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  Working Paper No. 233

  Public Capital and Economic Growth

  Empirical research largely suggests that there is a positive role for public capital and a negative role for taxation and debt, and the effectiveness of public capital depends critically on its efficiency. Research Associate David Alan Aschauer develops a common framework to investigate the importance of three aspects of public capital: how much you have, […]
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  Working Paper No. 232

  The Asian Disease

  The Asian crisis is a textbook case of the “financial instability hypothesis” first expressed in 1966 by the late Hyman P. Minsky. Minsky’s “hypothesis” was proposed to explain instability in a large, insulated, developed economy. Despite its intuitive appeal, it was not widely accepted among financial economists (Charles Kindleberger being a notable exception) because, they […]
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  Working Paper No. 231

  The Hierarchy of Money

  This paper attempts to bring together several of Hyman P. Minsky’s insights in order to suggest a relationship between the state’s ability to tax and the money of the economy. Minsky recognized that money represents an IOU or promise to pay and that “acceptability” is its important feature. He further recognized that the State can […]
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  Policy Notes No. 4

  Small Business and the New Welfare

  To what extent have small businesses hired former welfare recipients and what might induce them to hire more? The Levy Institute conducts a national survey of small firms in many industries to find out.
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  Press Release

  Levy Bulletin on Asian Financial Crisis Cites Need for IMF Funding and Importance of International Trade in Restoring Financial Stability

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  Working Paper No. 230

  The Romance of Assimilation?

  Little research has been done on the role of intermarriage in the blending of peoples in the American past, and even less has been done on the effect of past intermarriage on the ethnic identity of today’s Americans. Senior Scholar Joel Perlmann sees value in studying intermarriage to show fault lines in society (social distance […]
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  Working Paper No. 229

  E Pluribus Unum

  Knowledge of English is near universal, and preference for that language is dominant among most immigrant nationalities. However, only a minority remain fluent in the parental languages, and there are wide variations among immigrant groups in the extent of their parental linguistic retention. These variations are important for theory and policy because they affect the […]
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  Working Paper No. 228

  Education’s Hispanic Challenge

  Two family characteristics are consistently associated with educational attainment: the level of education of parents and the material resources available to support the education of the children. Hispanic parents have a lower level of education than any other group, and Hispanic income is lower than any other group except African Americans. Hispanic children are underrepresented […]
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  Working Paper No. 227

  The Japanese Financial Crisis, Corporate Governance, and Sustainable Prosperity

  Before the Japanese stock market crash of 1990, Japanese industry was a phenomenal success. A recent unemployment rate of under 4 percent, although low by world standards, is the highest Japan has experienced since the current mode of calculation began in 1953. Japan’s industrial dominance, sustained prosperity, and commitment to lifetime employment seem to be […]
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  Policy Notes No. 3

  Small Business and the Minimum Wage

  To what extent have small businesses hired former welfare recipients and what might induce them to hire more? Do small businesses change their hiring and employment practices in response to an increase in the minimum wage? The Levy Institute conducts a national survey of small firms in many industries to find out.
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  Working Paper No. 226

  The Political Economy of Corporate Governance in Germany

  Research Associate Mary O’Sullivan, of INSEAD and the Center for Industrial Competitiveness at the University of Massachusetts–Lowell, is investigating systems of corporate governance to find which lead to successful decisions for individual firms and for an economy as a whole. She believes that success requires a form of corporate governance that generates conditions that permit […]
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  Policy Notes No. 2

  How Should the Surpluses Be Spent?

  The federal budget deficit is disappearing; some shadows linger, but the latest Congressional Budget Office projections put the government budget in deficit by only $5 billion in fiscal year 1998, in balance by 2001, and in surplus through at least 2008. In this Policy Note, Research Associate David Alan Aschauer examines the likely economic consequences, […]