Publications

333 publications found, searching for 'Economic Policy for the 21st Century '

• Policy Note No. 2021/3
  June 08, 2021

  Why President Biden Should Eliminate Corporate Taxes to Build Back Better

  L. Randall Wray and Edward Lane
  Abstract

  Edward Lane and L. Randall Wray explain how federal taxes on corporate profits are not well suited to either containing inflationary pressures or reducing inequality. They are not only a…more

  Download Policy Note 2021/3 PDF (353.00 KB)
• 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…more

  Download One-Pager No. 67 PDF (115.38 KB)
• Working Paper No. 986
  March 10, 2021

  Keynes’s Theories of the Business Cycle

  Pablo Gabriel Bortz
  Abstract

  This paper traces the evolution of John Maynard Keynes’s theory of the business cycle from his early writings in 1913 to his policy prescriptions for the control of fluctuations in…more

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• Working Paper No. 985
  February 08, 2021

  Has Japan Been Following Modern Money Theory Without Recognizing It?

  L. Randall Wray and Yeva Nersisyan
  Abstract

  Modern Money Theory (MMT) economists have used Japan as an example of a country that demonstrates that high deficits and debt do not lead to insolvency, high interest rates, or…more

  Download Working Paper No. 985 PDF (289.71 KB)
• Working Paper No. 979
  November 20, 2020

  Is It Time to Eliminate Federal Corporate Income Taxes?

  L. Randall Wray and Edward Lane
  Abstract

  As the nation is experiencing the need for ever-increasing government expenditures to address COVID-19 disruptions, rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, and many other worthy causes, conventional thinking calls for restoring at…more

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• Working Paper No. 974
  October 05, 2020

  The General Theory as “Depression Economics”?

  Jörg Bibow
  Abstract

  This paper revisits Keynes’s writings from Indian Currency and Finance (1913) to The General Theory (1936) with a focus on financial instability. The analysis reveals Keynes’s astute concerns about the…more

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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…more

  Download One-Pager No. 64 PDF (124.99 KB)
• Public Policy Brief No. 152
  August 10, 2020

  Moral Hazard in a Modern Federation

  Alex Williams
  Abstract

  The mainstream fiscal federalism literature has led to an instinctive belief that states receiving fiscal aid during a recession are taking advantage of the federal government in pursuit of localized…more

  Download Public Policy Brief No. 152, 2020 PDF (206.35 KB)
• Working Paper No. 964
  July 27, 2020

  Budget Credibility of Subnational Governments

  Lekha S. Chakraborty, Pinaki Chakraborty, and Ruzel Shrestha
  Abstract

  Budget credibility, or the ability of governments to accurately forecast macro-fiscal variables, is crucial for effective public finance management. Fiscal marksmanship analysis captures the extent of errors in the budgetary…more

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• 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…more

  Download Working Paper No. 961 PDF (351.33 KB)
• Policy Note No. 5
  July 10, 2020

  Debt Management and the Fiscal Balance

  Jan Toporowski
  Abstract

  In this policy note, Jan Toporowski provides an analysis of government debt management using fiscal principles derived from the work of Michał Kalecki. Dividing the government’s budget into a “functional”…more

  Download Policy Note 2020/5 PDF (129.91 KB)
• Working Paper No. 960
  July 09, 2020

  Fiscal Policy in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

  Bendreff Desilus
  Abstract

  Fiscal policy is useful as a government instrument for supporting the economy, contributing to an increase in employment, and reducing inequality through more egalitarian income distribution. Over the past 30…more

  Download Working Paper No. 960 PDF (259.17 KB)
• Working Paper No. 957
  June 05, 2020

  Notes on Intersectional Political Economy

  Luiza Nassif Pires
  Abstract

  This paper presents a critique of Karl Marx’s labor theory of value and his theory of falling profit rates from an intersectional political economy perspective. Specifically, I rely on social…more

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• Working Paper No. 953
  April 24, 2020

  Notes on the Accumulation and Utilization of Capital

  Michalis Nikiforos
  Abstract

  The paper makes three contributions. First, following up on Nikiforos (2016), it provides an in-depth examination of the Federal Reserve measure of capacity utilization and shows that it is closer…more

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• Working Paper No. 952
  April 24, 2020

  Notes on the Accumulation and Utilization of Capital

  Michalis Nikiforos
  Abstract

  This paper discusses some issues related to the triangle between capital accumulation, distribution, and capacity utilization. First, it explains why utilization is a crucial variable for the various theories of…more

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• Policy Note No. 3
  April 20, 2020

  Immigration Policy Undermines the US Pandemic Response

  Martha Tepepa
  Abstract

  Research Scholar Martha Tepepa explains how the US response to the COVID-19 crisis will be hindered by its approach to immigration policy. The administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration campaign creates a…more

  Download Policy Note 2020/3 PDF (118.61 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…more

  Download One-Pager No. 63 PDF (123.04 KB)
• Working Paper No. 950
  April 08, 2020

  Public Charge in the Time of Coronavirus

  Martha Tepepa
  Abstract

  The United States government recently passed legislation and stabilization packages to respond to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak by providing paid sick leave, tax credits, and free virus…more

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• Policy Note No. 2
  April 03, 2020

  Stabilizing State and Local Budgets through the Pandemic and Beyond

  Alex Williams
  Abstract

  The federal government appears to have abandoned the idea of a coordinated public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the entirety to state and local governments. Meanwhile, the economic…more

  Download Policy Note 2020/2 PDF (84.42 KB)
• Working Paper No. 949
  February 12, 2020

  A Labor Market–Augmented Empirical Stock-Flow Consistent Model Applied to the Greek Economy

  Christos Pierros
  Abstract

  This paper extends the empirical stock-flow consistent (SFC) literature through the introduction of distributional features and labor market institutions in a Godley-type empirical SFC model. In particular, labor market institutions,…more

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• Working Paper No. 946
  February 03, 2020

  The Relationship between Technical Progress and Employment

  Jesus Felipe, Gemma Estrada, Donna Faye Bajaro, and John McCombie
  Abstract

  We show that Autor and Salomons’ (2017, 2018) analysis of the impact of technical progress on employment growth is problematic. When they use labor productivity growth as a proxy for…more

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• Working Paper No. 945
  January 31, 2020

  Demand, Distribution, Productivity, Structural Change, and (Secular?) Stagnation

  Michalis Nikiforos
  Abstract

  The present paper emphasizes the role of demand, income distribution, endogenous productivity reactions, and other structural changes in the slowdown of the growth rate of output and productivity that has…more

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• Public Policy Brief No. 148
  January 31, 2020

  Can We Afford the Green New Deal?

  L. Randall Wray and Yeva Nersisyan
  Abstract

  In this policy brief, Yeva Nersisyan and Senior Scholar L. Randall Wray argue that assessing the “affordability” of the Green New Deal is a question of whether there are suitable…more

  Download Public Policy Brief No. 148, 2020 PDF (234.15 KB)
• Working Paper No. 943
  January 15, 2020

  Is China’s Low Fertility Rate Caused by the Population Control Policy?

  Fernando Rios-Avila, Liu Qiang, and Han Jiqin
  Abstract

  Whether China’s low fertility rate is the consequence of the country’s strict population control policy is a puzzling question. This paper attempts to disentangle the Chinese population control policy’s impacts…more

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