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  Press Release

  Government Job Programs That Focus on Social Services More Than Infrastructure May Offer Greater Benefits to Economy, New Study from Levy Economics Institute Suggests

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  Working Paper No. 568

  Distributional Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

  Over the last two decades, those at the bottom of the income scale have seen their incomes stagnate, while those at the top have seen theirs skyrocket; without intervention, the recession that began in December 2007 was likely to exacerbate this trend. Will the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) be able to […]
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  Working Paper No. 567

  Revisiting (and Connecting) Marglin-Bhaduri and Minsky

  Many heterodox strands of thought share both a concern with the study of different phases or growth regimes in the history of capitalism and the use of formal short-run models as an analytical tool. The authors of this new working paper suggest (1) that this strategy is potentially misleading, and (2) that the stock-flow consistent […]
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  Policy Notes No. 8

  Some Simple Observations on the Reform of the International Monetary System

  The demand for reform of the financial system has focused on the dollar’s loss of international purchasing power (the Triffin dilemma) and its substitution by an international reserve currency that is not a national currency. The problem, however, is not the particular asset that serves as the international currency but rather the operation of the […]
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  Policy Notes No. 7

  “Enforced Indebtedness” and Capital Adequacy Requirements

  The capital adequacy requirements for banks, enshrined in international banking regulations, are based on a fallacy of composition—namely, the notion that an individual firm can choose the structure of its financial liabilities without affecting the financial liabilities of other firms. In practice, says author Jan Toporowski, capital adequacy regulations for banks are a way of […]
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  Working Paper No. 566

  Caste and Wealth Inequality in India

  In this paper, we conduct the novel exercise of analyzing the relationship between overall wealth inequality and caste divisions in India using nationally representative surveys on household wealth conducted during 1991–92 and 2002–03. According to our findings, the groups in India that are generally considered disadvantaged (known as Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes) have, as […]
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  Working Paper No. 565

  Housing Inequality in the United States

  In recent years, as the homeownership rate in the United States reached its highest level in history, homeownership itself remained unevenly distributed, particularly along racial and ethnic lines. By using data from the 2000 Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) and 2006 American Community Survey (ACS) to study the trajectory into homeownership of black, Asian, […]
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  Working Paper No. 564

  New Consensus Macroeconomics: A Critical Appraisal

  This paper is concerned with the New Consensus Macroeconomics (NCM) in the case of an open economy. It outlines and explains briefly the main elements of and way of thinking about the macroeconomy from the standpoint of both its theoretical and its policy dimensions. There are a few problems with this particular theoretical framework. We […]
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  Working Paper No. 563

  Whither New Consensus Macroeconomics?

  In the face of the dramatic economic events of recent months and the inability of academics and policymakers to prevent them, the New Consensus Macroeconomics (NCM) model has been the subject of several criticisms. This paper considers one of the main criticisms lodged against the NCM model, namely, the absence of any essential role for […]
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  Policy Notes No. 6

  The “Unintended Consequences” Game

  A simple consideration of history tells us that each new piece of legislation contains loopholes that benefit a new class of entrepreneurs; some of these loopholes are small, but others are such that one could drive a bullion-laden truck through them. In this new Policy Note, Martin Shubik suggests creating a “war gaming group” to […]
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  Report No. 2

  Report April 2009

  There is broad consensus that the prospects for the domestic economy have become dire, requiring extensive government intervention. In a new Strategic Analysis highlighted in the current issue of the Report, Levy scholars take a more skeptical view of the effectiveness of the policy prescriptions currently on offer—and argue that the global economy must be […]
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  Working Paper No. 562

  The Current Economic and Financial Crisis

  Widespread economic recessions and protracted financial crises have been documented as setting back gender equality and other development goals in the past. In the midst of the current global crisis—often referred to as “the Great Recession”—there is grave concern that progress made in poverty reduction and women’s equality will be reversed. Indeed, for many developing […]