Summary Spring 1997

At an ASSA session, “The Contributions of Hyman Minsky,” scholars from the Levy Institute and elsewhere presented seven papers on the development and lasting influence of the distinguished scholar’s work. Portions of the papers are synopsized in this issue.

Contents: Exploring the Politics of the Minimum Wage * Protracted Frictional Unemployment as a Heavy Cost of Technical Progress * The Utilization of Human Capital in the US, 1975-1992: Patterns of Work and Earnings among Working-Age Males * Which Immigrant Occupational Skills? Explanations of Jewish Economic
Mobility in the United States and New Evidence, 1910-1920 * Literacy among the Jews of Russia in 1887: A Reanalysis of Census Data * Taxes, Saving, and Macroeconomics * The New Welfare: How Can It Be Improved? * What Do Micro Data Reveal about the User Cost Elasticity? New Evidence on the Responsiveness of Business Capital Formation * Seminar: The Working Poor in the Inner City