"Government Effects on the Distribution of Income: An Overview"

This paper is the overview chapter of an edited volume on "The Distributional Effects of Government Spending and Taxation." The paper offers the author's perspective on the government's role as a redistributive agent. Taxation and public spending programs are analyzed using the experiences of the United States and other OECD countries. The stark differences among the respective welfare systems are examined from an economic policy lens assessing the success and failure of the tested social policy programs. The measurement and distribution of well-being for special segments of the population, i.e., the elderly and women, are considered.

"(Full) Employment Policy: Theory and Practice"

Although the U.S. unemployment rate in 1998 was at its lowest level since the late 1960s, the nation's employment problem is still far from solved. Although many economists assume that unemployment tends toward a natural rate below which it cannot go without creating inflation, this paper asks whether the current employment levels are the best that can be achieved in times of prosperity and whether current employment policies will be able to deal with the challenges of the next downturn. To evaluate these questions, the author examines the relative merits of three proposed strategies to improve the employment situation-a reduced workweek, employment subsidies, and a public service job opportunity program-to see if they will meet the challenges of upholding an individual's basic right to job while not stimulating inflation. He finds that a shorter workweek and wage subsidies both have failed to meet one or both of these challenges, but that a public service job opportunity program, such as the "employer of last resort policy," would satisfy both the full employment and noninflationary criteria.

"Full Employment Has Not Been Achieved, Full Employment Policy: Theory and Practice"

Claims that the nation has reached full employment take for granted the need for a reserve pool of labor to maintain price stability and labor market flexibility, but are millions of jobless and underemployed workers the best we can do in these times of economic expansion and what will happen when the inevitable downturn comes? Reduction of the workweek and employment subsidies have been proposed to achieve higher employment, but neither is sure to raise employment and both may have serious side effects. A public service employment program that offers jobs at a fixed wage to all who are willing and able to work can provide full employment without inflationary pressures and with labor market flexibility, preserve workers' skills, contribute valuable public services, and be relatively inexpensive.

"Promoting Equality Through an Employment of Last Resort Policy"

To put an economy on an equitable growth path, economic development must be based on social efficiency, equity, and job creation. It has been shown that unemployment has far-reaching effects, all leading to an inequitable distribution of well-being. But many economists assume that unemployment tends toward a natural rate below which it cannot go without creating inflation. The paper considers a particular employment strategy: a government job creation program, such as an employment guarantee or employer-of-last-resort scheme, that would satisfy the noninflationary criteria. The paper analyzes the international experience of government job creation programs, with particular emphasis on the cases of Argentina and India. We conclude by considering the application of an employer-of-last-resort policy to the developing world and as a vehicle to meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

Europe is now stuck in a fiscal trap, brought about by the failure of orthodox economics to provide an effective strategy for economic growth

The United States has yet to resolve its “fiscal cliff”, its own version of austerity. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou and Greg Hannsgen of the Levy Economics Institute offer an analysis of what they term the “fiscal trap.” They argue many economists and policymakers continue to misunderstand the role of fiscal policy, especially in times of economic turmoil, and have, as a result, failed to offer effective policies to repair the economies of the US and eurozone

"Fiscal Stimulus, Job Creation, and the Economy: What Are the Lessons of the New Deal?"

As the nation watches the impact of the recent stimulus bill on job creation and economic growth, a group of academics continues to dispute the notion that the fiscal and job creation programs of the New Deal helped end the Depression. The work of these revisionist scholars has led to a public discourse that has obvious implications for the controversy surrounding fiscal stimulus bills. Since we support a new stimulus package—one that emphasizes jobs for the 9.8 percent of the workforce currently unemployed—we have been concerned about this debate. With Congress, the White House, pundits, and the press riveted on the all-important health care debate, we worry that they are also distracted by skirmishes over economic theory and history, while millions wait for a new chance to do meaningful work and effective, if imperfect, policy tools are readily at hand. (See also, Public Policy Brief No. 104.)

"Recent Rise in Federal Government and Federal Reserve Liabilities--Antidote to a Speculative Hangover"

Federal government and Federal Reserve (Fed) liabilities rose sharply in 2008. Who holds these new liabilities, and what effects will they have on the economy? Some economists and politicians warn of impending inflation. In this new Strategic Analysis, the Levy Institute's Macro-Modeling Team focuses on one positive effect--a badly needed improvement of private sector balance sheets--and suggest some of the reasons why it is unlikely that the surge in Fed and federal government liabilities will cause excessive inflation.

"The New New Deal Fracas: Did Roosevelt's 'Anti-Competitive' Legislation Slow the Recovery from the Great Depression?"

A wave of revisionist work claims that "anti-competitive" New Deal legislation such as the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) greatly slowed the recovery from the Depression; in this new public policy brief, President Dimitri B. Papadimitriou and Research Scholar Greg Hannsgen review these claims in light of current policy debates and cast into doubt the argument that NIRA and NLRA significantly prolonged or worsened the Depression. Moreover, Social Security, federal deposit insurance, and other New Deal programs helped usher in an era of relative prosperity following World War II. When it comes to combating the current recession and employment slump, it is the successful experience with relief and public works, and not the repercussions of pro-union and regulatory legislation, that offer the most relevant and helpful lessons.