For three decades, both Democratic and Republican administrations have been making trade deals with elites of other countries that favor the interests of multinational investors over the interests of American producers and workers. U.S.-based banks and corporations get access to…
The Shaky Case for Optimism
by jeff.faux •
Belief in a better tomorrow is a self-defining American characteristic. However many among us may be leading lives of quiet desperation, we insist that this is the land of, as Nellie Forbush, the heroine of South Pacific, put it, “cock-eyed…
Forget Obama; Attack The Corporate Money
by jeff.faux •
Whether you think Barack Obama’s problem is spinelessness, naiveté, lack of principle, chronic centrism, Rupert Murdoch – or whatever, two things are painfully obvious. One, he will never fight for the progressive changes our country needs. Two, he will be…
Trade Policy and the American Worker
by jeff.faux •
“Globalization is dramatically disconnecting the relationship between American corporate employers and their employees,” says Jeff Faux, EPI founding president and distinguished fellow. Faux has written extensively about the ways so-called free trade agreements have benefitted the world’s largest corporations at…
Industrial Policy and National Security
by jeff.faux •
That the nation’s industrial base is vital to our national security was for most of our history a core assumption of American economic policy. The manufacturing sector had been a driver of our prosperity, a guarantor of our independence and…
Unsolved Problems in US Policy
by jeff.faux •
1. The final version Dodd-Frank Bill fails to resolve the fundamental problems of the US financial system in two ways. First, it enshrines the policy of “too-big-to-fail” without limiting the behavior that led to the catastrophic collapse of 2008-9. Second, it…
The Deficit Commission
by jeff.faux •
Deficit hawks are once again circling the Capitol, spreading fiscal terror among the lawmakers. The bizarre result is that in the face of widespread unemployment, still mounting mortgage foreclosures and eroding real incomes for the vast majority of the country’s…
Myths About the Federal Budget Deficit
by jeff.faux •
The Commission on Deficit Reduction has an opportunity to make a major contribution to both economic policy and democratic decision-making in our country. To do so, it must confront the myths that dominate the debate over the projected federal…
Unemployment: The New Washington Consensus
by jeff.faux •
The Washington Consensus is a term long used for the harsh austerity imposed by the International Monetary Fund and other lenders on troubled third world economies. Under its dictates, unemployment and lowered incomes, rather than being the problems of insufficient…
Budget Hawks Fly Backwards
by jeff.faux •
Pressure is building in Washington for a high-profile commission to impose fiscal austerity on the Federal government for the coming decade. Supporters argue that Congress lacks the will to rein in projected budget deficits that will burden future generations. Therefore,…