:: Levy Economics Institute of Bard College ::

Strategic Analysis | December 2009
Sustaining Recovery: Medium-term Prospects and Policies for the U.S. Economy Though recent market activity and housing reports give some warrant for optimism, United States economic growth was only 2.8 percent in the third quarter, and the unemployment rate is still very high. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
The State of the U.S. and World Economies

Strategic Analysis | April 2009
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. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
The State of the U.S. and World Economies

Strategic Analysis | December 2008
Prospects for the United States and the World: A Crisis That Conventional Remedies Cannot Resolve The economic recovery plans currently under consideration by the United States and many other countries seem to be concentrated on the possibility of using expansionary fiscal and monetary policies alone. In a new Strategic Analysis, the Levy Institute’s Macro-Modeling Team argues that, however well coordinated, this approach will not be sufficient; what’s required, they say, is a worldwide recovery of output, combined with sustainable balances in international trade. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
The State of the U.S. and World Economies

Policy Notes | December 2009
Observations on the Problem of “Too Big to Fail/Save/Resolve” Past experience suggests that multifunctional banking is the leading source of financial crisis, while large bank size contributes to contagion and systemic risk. This indicates that resolving large banks will not solve the problems associated with multifunctional banking—a conclusion reached after every financial crisis, and one that should apply to the present crisis as well. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
Monetary Policy and Financial Structure

Policy Notes | October 2009
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. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
The State of the U.S. and World Economies | Employment Policy and Labor Markets

Policy Notes | October 2009
Banks Running Wild: The Subversion of Insurance by “Life Settlements” and Credit Default Swaps Oblivious to any lessons that might have been learned from the global financial mess it has created, Wall Street is looking for the next asset bubble. Perhaps in the market for death it has found a replacement for the collapsed markets in subprime mortgage–backed securities and credit default swaps (CDSs). [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
Monetary Policy and Financial Structure

Policy Notes | June 2009
Special Report: Who Gains from President Obama's Stimulus Package ... And How Much? In this Special Report, Levy scholars Ajit Zacharias, Thomas Masterson, and Kijong Kim provide a preliminary assessment of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a package of transfers and tax cuts that is expected to provide relief to low-income and vulnerable households especially hurt by the economic crisis, while at the same time supporting aggregate demand. By the administration’s estimate, ARRA will create or save approximately three and a half million jobs by the end of 2010; while the ameliorating impact of the stimulus plan on the employment situation is surely welcome, say the authors, the government could have achieved far more at the same cost by skewing the stimulus package toward outlays rather than tax cuts. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
The Distribution of Income and Wealth

Public Policy Briefs | January 2010
No Going Back: Why We Cannot Restore Glass-Steagall’s Segregation of Banking and Finance The purpose of the 1933 Banking Act—aka Glass-Steagall—was to prevent the exposure of commercial banks to the risks of investment banking and to ensure stability of the financial system. A proposed solution to the current financial crisis is to return to the basic tenets of this New Deal legislation. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
Monetary Policy and Financial Structure

Public Policy Brief Highlights | December 2009
Can Euroland Survive? Social unrest across Europe is growing as Euroland’s economy collapses faster than the United States’, the result of falling exports and a weaker fiscal response. The controversial title of this brief is based on a belief that the nature of the euro itself limits Euroland’s fiscal policy space. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
Monetary Policy and Financial Structure

Public Policy Brief Highlights | November 2009
It Isn't Working: Time for More Radical Policies The Obama administration has had a lot to deal with in its first few months in office. Unfortunately, like the Bush administration before it, the Obama team appears to be trying to re-create the bubbly financial conditions that led to disaster. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
Monetary Policy and Financial Structure

Working Papers | November 2009
The Euro and Its Guardian of Stability: The Fiction and Reality of the 10th Anniversary Blast This paper investigates why Europe fared particularly poorly in the global economic crisis that began in August 2007. It questions the self-portrait of Europe as the victim of external shocks, pushed off track by reckless policies pursued elsewhere. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
Monetary Policy and Financial Structure

LIMEW Reports | November 2009
Has Progress Been Made in Alleviating Racial Economic Inequality? Reports of a postracial society may be premature. Studies continue to show wide racial gaps in income and, especially, wealth; although there is some evidence that income gaps have shrunk over the past half century, wealth inequality is large and persistent. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW) | The Distribution of Income and Wealth

LIMEW Reports | April 2009
New Estimates of Economic Inequality in America, 1959—2004 In this latest LIMEW report, the authors present new evidence on the pattern of economic inequality in the United States that indicates higher inequality in 2004 than in 1959. According to the LIMEW, there was a surge in inequality between 1989 and 2000 that reflects the large increase in income from wealth for the top rungs of the economic ladder; the principal factor behind the official measures was base income (consisting mainly of labor income). [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW) | The Distribution of Income and Wealth

Testimony | July 2009
Statement of Professor James K. Galbraith to the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology, Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives On July 9, 2009, Senior Scholar James K. Galbraith testified before the House Financial Services Committee regarding the functions of the Federal Reserve under the Obama administration’s proposals for financial regulation reform—specifically, the extent to which the newly proposed role of systemic risk regulator might conflict with the Fed’s traditional role as the independent authority on monetary policy. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
Monetary Policy and Financial Structure

Book Series | January 2010
Unpaid Work and the Economy This volume offers both theoretical and policy-oriented examinations of the value of unpaid work, usually unacknowledged but increasingly recognized as an organic component of the economy. Particularly in developing countries, much of the provisioning of basic needs occurs beyond the boundaries of market transactions. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
Gender Equality and the Economy

Report | January 2010
Report January 2010 After unprecedented efforts by the Federal Reserve and Congress, and the adoption of “big government” policies, the financial system is more stable but the official unemployment level is 10.2 percent—and rising. [more]

Report | October 2009
Report October 2009 The Obama administration estimates that the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will create or save approximately three and a half million jobs by the end of 2010. A Special Report featured in this issue points toward the necessity for a comprehensive employment strategy that goes well beyond ARRA–and concludes that the government could have achieved far more at the same cost. [more]

Summary | December 2009
Summary Winter 2010 In a new Strategic Analysis, the Institute’s Macro-Modeling Team determines that real GDP growth will remain well below the rate required to push unemployment back to a more acceptable level, but that a modest dollar devaluation could be very effective in promoting employment while addressing the threat posed by large imbalances. A related public policy brief, policy note, and working paper show that the success of New Deal programs strengthens the case for fiscal policies and a permanent employer-of-last-resort program as proposed by Hyman Minsky. [more]

Conference Proceedings | June 2009
Employment Guarantee Policies A Collaborative Project of the United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (RBLAC), and the Bureau for Development Policy (BDP), in Partnership with The Levy Economics Institute. The Levy Economics Institute, Blithewood, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York June 22–23, 2009. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
Employment Policy and Labor Markets

Conference Audio | August 2009
Employment Guarantee Policies A Collaborative Project of the United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (RBLAC), and the Bureau for Development Policy (BDP), in Partnership with The Levy Economics Institute On June 22 and 23, The Levy Economics [more]

Biennial Reports | April 2008
Biennial Report, 2006–2007 Throughout 2006–07, the Levy Institute continued to make significant contributions to the public policy discussions on many economic issues. In addition to organizing conferences, workshops, and lectures with distinguished representatives of the academy, the business community, and government, the Levy Institute used its wide range of print and online publications to disseminate information about, and foster debate on, numerous policy issues. [more]

In the Media | January 2010
Who Are These Economists, Anyway? By James K. Galbraith, Thought and Action, The NEA Higher Education Journal, Fall 2009. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
The State of the U.S. and World Economies

In the Media | September 2009
Why capitalism fails; the man who saw the meltdown coming had another troubling insight: it will happen again September 13, 2009. The Boston Globe. [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
The State of the U.S. and World Economies

Press Releases | December 2009
Unemployment Will Remain Very High without Continued Strong Fiscal Stimulus Polices, New Levy Study Says [more]
Associated Research Program(s):
The State of the U.S. and World Economies