Photo by QuinceCreative on Pixabay. The state’s budget-writing committee was slated to meet earlier this afternoon. Those plans were stymied, though, by a new expected economic forecast for Wisconsin. While the state’s slated to get billions more than earlier projections, Wisconsin’s politicians are divided on how to spend the money. The delays come after a […]
Budgeting the Value of Nature
Take a class in economics, and you will soon discover the concept of “externalities” — those effects of production or consumption that are not priced or valued in the marketplace. Pollution and wildlife habitat loss are good examples of negative externalities. Because neither air quality nor a healthy ecosystem have any value in a purely […]
The Case for Canceling Student Loan Debt
The latest reports show that more than 44 million Americans owe a total of $1.7 trillion in student loan debt. It’s the biggest source of debt in the American household after mortgages. And this is not just a problem for wealthy, white degree-holders and families. Student loan debt shapes the labor market and contributes to […]
The Sinking Middle Class
The concept of the middle class has a unique hold on the American imagination—for years, it’s been the central talking point of both dominant political parties. But what is this middle class and what does it really mean to “save” it? Save it from what? From whom? Today on the show, Allen explores these questions […]
Does the Government Need to Worry About Balancing Its Checkbook?
In 1943, Russian British Economist Abba Lerner wrote a paper entitled functional finance and the federal debt, in which he argued that governments should spend whatever is necessary for Full Employment. Lerner’s work received little notice in the years after its publication, and especially beginning in the 1980s when big government spending fell out of […]
The American Economy Before and After Coronavirus
The United States was woefully unprepared for the novel coronavirus pandemic due to economic inequality, poor planning, limited state capacity, and an unequal healthcare system that has left millions of Americans vulnerable. That’s the argument of economic analyst Doug Henwood. He joins us on the program today to discuss the intersection of the pandemic and […]
