James Galbraith On Economic Rescue

[Omaha Steve]

Run time: 03:54 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x-HJSOZbUs   Posted on YouTube: November 19, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: November 21, 2008 By DU Member: Omaha Steve Views on DU: 589

 

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/11/20/the-case-for-spending-to-save-our-economy/

by James Parks, Nov 20, 2008

At a conference earlier this week on “Real Investment in America” sponsored by the Campaign for America’s Future (CAF), some 100 members of Congress, congressional staff, union leaders, academics and other experts urged the incoming Obama administration to act boldly to create fundamental changes in the economy that provide for long-term growth. The cornerstone of the economic package should be a massive investment in rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure, they said.

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker opened the conference by laying out the case that the best way to revive the economy for America’s workers is by investing in the nation’s infrastructure and its people. Holt Baker said:

America needs a job. We can create millions of good jobs and good “green” jobs by investing in developing new sources of energy, and by investing in rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure.

But we also know that regardless of what else we do, workers will never share in economic growth unless they regain the power to bargain with their employers for better wages and benefits. This is a key to rebuilding the middle class. Workers with a union make 30 percent more than those without a union and are much more likely to have benefits. We will work with the Obama administration to ensure that his economic recovery program includes the Employee Free Choice Act.

In conjunction with the conference, the CAF released a new report, The Investment Deficit in America, which details a plan for a major recovery program to lift the economy. In the introduction to the report, CAF research director Eric Lotke, who authored the report, says:

Our post-World War II infrastructure is starting to decay, and we aren’t replacing it. We are lamenting the loss of jobs rather than hiring people to renew and build. Direct public investment—in new energy and conservation, in modernizingour infrastructure, in education and training, and research and development—should be the centerpiece of any recovery plan. That is not only necessary to lift the economy in the short run; it is a vital down payment on the sustained public investment that we need to sustain a competitive and decent society in a global economy.

Lotke and Economic Policy Institute economist John Irons said that to ensure a real recovery, lawmakers must not be concerned with budget deficits. In fact, Irons says, budget deficits are necessary to stimulate the economy. Irons pointed out that infrastructure investments are five times as effective as tax cuts in stimulating the economy.

In his keynote address at the CAF conference, University of Texas economist James Galbraith laid out his program for addressing the current economic crisis, including a moratorium on mortgage forecloures, revenue sharing for state and local governments, creation of a national infrastructure fund to finance investments in critical projects and an across-the-board increase in Social Security benefits to protect seniors who lost billions in purchasing power as a result of the shrunken value of their stock investments. (See video.)

At its post-election meeting last week, the AFL-CIO Excecutive Council also outlined a massive four-step program to renew both the U.S. and world economies:

* A coordinated recovery plan for the real economy and a systematic plan for sustained investment in improving the productivity of the U.S. economy over the long term;

* Reregulation of global financial markets;

* Establishment of a new structure of economic governance for the global economy; and

* Real action to address the explosion of inequality in income distribution that lies behind the crisis.

Meanwhile, another progressive group, the Center for Law and Social Policy, issued a new report, Recover, Renew, Rebuild: Workforce Policies for a Strong and Fair Economy. The report calls for helping workers and families recover from the current recession, renewing the nation’s commitment to prosperity and upward mobility for all, and rebuilding middle class jobs.

[housewolf]

1. Very interesting

Thanks for posting, he has some bold ideas.

[lumpy]

2. Excellent- Galbraith's ideas fit in well with Obama's economic

plan. James Galbraith is the son of J. Kenneth Galbraith. His ideas are reflective of those of his father. Unfortunately J. Kenneth Galbraith ideas did not command the attention of past administrations, perhaps with the exception of JFK. I hope the Obama administration will follow the practical solutions and fair Galbraith has to offer.