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  Working Paper No. 321

  Testing Profit Rate Equalization in the US Manufacturing Sector

  Long-run differentials in interindustrial profitability are relevant for several areas of theoretical and applied economics because they characterize the overall nature of competition in a capitalist economy. This paper argues that the existing empirical models of competition in the industrial organization literature suffer from serious flaws. An alternative framework, based on recent advances in the […]
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  Working Paper No. 320

  “Race or People”

  In 1898, the United States Bureau of Immigration initiated a classification of immigrants into some 40 categories of "race or people." Nearly all the categories covered Europeans. In 1909 an effort was made to extend this system of classification to the US Census, and the relevant measure passed in the Senate. From the outset, organizations […]
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  Policy Notes No. 1

  Fiscal Policy to the Rescue

  The United States’ economic expansion of the past eight years has been fueled by a rise in private sector indebtedness. In 1997 the private sector spending exceeded income for the first time since 1952, and since then the gap between the two has risen markedly. The situation closely mirrors that experienced in the United Kingdom […]
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  Summary No. 4

  Summary Fall 2001

  In a new Strategic Analysis, Distinguished Scholar Wynne Godley and Research Scholar Alex Izurieta provide an explanation for the recent economic slowdown in the United States, examine policy options, and discuss alternative scenarios for medium-term economic performance. In a related Policy Note, Phillips & Drew economist Bill Martin forecasts a post-bubble trauma for the United […]
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  Summary No. 3

  Summary Summer 2001

  Summaries of the speeches and sessions at the 11th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on Financial Structure include the remarks of Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City, who discussed the broad policy lessons that can be learned from the recent proliferation of financial crises in developed nations and their implications […]
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  Summary No. 2

  Summary Spring 2001

  A special feature by Senior Scholar Edward N. Wolff focuses on the inequality in the distribution of income and wealth—and what can be done about it.   Contents: The Rich Get Richer (Special feature by Edward N. Wolff) · Is there a Skills Crisis? · Testing Profit Rate Equalization · The Markets versus the ECB […]
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  Summary No. 1

  Summary Winter 2000–2001

  A special project report by Senior Scholar Joel Perlmann outlines research he has been conducting on immigration, ethnic assimilation, and social mobility in America. Summaries of the sessions held at a related conference on multiraciality also appear in this issue.   Contents: Conference on multiraciality and the 2000 Census · Project Report: Ethnicity, Assimilation, and […]
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  Public Policy Brief No. 62

  Is There a Skills Crisis?

  Despite seven years of economic growth a large gap exists in the wages earned by workers at the top of the earnings scale and those at the bottom. The leading explanation for this growth in wage inequality continues to be the skills-mismatch theory. This theory in part posits that gains in technology have resulted in […]
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  Public Policy Brief Highlight No. 62

  Is There a Skills Crisis?

  Despite seven years of economic growth a large gap exists in the wages earned by workers at the top of the earnings scale and those at the bottom. The leading explanation for this growth in wage inequality continues to be the skills-mismatch theory. This theory in part posits that gains in technology have resulted in […]
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  Working Paper No. 319

  Compensatory Inter Vivos Gifts

  Empirical studies of intergenerational transfers usually find that bequests are equally divided among heirs while inter vivos gifts tend to be compensatory. Using the 1992 and 1994 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, we find that only 4 percent of parents who give divide their gifts equally among their children. Estimating probit models using […]
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  Working Paper No. 318

  Origins of the GATT

  Fiftieth-anniversary explanations for the efficacy of the GATT imply that the institution’s longevity is testimony to the free trade principles upon which it is based. In this light, the predominantly American architects of the system figure as free trade visionaries who benevolently imposed postwar institutions of international cooperation on their war-torn allies. This paper takes […]
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  Report No. 4

  Report December 2000

  The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates six times over the past 12 months in an effort to slow economic growth, arguing that the economy is overheated and that the low unemployment rate will lead to inflation as workers in scant supply begin to demand higher salaries. A new Levy Institute Policy Note, summarized in […]