Publications

Up-to-the-minute economic analysis and policy advocacy

87 publications found, searching for 'One-Pager '

• One-Pager No. 72 May 10, 2024

  If Government Can Print Money, Why Does It Borrow?

  L. Randall Wray
  Abstract

  Recently, the neglected question of why the US government borrows, given that it can print money, has arisen in the context of discussions surrounding a new documentary, Finding the Money. As L. Randall Wray observes in this one-pager, Modern Money Theory has been providing answers to this question for some time; and, he argues, it is a topic that mainstream economists are ill-equipped to address, since very few concern themselves with the monetary operations that underlie the question of why a currency-issuing government issues debt.

• 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 […]

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• One-Pager December 07, 2022

  The Causes of Pandemic Inflation

  L. Randall Wray
  Abstract

  While the trigger for the Covid recession was unusual—a collapse of the supply side that produced a drop in demand—the inflation the US economy is now facing is not atypical, according to L. Randall Wray. In this one-pager, he explores the causes of the current inflationary environment, arguing that continuing inflation pressures come mostly from […]

  Download One-Pager No. 70 PDF (128.13 KB)
• One-Pager No. 69 February 21, 2022

  Time to Celebrate Modern Money Theory?

  L. Randall Wray, and Yeva Nersisyan
  Abstract

  A recent article in the New York Times asks whether Modern Money Theory (MMT) can declare victory after its policies were (supposedly) implemented during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The article suggests yes, but for the high inflation it sparked. In the view of Yeva Nersisyan and Senior Scholar L. Randall Wray, the federal […]

  Download One-Pager No. 69 PDF (140.61 KB)
• One-Pager No. 68 November 01, 2021

  Are Concerns over Growing Federal Government Debt Misplaced?

  L. Randall Wray
  Abstract

  With the US Treasury cutting checks totaling approximately $5 trillion to deal with the COVID-19 crisis, Senior Scholar L. Randall Wray argues that when it comes to the federal government, concerns about affordability and solvency can both be laid to rest. According to Wray, the question is never whether the federal government can spend more, […]

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• One-Pager No. 67 June 07, 2021

  Should Corporate Tax Hikes Be Included in Biden’s “Build Back Better” Plans?

  L. Randall Wray, and Edward Lane
  Abstract

  President Biden has proposed pairing his American Jobs Plan with an increase in federal corporate income taxes. Leaving aside the issue of whether any tax increases are needed to “pay for” the plan, Edward Lane and L. Randall Wray assess the proposed corporate profits tax hike in terms of its ability to meet two objectives: […]

  Download One-Pager No. 67 PDF (115.38 KB)
• One-Pager No. 66 April 01, 2021

  Anatomy of a Stock Market Bubble

  Frank Veneroso
  Abstract

  According to Frank Veneroso, a broad subset of today’s US stock market has become what he calls a “pure price-chasing bubble.” Examination of the history of comparable pure price-chasing bubbles shows there has been a set of key causal factors that contributed to these rare market events. The most extreme such case was an over-the-counter […]

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• One-Pager No. 65 February 17, 2021

  COVID Relief and the Inflation Warriors

  L. Randall Wray, and Yeva Nersisyan
  Abstract

  With the unveiling of President Biden’s nearly $2 trillion proposal for addressing the COVID-19 crisis, Democrats appear keen to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Great Recession—most notably the inadequate fiscal response. Yeva Nersisyan and L. Randall Wray observe that while Democrats are not falling for the “deficit bogeyman” this time, critics have pushed the […]

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• One-Pager No. 64 August 19, 2020

  Moral Hazard and the State Budget Crisis

  Alex Williams
  Abstract

  As congressional negotiations stall and state governments are poised to enact significant austerity, Alex Williams argues that fiscal aid to state governments should be tied to economic indicators rather than the capriciousness of federal legislators. Building this case for reform requires confronting a common objection: that state fiscal aid creates situations of moral hazard. This […]

  Download One-Pager No. 64 PDF (124.99 KB)
• One-Pager No. 63 April 10, 2020

  Are We All MMTers Now? Not so Fast

  L. Randall Wray, and Yeva Nersisyan
  Abstract

  As governments around the world explore ambitious approaches to fiscal and monetary policy in their responses to the COVID-19 crisis, Modern Money Theory (MMT) has been thrust into the spotlight once again. Unfortunately, many of those invoking the theory have misrepresented its central tenets, according Yeva Nersisyan and L. Randall Wray. MMT provides an analysis […]

  Download One-Pager No. 63 PDF (123.04 KB)
• One-Pager No. 62 March 13, 2020

  The Economic Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic

  L. Randall Wray, and Yeva Nersisyan
  Abstract

  As the coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads across the United States, it has become clear that, in addition to the public health response (which has been far less than adequate), an economic response is needed. Yeva Nersisyan and Senior Scholar L. Randall Wray identify four steps that require immediate attention: (1) full coverage of medical costs associated […]

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• One-Pager No. 61 March 10, 2020

  A Global Slowdown Will Test US Corporate Fragility

  Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Gennaro Zezza, and Michalis Nikiforos
  Abstract

  The rapidly growing uncertainty about the potential global fallout from an emerging pandemic is occurring against a background in which there is evidence US corporate sector balance sheets are significantly overstretched, exhibiting a degree of fragility that, according to some measures, is unmatched in the postwar historical record. The US economy is vulnerable to a […]

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• One-Pager No. 60 July 26, 2019

  Fighting Inequality Can Strengthen the US Economy

  Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Gennaro Zezza, and Michalis Nikiforos
  Abstract

  Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, along with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, recently proposed to increase the rate of taxation on very high incomes and net worth. One of the primary justifications for such policies is that reducing inequality would help safeguard political equality. However, Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Michalis Nikiforos, and Gennaro Zezza show how these […]

  Download One-Pager No. 60 PDF (119.15 KB)
• One-Pager No. 59 April 23, 2019

  The Limitations of the “Populism” Explanation

  Joel Perlmann
  Abstract

  Some common accounts of “populism” and its causes risk leading us away from understanding what is happening today in parts of the democratic West, according to Senior Scholar Joel Perlmann. He cautions that economic insecurity may well be a common source of populism, but such insecurity is too prevalent and too diverse to be tied […]

  Download One-Pager No. 59 PDF (130.49 KB)
• One-Pager No. 58 November 09, 2018

  A Citizenship Question on the US Census

  Joel Perlmann
  Abstract

  The Trump administration is facing a legal challenge to its efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 decennial census—a question that was first included in 1890, but has not been asked of the entire population since 1950. If the citizenship question was asked in the past, why not reinstate it? Senior Scholar Joel […]

  Download One-Pager No. 58 PDF (131.63 KB)
• One-Pager No. 57 September 10, 2018

  Stagnating Economic Well-Being Amid Rising Government Support

  Ajit Zacharias, Thomas Masterson, and Fernando Rios-Avila
  Abstract

  The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW) was designed to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the changes affecting household living standards. Ajit Zacharias, Thomas Masterson, and Fernando Rios-Avila summarize their latest research on the trends in economic well-being for US households. They reveal historic stagnation in LIMEW growth over the 2000–13 period, as […]

  Download One-Pager No. 57 PDF (119.14 KB)
• One-Pager No. 56 June 19, 2018

  An Alternative to Sovereign Bond-Backed Securities for the Euro Area

  Mario Tonveronachi
  Abstract

  The European Commission's proposal for the regulation of sovereign bond-backed securities (SBBSs) follows the release of a high-level taskforce report, sponsored by the European Systemic Risk Board, on the feasibility of an SBBS framework. The proposal and the SBBS scheme, Mario Tonveronachi argues, would fail to yield the intended results while undermining financial stability. Tonveronachi articulates […]

  Download One-Pager No. 56 PDF (107.37 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 […]

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• One-Pager No. 54 February 06, 2018

  Why the United States Will Beat China to the Next Minsky Moment

  L. Randall Wray
  Abstract

  The outgoing governor of the People’s Bank of China recently warned of a possible Chinese “Minsky moment”—Paul McCulley’s term, most recently applied to the 2007 US real estate crash that reverberated around the world as a global financial crisis. Although Western commentators have weighed in on both sides of the debate about the likelihood of […]

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• 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 […]

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• One-Pager No. 51 December 11, 2015

  Completing the Single Financial Market and New Fiscal Rules for the Euro Area

  Mario Tonveronachi
  Abstract

  Until market participants across the euro area face a single risk-free yield curve rather than a diverse collection of quasi-risk-free sovereign rates, financial market integration will not be complete. Unfortunately, the institution that would normally provide the requisite benchmark asset—a federal treasury issuing risk-free debt—does not exist in the euro area, and there are daunting […]

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• One-Pager No. 50 October 22, 2015

  A Public Investment Priority for Job Creation in Turkey

  Kijong Kim, İpek Ilkkaracan, and Tolga Kaya
  Abstract

  This one-pager presents the key findings and policy recommendations of the research project report The Impact of Public Investment in Social Care Services on Employment, Gender Equality, and Poverty: The Turkish Case, which examines the demand-side rationale for a public investment in the social care sector in Turkey—specifically, early childhood care and preschool education (ECCPE)—by […]

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• One-Pager No. 49 May 01, 2015

  Δανείζοντας στα τυφλά

  Matthew Berg
  Abstract

  Τα πρακτικά του 2008 της Ομοσπονδιακής Επιτροπής Ανοικτής Αγοράς παρέχουν ένα σπάνιο πορτραίτο του τρόπου με τον οποίον οι χαράκτες πολιτικής ανταποκρίθηκαν στην εξέλιξη της μεγαλύτερης χρηματοπιστωτικής κρίσης στον κόσμο μετά τη Μεγάλη Ύφεση του ΄30. Τα πρακτικά αποκαλύπτουν ότι η Ομοσπονδιακή Επιτροπή Ανοικτής Αγοράς δεν είχε ικανοποιητική κατανόηση των τεραστίων διαστάσεων που είχε λάβει […]

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• One-Pager No. 49 May 01, 2015

  Lending Blind

  Matthew Berg
  Abstract

  The 2008 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) transcripts provide a rare portrait of how policymakers responded to the unfolding of the world’s largest financial crisis since the Great Depression. The transcripts reveal an FOMC that lacked a satisfactory understanding of a shadow banking system that had grown to enormous proportions—an FOMC that neither comprehended the […]

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