Report March 2002

The 1990s expansion was powered uniquely and exceptionally by a huge fall in net saving by the private sector. In a new Policy Note summarized in this issue, Distinguished Scholar Wynne Godley argues that the public sector must now step in and be the new motor that drives the economy.

Contents: Editorials: "Shouldering Governmental Responsibility" (L. Randall Wray) and "The Economy and the Need for Action" (James K. Galbraith) * New Policy Note: Kick-Start Strategy Fails to Fire Sputtering US Economic Motor * New Working Paper topics include: Inter vivos transfers, a Hicksian concept of income, and Immigrant-to-native wage ratios.