public schools, health care and emergency services. When GM shuttered the plant last year, it opened a gaping wound in the northeast Ohio economy, hurting thousands of...
Commentary: America needs jobs, not campaign rhetoric
At a January rally in Toledo, Ohio, Donald Trump bragged that he had “100% fixed our disastrous trade deals and brought jobs and factories back to the great state of Ohio.” Next door in Michigan, the president claimed he’s “brought back our manufacturing jobs.” But in the first presidential debate, Trump was so busy bulldozing his opponent and moderator he didn’t even raise the issue until Joe Biden provoked him. “Ohio had the best year it’s ever had...
Column: Despite what he says, Trump has been a job killer
At a January rally in Toledo, Donald Trump bragged that he had "100% fixed our disastrous trade deals and brought jobs and factories back to the great state of Ohio." Next door in Michigan, the president claimed he's "brought back our manufacturing jobs." But in the first presidential debate, Trump was so busy bulldozing his opponent and moderator he didn't even raise the issue until Joe Biden provoked him. "Ohio had the best year it's ever had last year," the president declared. "Michigan...
Why Biden would start tax increases at $400,000 a year
Joe Biden’s magic number for tax policy is $400,000. Households earning less than that in adjusted gross income won’t pay a nickel more in direct taxes, the Democratic presidential nominee promises. Higher-earning households will pay more—in some cases, much more. The dividing line is no accident: It was intentionally set to far exceed any definition of the middle class. And it spares much of the coastal professional class that is an important part of the Democratic...
Why Trump will lose Ohio
It is always dangerous to publicly predict the outcome of a presidential election, especially in a purple state like Ohio. But I’ve done it twice, in 2011 and 2016, months in advance, when both of my predicted winners, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, respectively, were behind. This year, I am predicting that Trump will lose in Ohio. That might seem like a somewhat safe bet, since the most recent Real Clear Politics polls for Ohio show Democratic nominee Joe Biden with a very slight lead...
The U.S. trade policy and Ohio
U.S. trade policy. How’s it been working for Ohio? Alan Guebert, who writes for the weekly Ohio-based rural newspaper Farm and Dairy, wrote the following in his most recent column: “Farmers and ranchers are learning another costly lesson that most already knew — trade wars aren’t just unwinnable, they’re damnable. The proof is any time any one of them looks at any current futures market chart or any monthly bank statement.” Guebert went on to take note of the USDA’s 202...
President is a 'walking scam,' says AOC as records show Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017
Financial records that President Donald Trump has persistently fought to keep hidden from the American public show that the billionaire real estate mogul didn't pay a dollar in federal income taxes in 10 of the 15 years prior to his White House victory and paid just $750 in both 2016 and 2017, revelations that further expose the extent to which the U.S. tax code imposes greater burdens on the working class than the ultra-wealthy. "There's so much in these tax returns that are not just...
Trump's corporate-friendly trade, tax, and labor policies betrayed manufacturing workers in Midwest: Study
Manufacturing workers in four crucial Midwest states that President Donald Trump won in the 2016 presidential election have been hurt the most by the Trump administration's trade and industrial policies. That's according to a new analysis—titled "Promises Unfulfilled: Manufacturing in the Midwest," released Monday by The Century Foundation (TCF) and Policy Matters Ohio, with support from The Groundwork Collaborative—which adds more evidence that, contrary to the White House's...
STUDY: Trump’s trade, tax, industrial policies have let down midwest manufacturing workers, communities
New analysis finds that manufacturing workers in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin fared the worst under Trump’s policies Cleveland, OH — Manufacturing workers in four key Midwest states that voted for President Trump have been the most hurt by Trump’s trade and industrial policies, according to a new analysis released today by experts Andrew Stettner at The Century Foundation (TCF) and Mike Shields at Policy Matters Ohio, with support from The Groundwork...
Opinion: Trump’s trade policy failed the workers he promised to help
Donald Trump came to power promising to fix a trade system that has hurt U.S. workers and businesses for generations. He railed against trade deals, raised alarm about the trade deficit, and promised to bring back jobs. “You won’t lose one plant, I promise you that,” he told Michigan voters in 2016. Four years later, Michigan has actually lost three major auto plants. Even before the pandemic, the state’s job growth had plunged to its lowest level in a decade, my co-authors...
How to save the economy for everyone
The United States is in the midst of its second major economic decline in the span of just over a decade, and this one is, in many ways, bigger and scarier. “This crisis is far worse than the one that we faced in 2008,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who was in the trenches of the last downturn, told me. “It started with a pandemic, and the economic fallout can’t be arrested until the pandemic is under control.” Millions of people are currently unemployed, with hundreds of thousands of...
US workers need a new trade policy, not a Trump trade tirade
Back in 2016, presidential candidate Donald Trump was right to rail that the trade policies of his predecessors were in part responsible for the ills of workers and the environment in America’s industrial heartland. After winning the election, President Trump embarked on a trade tirade, shredding and replacing past trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), while mounting trade wars across the globe. However, contrary to...
Unpacking inequities in unemployment insurance
Abstract Over the course of eight weeks, the New Practice Lab interviewed Black and Latinx workers that lost their job or income due to COVID-19 about their experiences navigating unemployment insurance (UI). We also spoke with experts to better understand the policies and political landscape that have shaped the UI system. This report unpacks the compounding inequities that exist in the unemployment insurance system, making it less accessible for workers of color. Our hope for this...
Trump trade wars have led to lost US jobs and factories. We need a worker-centered recovery.
As he courts Midwestern voters, President Donald Trump is returning to hard-hit manufacturing regions where he made big, bold promises in his last campaign. “If I’m elected.... you won’t lose one plant, I promise you that,” he told Michigan voters at a rally in October 2016. In fact, his big stick approach to global trade negotiations would bring jobs back home. Or so he claimed. Four years later, it’s clear that Trump’s trade policies have failed U.S. workers. Instead of more...
U.S. budget deficit to hit record $3.3 trillion this year, CBO says
The U.S. government will run its biggest budget shortfall ever this year, at $3.311 trillion, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday. The government’s fiscal year ends Sept. 30 and the record fiscal deficit had long been seen as a fait accompli in light of the massive levels of government support for the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “This pandemic is tragic on so many fronts and today’s massive borrowing is a cost of mitigating this pain. The...
Poll shows number of unemployed people struggling to cover basic needs has nearly doubled since GOP killed $600 federal boost
After Senate Republicans allowed a $600-per-week boost to federal unemployment benefits to expire at the end of July, the share of jobless Americans struggling to afford basic necessities in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic crisis nearly doubled, according to polling released Tuesday by Morning Consult. The survey found that "the share of unemployed workers unable to cover their basic expenses with their unemployment benefits rose to 50% in August, or an...
One Month Into Emergency Unemployment Cutoff: Economic pain builds for workers and families, economy teetering on brink
Economists call impact of government support cutoff “devastating,” and Trump’s weak executive orders “too little, too late” Washington, DC – Today, Groundwork Collaborative released the following statement and background calling on Congress to move quickly to reinstate emergency unemployment benefits following a full month of gridlock and delay that has hurt workers, families, and the overall economy. “Not only is it unconscionable that the Trump administration cut the...
To narrow racial and economic disparities, Atlanta Fed chief Raphael Bostic is rethinking what the Fed’s mandate means
When Raphael W. Bostic, the first Black president to lead one of the Federal Reserve’s regional banks, published a searing essay during this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests calling for an end to systemic racism, he spurred an urgent discussion around the century-old institution about how to build an economy that includes all Americans. For Bostic — widely seen as one of the most distinguished leaders in economics, and who has also been subjected to indignities...
Ivanka Trump's new program wants to fight unemployment by closing the 'skills gap.' But that's a fundamental misunderstanding of how the economy works.
White House advisor Ivanka Trump recently unveiled a new job training initiative that encouraged struggling out-of-work Americans to simply "Find Something New" — that is, train for a new career if they find themselves out of work. The website for the initiative states that "jobs are changing — and the pandemic has accelerated the pace." While it is true that the pandemic and the subsequent policy response have forced millions out of the labor force, Trump's diagnosis of the problem...
The economy, reset
The following is an edited transcript of “The Economy, Reset”, a Marketplace special series. Kai Ryssdal: There’s a part of an interview I did a couple of months ago with Raphael Bostic, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, that I keep thinking about: Raphael Bostic: For many people, the systemic racism is so ingrained in everything that we do on a basic level that they don’t even see it. They don’t think about it as a structured inhibitor of African...
A new study undercuts a core GOP argument in the stimulus negotiations
Congressional Republicans and White House officials have argued against extending the weekly $600 unemployment boost, which expired at the end of last month, by claiming that it paid people more than they were making at their jobs. A study released Wednesday suggests that for most Americans, that isn’t true. In June, Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, called the $600 checks a “disincentive” to work—a word later repeated by several GOP senators and by the...
NEW PAPER: Underemployment far more prevalent in U.S. than official count; Findings have major implications for unemployment benefits, economic policymaking
Washington, DC – Today, the Center for Law and Social Policy(CLASP) and Groundwork Collaborative released a paper that shows there are more underemployed part-time workers than we realize and underemployment is higher among certain workers and jobs, which has several harmful effects that policymakers should understand—now more than ever. Written by Dr. Lonnie Golden, Professor of Economics and Labor-Employment Relations at Penn State University and Jaeseung Kim, Assistant Professor of...
Fed should address racial gaps in jobs, income, Dems propose
A group of congressional Democrats introduced legislation Wednesday that would require the Federal Reserve to pursue the elimination of racial disparities in jobs, wealth and income as one of its policy goals. The legislation would also require the Fed’s chair, currently Jerome Powell, to report every six months on the status of wealth and income gaps and the Fed’s efforts to counter them as part of its regular reports to Congress. The Fed now has a dual mandate that...
Democrats introduce bill to give the Federal Reserve a new mission: Ending racial inequality
Congressional Democrats introduced new legislation on Wednesday that would make reducing racial inequality in the U.S. economy an official part of the Federal Reserve’s mission. The Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act requires the central bank to take action “to minimize and eliminate racial disparities in employment, wages, wealth, and access to affordable credit.” It would be the first major change to the Fed’s mandate since 1977 and would...
Unemployment recipients might not be ‘overpaid’ after all
One of the top talking points in the Capitol Hill debate over unemployment benefits might be wrong. Most unemployment claimants are probably earning less on unemployment than they did at their previous jobs, according to a new data analysis by the liberal advocacy group Groundwork Collaborative and the National Employment Law Project. A previous study by University of Chicago economists found that more than two-thirds of unemployment claimants received more in benefits...
5 ways unions help people during mass unemployment
The COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst for record-breaking mass unemployment in the U.S. in the post-World War II era. According to data from the Pew Research Center, April 2020’s unemployment rate was above 14 percent — a sharp rise from 3.8 percent in February 2020. Pew senior researcher Rakesh Kochhar notes that, when accounting for a decline in labor force participation, it is possible that the unemployment rate was as high as 25 percent in May 2020. For many of those...
Dr. Sandy Darity says conventional policy won’t help Black unemployment, Fed needs to finance reparations
The Black community has suffered from economic inequality for centuries and has yet to come up with a solution. The Federal Reserve, the central banking system of the U.S., has all the tools necessary to close the racial wealth gap and should finance reparations, according to Dr. William A. “Sandy” Darity Jr., a Duke University economist and reparations activist. Those economic disparities are “a constant and Blacks are not perpetually in protest over those conditions. But violent...
The argument for cutting the $600 unemployment benefits doesn't add up
Earlier this week, Senate Republicans unveiled their stimulus proposal to help Americans who continue to suffer from the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Included in the $1 trillion package is a proposal to cut the $600 weekly boost to unemployment insurance benefits, which is about to expire, to $200 per week for the next two months. Then, beginning in October, the unemployed would receive a payment that would replace 70% of their lost wages when combined with their state...
Some 2.3 million more seek jobless benefits; 52 million since March
WASHINGTON—A combined 2,345,946 people filed for state or federal jobless benefits in the week ending July 18, the Labor Department reported on July 23. That pushes the total official number of jobless, due to closures forced by the coronavirus pandemic, to 31,802,715 with 52 million having applied for benefits since mid-March. MSNBC reported the 52 million figure this morning as the real total number of people who have sought jobless benefits since the pandemic was officially declared on...
'Unconscionable': As unemployment claims tick upward, GOP seeks to gut $600 weekly benefit
As U.S. lawmakers debate the details of extending or cutting federal unemployment benefits that have helped Americans weather the Covid-19 pandemic, jobless numbers rose for the first time in three months last week as millions remain out of work. "Congress needs to act immediately," Economic Policy Institute (EPI) director of policy Heidi Shierholz wrote Thursday of the need for an extension of the $600 unemployment benefit. "If they let the extra payments expire and then reinstate them...
BREAKING: 2.3 million workers file for unemployment as COVID-19 surges; Trump and Congress must extend emergency unemployment benefits
Cutting emergency benefits to $100 per week, as some Republicans are proposing, would cause massive economic disruption and cost 4.25 million jobs Democrats and progressives are united: Extend expanded unemployment or risk “economic calamity” Washington, DC – Today, following the release by the U.S Department of Labor of weekly unemployment claims showing that another 2.3 million workers have filed for unemployment benefits last week, with a total of 34 million workers currently...
NEW REPORT: U.S trade policies led to COVID-19 mask and ventilator shortages; Fixing policies will help workers and economy, prevent future shortages
Washington, DC – Today, Groundwork Collaborative released a new paper authored by Beth Baltzan, a fellow at Open Markets Institute, entitled “COVID-19 and The End of Laissez-Faire Globalization.” The new paper highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis has exposed and exacerbated the flaws in the current global trading system, specifically as shortages of live-saving supplies like masks and ventilators have emerged across the world and countries have resorted to export bans...
Progressives ramp up pressure on $600 unemployment benefits
Leaders from a slew of progressive organizations are pushing Congress to extend the additional $600 in unemployment benefits set to expire this week. In a letter to be sent Wednesday afternoon, the leaders of progressive advocacy groups such as the Center for American Progress, MoveOn, the Economic Policy Institute and the Roosevelt Institute, as well as the Service Employees International Union, said cutting the benefits would lead to "economic calamity." “Unemployment Insurance is...
Progressives to Congress: Cutting incomes of 30 million Americans during pandemic risks “economic calamity”
Emergency benefits are critical lifeline for families and are keeping economy afloat; Cutting benefits would be “attack on black and brown workers” Progressives: Extend the full $600 with no cuts, tie to unemployment rate so support continues until crisis ends “Cutting unemployment will cause irreparable harm, shrink the economy, and cost us millions more jobs over the next year” Washington, DC – Today, leaders of progressive research, policy, grassroots, and advocacy...
America is sleepwalking toward economic catastrophe
The country is ambling toward a cliff, putting millions of Americans’ lives and livelihoods in danger and all but ensuring prolonged economic distress nationwide. It didn’t have to be this way. Yet here we are, unable to shake out of it. The Covid-19 pandemic tossed much of the US economy into disarray earlier this year. Millions of Americans lost their jobs, and businesses across the country closed their doors as part of a planned shutdown. In March, Congress passed the CARES Act...
Unemployment compensation runs out this month. Will Congress #SaveThe600?
Although the economic fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen, the $600 weekly federal unemployment insurance payout to impacted workers is set to end on July 25 in most states. In order to save this funding program, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) is organizing a campaign to #SaveThe600. In late March, the U.S. Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This $2.2 trillion stimulus package supplements states’...
White House pushes 'pure giveaway' to rich investors while urging cut to pandemic unemployment aid
The Trump White House is publicly advocating a massive tax cut for wealthy U.S. investors while simultaneously urging Congress to pare back the expanded unemployment benefits currently serving as a financial lifeline for more than 30 million—and counting—jobless Americans. "Regarding the 'capital gains holiday,' remember this key stat: 82% of all capital gains tax is paid by the richest 1%. A capital gains tax holiday is a pure giveaway to the rich." —Michael Linden, Groundwork...
America needs some repairs. Here's where to start.
This weekend we celebrate the creation of the United States, though that project remains substantially incomplete. This year of crises has underscored the distance between the lofty rhetoric of our founding documents and the persistent inequalities of American life. This nation began as a set of promises that it has yet to keep. Millions of Americans, especially Black and Hispanic Americans, lack the economic security that makes other freedoms meaningful — and they are denied the...
The pipeline problem for Black women in economics
Fewer than .5% of Ph.D.s in economics were awarded to Black women in 2018. The Sadie Collective is trying to improve the situation by addressing the pipeline problems for Black women in economics and related fields. Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal spoke with the CEO and co-founder of the Sadie Collective, Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation. Kai Ryssdal: Tell me first of all, would you, a little bit about Dr. Sadie Alexander. Anna Gifty...
Forget the stock market. In the real economy, there's coronavirus and mass unemployment
April and May were incredible months for the stock market, which has increased 30% since its March lows. April and May were also horrific months for workers, with 37.2 million filing for unemployment, the most on record for a two month period. That both of these statements are true offers real insight into what our economy is, who it works for, and what policies should be adopted to help it thrive. If you ask President Donald Trump about this, he’ll give you a pretty clear answer. In...
Calls grow for the Federal Reserve to target lowering the Black unemployment rate
As the United States faces a deep recession and protests over systemic injustices toward African Americans, calls are growing for the Federal Reserve to pay closer attention to the black unemployment rate when it makes its policy decisions. Jared Bernstein, an economic adviser to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, says the Fed should make it a goal to get the black unemployment rate down. The national rate has rarely dipped below 10 percent since the...
Black Women Best: Economics has a diversity problem, and here's how it affects everyone
A couple of years ago, I attended a luncheon at a large economics conference hosted by the American Economic Association. After taking my seat, they announced that the program would begin soon, and the high table filed in. As they walked in, one after the other, something seemed off, and then it hit me — not a single one of the panelists was Black. Naturally, I scanned the room to see if I could find any Black people at all. There were maybe three. Imagine sitting in a room with hundreds...
As Trump pushes tax cuts for coronavirus stimulus, lawmakers push back
resident Trump’s renewed push for a payroll tax cut as part of the next round of coronavirus stimulus is being met with bipartisan resistance on Capitol Hill, with even some Republican leaders questioning how effective the policy would be. As lawmakers debate the shape of the legislation, Trump’s push for a payroll tax cut likely presages a broader fight over the most appropriate next steps to mitigate the damage from the coronavirus recession and encourage a speedier recovery. Setting...
Normal is what got us here
The COVID-19 crisis has exposed how racial inequities are baked into our economic and health systems, in large part due to anti-blackness. One thing is for sure, we didn’t end up here by accident. Nationwide, as a result of the rules we’ve created and the narratives we hold dear, Black and Latinx Americans are testing positive and dying of coronavirus at disproportionately higher rates. These communities are overrepresented in jobs that put them at risk of both becoming...
For Black people, the country returning 'back to normal' is not good enough
Over the past couple of months, we’ve watched as a pandemic has taken over the country while the Trump administration continues to ignore the advice of public health experts. Every day we learn more about the virus, the toll it’s taking on communities and the associated economic fallout. While all people are at risk, we now know that people of color, particularly Black people, are bearing the brunt of the effects of COVID-19. Black workers are overrepresented as essential workers, have a...
NEW COVID-19 POLICY POLLING: Voters demand further government action; Overwhelming support for immediate aid to families, frontline workers
70 percent want Congress to “do whatever it takes to provide Americans the economic support they need during this very difficult time”; 71 percent want “major, sweeping action to address the economic impact of the pandemic.” Poll finds Democrats credited with proposals that help workers, families; Republicans seen prioritizing corporate bailouts, business support. Washington, DC – Today, the Groundwork Collaborative and the Roosevelt Institute released new polling of registered...
Progressive Group Leaders to Congress: Major federal intervention needed to meet scale of crisis; Congress must put people ahead of corporations to save economy
Washington, DC – Today, leaders of progressive research, policy, and advocacy groups released the following statement calling on Congress to move quickly to pass a robust legislative package that meets the scale of this crisis. The leaders laid out four specific principles that must guide congressional action to ensure that upcoming legislation puts workers, Black and brown communities, and the most vulnerable families ahead of Wall Street and massive corporations. A full list of signers is...
INEQUALITY/ECONOMY: New report reveals 3 million more in poverty, higher price increases for low income families
Report underscores ‘inflation inequality’: how low income families have been facing significantly higher cost of living increases than the wealthiest Americans ***READ THE REPORT HERE*** ***Press conference call to discuss report today at 10:30am ET – RSVP here*** Washington, DC – Today, Christopher Wimer and Sophie Collyer from the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University along with Xavier Jaravel of the London School of Economics, in partnership with the...
New IRS inflation adjustments unfair for low income Americans, should be recalculated
Adjustments released today fail to account for higher inflation rates faced by low income families Washington, DC – Today, Groundwork Collaborative Executive Director Michael Linden released the following statement on the new IRS tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2020. "Rising inequality has caused inflation to increase more for low income families than for the rich, but because of the recently enacted tax law, the IRS has to use inflation adjustments that understate price...
'Black women best': Why putting Black women first may save us from economic disaster
In 2008, our economy experienced an economic crisis in which Black women lost 258,000 jobs—more than twice as many as the jobs gained by Black men. Our current economic crisis is unfortunately offering up disparity déjà vu. The ravages of the coronavirus have resulted in employment among Black women dropping 11 percentage points—more than any other group. Despite historically low unemployment rates in March, within a month of the pandemic, Black women’s unemployment rate has...
Rocky recovery to keep U.S. unemployment high, Fed’s Bostic says
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said he expects U.S. unemployment will be around 10% in the fourth quarter, with an uneven recovery from the Covid-19-induced recession. “We are going to see sort of some bumps on our journey through recovery,” Bostic said in a telephone interview, noting that the downturn especially is hurting minorities and low-income workers. “I think the second half of the year is going to be pretty strong, certainly much stronger than the...
Mounting unemployment crisis fuels racial wealth gap
The economic meltdown that has devastated the country amid the coronavirus pandemic has proven uniquely damaging for black Americans, threatening to exacerbate an already staggering racial wealth gap and fueling nationwide protests focused on racial justice. Black workers are more likely to be out of a job, to have lost income or to have left the labor market altogether, economic data and surveys show — and less than half of black adults are now employed. More than 1 in 6 black...
Maybe... pay people more,' Says AOC as data shows half of U.S. workers could make more from unemployment than low-wage jobs
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Tuesday that data showing around half of all U.S. workers stand to bring home more money per week from beefed up unemployment insurance than they would from their regular full-time jobs is an argument in favor of raising wages, not the right-wing solution of rolling back benefits. "We should be asking ourselves why underpaid workers are being expected to labor for too little money in the first place." —Michele Evermore, National Employment Law...
Four keys to a successful coronavirus rescue
Crises like pandemics, economic collapses and world wars have, at times throughout history, ended up reordering societies — shrinking the gap between the rich and the poor, or empowering the working class. The Black Death helped end feudalism. The Great Depression helped lead to the New Deal. Never has extreme economic inequality shrunk in a meaningful way, says the Stanford historian Walter Scheidel, without a major crisis. The coronavirus pandemic, as of now, is not on the order of the...