Summary Summer 2003

In a new Strategic Analysis, Distinguished Scholar Wynne Godley argues that personal debt levels in the United States cannot continue and that the country’s balance of payments deficit has largely been ignored by both the government and the public. Godley foresees an era of growth recession characterized by rising unemployment—and the risk of financial implosion.

Contents:

Information on the upcoming "International Perspectives on Household Wealth," a conference of The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College · The most recent Strategic Analysis ("The US Economy: A Changing Strategic Predicament," Wynne Godley) · Conference summary: "13th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on the State of the US and World Economies." Working paper topics include The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being; Does Trade Promote Gender Wage Equity?; USWorkers’ Investment Decisions for Participant-Directed Defined Contribution Pension Assets; Mexicans Now, Italians Then: Intermarriage Patterns; The Nature and Role of Monetary Policy When Money Is Endogenous · Policy Note topics include Caring for a Large Geriatric Generation: The Coming Crisis in USHealth Care; Reforming the Euro’s Institutional Framework.