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61 publications found, searching for 'Job Guarantee '

  • Policy Notes April 21, 2025

    Remembering Pope Francis’s Call for a Universal Basic Wage

    Pavlina R. Tcherneva
    Abstract

    On April 21, 2025, a day after Easter Sunday, the world mourned the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis. Five years earlier, on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020—amid the devastating COVID-19 pandemic—he issued a powerful plea for economic justice, urging leaders to address the deepening crisis of insecurity faced by workers. His call for a universal […]

  • Public Policy Brief No. 158 March 04, 2025

    That “Vision Thing”: Formulating a Winning Policy Agenda

    Pavlina R. Tcherneva, and L. Randall Wray
    Abstract

    For a PDF version of this Public Policy Brief, please click here. There are many ways to lose a presidential election, and pundits have come up with a long list: President Biden hung on too long; voters still weren’t ready for a female of color—too many are racist and sexist; too many leftists supported third […]

    Download Public Policy Brief No. 158 PDF (2.33 MB)
  • Working Paper No. 1066 December 06, 2024

    Job Guarantee Program and the Kaleckian Dilemma

    Caio Vilella, and Eduardo F. Bastian
    Abstract

    Originally issued as EDI Working Paper No. 10, November 2023 Minsky (1965) has presented the Job Guarantee program as a recommendation in the war against unemployment and poverty. Kalecki (1943), on the other hand, argued that the full employment situation could be technically feasible but politically hard to implement due to the class struggle, resulting […]

    Download Working Paper No. 1066 PDF (501.71 KB)
  • Working Paper No. 1060 November 26, 2024

    The Job Guarantee

    Pavlina R. Tcherneva
    Abstract

    Originally issued as EDI Working Paper No. 02, 2022 Orthodox economic theory presents the policy maker with an impossible choice: eradicate unemployment at the cost of undesirable inflation or keep prices stable by maintaining some level of involuntary unemployment. This is the canon, as embodied in the natural rate of unemployment theory and the Non-Accelerating […]

    Download Working Paper No. 1060 PDF (995.69 KB)
  • Policy Notes November 07, 2024

    Trump Wins While Americans Vote for Progressive Policies

    Pavlina R. Tcherneva
    Abstract

    On November 5, 2024, American voters sent Donald Trump back to the White House. In 2020, he lost his bid for reelection to Joe Biden, after winning in 2016 against Hillary Clinton (but only thanks to the electoral college). This time, however, Trump won the popular vote. All the new energy that surrounded the Harris-Walz campaign […]

    Download Policy Note 2024/3 PDF (182.86 KB)
  • Policy Notes March 14, 2024

    European Job Guarantee

    Rania Antonopoulos
    Abstract

    Despite the gradual economic recovery and positive policy responses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the problem of long-term unemployment continues to plague millions in Europe. To effectively address this and other overlapping crises in Europe, we need radical changes, according to Senior Scholar Rania Antonopoulos; and in this context, the job guarantee policy has been gaining […]

    Download Policy Note 2024/4 PDF (293.42 KB)
  • One-Pager No. 71 December 14, 2023

    Has the Time Arrived for a Job Guarantee in Europe?

    Rania Antonopoulos
    Abstract

    In comparison to the policy responses in the aftermath of the 2008–9 global financial crisis, the reactions of EU policymakers to the combined shocks of the COVID-19 crisis and Ukraine-Russia conflict reveal a greater willingness to deploy public finance in support of the population. Yet, while this display of renewed solidarity is commendable, policymakers have […]

    Download One-Pager No. 71 PDF (133.66 KB)
  • Policy Notes No. 4 August 23, 2023

    Effects of Forced Formalization (Demonetization) in the Indian Economy 

    Nischal Dhungel
    Abstract

    Nischal Dhungel examines the impact of India’s demonetization experiment—an effort at “forced formalization” of the economy. He urges a more organic approach to formalization, pairing efforts to bring the unbanked population into the banking system with greater funding and accessibility for India’s signature employment guarantee program.

    Download Policy Note 2023/4 PDF (388.60 KB)
  • Working Paper No. 1022 July 12, 2023

    Has the Time for a European Job Guarantee Policy Arrived?

    Rania Antonopoulos
    Abstract

    As country after country in the European Union is called to respond to the current challenge of our time—high inflation and declining real wages—governments must engage in a transformative agenda and go beyond emergency energy vouchers and income support cash-transfers. And if the goal is to lead the way to a resilient and sustainable European […]

    Download Working Paper No. 1022 PDF (413.22 KB)
  • Working Paper No. 1013 January 18, 2023

    The Economic and Environmental Effects of a Green Employer of Last Resort

    Giuliano Toshiro Yajima, Nikolaos Rodousakis, and George Soklis
    Abstract

    We assess the sectoral impact of the implementation of a “green” employer of last resort (ELR) program in the US, based on an environmental modification of an extended Kurz’s (1985) multiplier framework and data from OECD Input-Output tables. We use these multipliers to estimate the impact of an “optimal” ELR, designed to maximize the impact […]

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  • Working Paper No. 995 November 03, 2021

    The Employer of Last Resort Scheme and the Energy Transition

    Giuliano Toshiro Yajima
    Abstract

    The health and economic crises of 2020–21 have revived the debate on fiscal policy as a major tool for stabilization and meeting long-term goals. The massive surge in unemployment, due to the economic disruption of the lockdown measures, has increased the interest in policies that target employment directly instead of trying to achieve it via […]

    Download Working Paper No. 995 PDF (1.12 MB)
  • Working Paper No. 981 January 19, 2021

    What Jobs Should a Public Job Guarantee Provide?

    Daniel Haim
    Abstract

    The job guarantee is a viable policy option for tackling both unemployment and underemployment. Hyman P. Minsky was one of the seminal writers on this subject. The first part of this working paper provides a survey of Minsky’s writings to identify what kind of jobs he had in mind when recommending employer-of-last-resort policies. Minsky favored: […]

    Download Working Paper No. 981 PDF (261.47 KB)
  • Working Paper No. 961 July 13, 2020

    The "Kansas City" Approach to Modern Money Theory

    L. Randall Wray
    Abstract

    Modern money theory (MMT) synthesizes several traditions from heterodox economics. Its focus is on describing monetary and fiscal operations in nations that issue a sovereign currency. As such, it applies Georg Friedrich Knapp’s state money approach (chartalism), also adopted by John Maynard Keynes in his Treatise on Money. MMT emphasizes the difference between a sovereign […]

    Download Working Paper No. 961 PDF (351.33 KB)
  • Book Series July 07, 2020

    The Case for a Job Guarantee

    Pavlina R. Tcherneva
    Abstract

    One of the most enduring ideas in economics is that unemployment is both unavoidable and necessary for the smooth functioning of the economy. This assumption has provided cover for the devastating social and economic costs of job insecurity. It is also false. In this book, leading expert Pavlina R. Tcherneva challenges us to imagine a world where the phantom of […]

  • Policy Notes No. 4 May 05, 2020

    Guaranteeing Employment during the Pandemic and Beyond

    Pavlina R. Tcherneva
    Abstract

    The ongoing job losses, already numbering in the tens of millions, and the mass unemployment that will remain once the COVID-19 crisis has passed are of our own making, argues Pavlina R. Tcherneva, created by our inability to conceive of policies that protect and create jobs on demand. There is another option: instead of capitulating […]

    Download Policy Note 2020/4 PDF (108.51 KB)
  • One-Pager No. 55 May 29, 2018

    The Job Guarantee and the Economics of Fear

    Pavlina R. Tcherneva
    Abstract

    The job guarantee (JG) is finally getting the public debate it deserves, according to Pavlina R. Tcherneva, and criticism is expected. Following the Levy Institute’s latest report analyzing the economic impact of a JG proposal and providing a blueprint for its implementation, Tcherneva responds to alarmist claims that the JG is (1) an expensive big-government […]

    Download One-Pager No. 55 PDF (102.53 KB)
  • Policy Notes No. 3 May 01, 2018

    A Consensus Strategy for a Universal Job Guarantee Program

    L. Randall Wray
    Abstract

    The idea of a universal job guarantee (JG) policy for the United States has become the subject of renewed public debate due to a number of high-profile political endorsements. L. Randall Wray recently coauthored a report that presented a JG proposal—the Public Service Employment program—along with estimates of the economic impact of the plan. However, […]

    Download Policy Note 2018/3 PDF (165.79 KB)
  • Research Project Report April 17, 2018

    Public Service Employment

    L. Randall Wray, Flavia Dantas, Scott Fullwiler, Pavlina R. Tcherneva, and Stephanie A. Kelton
    Abstract

    Despite reports of a healthy US labor market, millions of Americans remain unemployed and underemployed, or have simply given up looking for work. It is a problem that plagues our economy in good times and in bad—there are never enough jobs available for all who want to work. L. Randall Wray, Flavia Dantas, Scott Fullwiler, […]

    Download Research Project Report, April 2018 PDF (2.04 MB)
  • Working Paper No. 902 April 02, 2018

    The Job Guarantee

    Pavlina R. Tcherneva
    Abstract

    The job guarantee (JG) is a public option for jobs. It is a permanent, federally funded, and locally administered program that supplies voluntary employment opportunities on demand for all who are ready and willing to work at a living wage. While it is first and foremost a jobs program, it has the potential to be […]

    Download Working Paper No. 902 PDF (716.25 KB)
  • Policy Notes No. 2 March 19, 2018

    Guaranteed Jobs through a Public Service Employment Program

    Stephanie A. Kelton, L. Randall Wray, Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Scott Fullwiler, and Flavia Dantas
    Abstract

    Amid a recent upsurge in support for a national job guarantee program, L. Randall Wray, Stephanie A. Kelton, Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Scott Fullwiler, and Flavia Dantas outline a new proposal for a federally funded program with decentralized administration. Their Public Service Employment (PSE) program would offer a job—paying a uniform living wage with a basic […]

    Download Policy Note 2018/2 PDF (248.94 KB)
  • Working Paper No. 895 August 23, 2017

    Unemployment: The Silent Epidemic

    Pavlina R. Tcherneva
    Abstract

    This paper examines two key aspects of unemployment—its propagation mechanism and socioeconomic costs. It identifies a key feature of this macroeconomic phenomenon: it behaves like a disease. A detailed assessment of the transmission mechanism and the existing pecuniary and nonpecuniary costs of unemployment suggests a fundamental shift in the policy responses to tackling joblessness. To […]

    Download Working Paper No. 895 PDF (397.21 KB)
  • One-Pager No. 53 February 06, 2017

    Falling Labor Force Participation

    L. Randall Wray, and Flavia Dantas
    Abstract

    Aging demographics, “social shifts,” and other supply-side and institutional factors have commonly been blamed for the fall in the US labor force participation rate. However, depressed labor force participation for prime-age workers is likely due to a combination of insufficient aggregate demand, weak job creation, and stagnant wages—all of which have been persistent problems over […]

    Download One-Pager No. 53 PDF (116.19 KB)
  • Public Policy Brief No. 142 February 03, 2017

    Full Employment: Are We There Yet?

    L. Randall Wray, and Flavia Dantas
    Abstract

    Flavia Dantas and L. Randall Wray argue that the emerging conventional wisdom—that the US economy has reached full employment—is flawed. The unemployment rate is not providing an accurate picture of the health of the labor market, and the common narrative attributing shrinking labor force engagement to aging demographics is overstated. Instead, falling prime-age participation rates […]

    Download Public Policy Brief No. 142, 2017 PDF (1.39 MB)
  • One-Pager No. 47 October 06, 2014

    Growth for Whom?

    Pavlina R. Tcherneva
    Abstract

    In the postwar period, income growth has become more inequitably distributed with virtually every subsequent economic expansion. From 2009 to 2012, while the economy was recovering from one of the biggest economic downturns in recent memory, the top 1 percent took home 95 percent of the income gains. To reverse this pattern, Research Associate Pavlina […]

    Download One-Pager No. 47 PDF (113.75 KB)

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Blithewood
Bard College
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000
845-758-7700
The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, founded in 1986 through the generous support of Bard College trustee Leon Levy, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization. The Levy Institute is independent of any political or other affiliation, and encourages diversity of opinion in the examination of economic policy issues while striving to transform ideological arguments into informed debate.