Filter by
4203 results found
-
Working Paper No. 474
On the Minskyan Business Cycle
The essential insight Minsky drew from Keynes was that optimistic expectations about the future create a margin, reflected in higher asset prices, which makes it possible for borrowers to access finance in the present. In other words, the capitalized expected future earnings work as the collateral against which firms can borrow in financial markets or […] -
Working Paper No. 473
The American Jewish Periphery
This paper calls attention to the American Jewish periphery—Americans of recent Jewish origin who have only the most tenuous connections, if any, with those origins. This periphery has been growing to the point that there are now, for example, nearly a million Americans with recent Jewish origins (origins no farther back in time than the […] -
Working Paper No. 472
The Adequacy of Retirement Resources among the Soon-to-Retire, 1983–2001
A central issue confronting soon-to-retire workers (those aged 47–64) is whether they will have command over enough resources (both private and public) to maintain a decent standard of living in retirement. Typically, the adequacy of projected retirement income is judged in relation to some absolute standard (for example, the poverty threshold) and preretirement income (“replacement […] -
Working Paper No. 471
Population Forecasts, Fiscal Policy, and Risk
This paper describes how stochastic population forecasts are used to inform and analyze policies related to government spending on the elderly, mainly in the context of the industrialized nations. The paper first presents methods for making probabilistic forecasts of demographic rates, mortality, fertility, and immigration, and shows how these are combined to make stochastic forecasts […] -
Working Paper No. 470
Retiree Health Benefit Coverage and Retirement
Employer-provided health benefits for workers who retire before age 65 has fallen over the last decade. We examine a cohort of male workers from the Health and Retirement Survey to explore the dynamics of retiree health benefits and the relationship between retiree health benefits and retirement behavior. A better understanding of this relationship is important […] -
Working Paper No. 469
The Changing Role of Employer Pensions
By any measure, pension coverage should be at an all-time high: the nation is richer and workers are older. However, the pension world is a paradox, as pension security falls for middle-class workers and pension spending increases. The United States government directly and indirectly spends more than half a trillion dollars on the elderly each […] -
Working Paper No. 468
Global Demographic Trends and Provisioning for the Future
The world’s population is aging. Virtually no nation is immune to this demographic trend and the challenges it brings for future generations. Relative growth of the elderly population is fueling debate about reform of social security programs in the United States and other developed nations. In the United States, the total discounted shortfall of Social […] -
Working Paper No. 467
The Financial Requirements of Achieving Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
Although the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been ratified in global and national forums, they have not yet been incorporated into operational planning within governments or international organizations. The weak link between the policies and the investments needed for their implementation is one barrier to progress. An assessment of the resources required is a critical […] -
Working Paper No. 466
Net Government Expenditures and the Economic Well-Being of the Elderly in the United States, 1989–2001
We examine the economic well-being of the elderly, using the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW). Compared to the conventional measures of income, the LIMEW is a comprehensive measure that incorporates broader definitions of income from wealth, government expenditures, and taxes. It also includes the value of household production. We find that the elderly […] -
Working Paper No. 465
The Local Geographic Origins of Russian-Jewish Immigrants, circa 1900
This working paper concerns the local origins of Russian-Jewish immigrants to the United States, circa 1900. New evidence is drawn from a large random sample of Russian-Jewish immigrant arrivals in the United States. It provides information on origins not merely by large regions, or even by the provinces of the Pale of Settlement (where nearly […] -
Conference Proceedings
UNDP, BDP – Levy Conference, “Unpaid Work and the Economy: Gender, Poverty, and the Millennium Development Goals ” Gender, Poverty, and the Millennium Development Goals”
View Conference Website Bureau for Development Policy, UNDPin partnership withThe Levy Economics Institute of Bard CollegeThe conference on Unpaid Work and the Economy: Gender, Poverty, and the Millennium Development Goals was organized by the Bureau for Development Policy, United Nations Development Programme, in partnership with The Levy Economics Institute. The purpose of convening this conference […] -
Working Paper No. 464
Differing Prospects for Women and Men
Although elderly men and women share many of the same problems as they age, their lives are likely to follow different courses. Women are more likely than men to live into old old-age and are more likely to spend part of their young old-age caring for husbands or parents. By providing this unpaid care women […]