By Rachel Goldfarb, originally published on Next New Deal
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Frenzied Financialization (Washington Monthly)
Roosevelt Institute Fellow Mike Konczal introduces the concept of financialization as a source of inequality, and lays out steps to reduce the financial sector's size and power.
If the economy had become far more productive as a result of these changes, they could have been worthwhile. But the evidence shows it did not. Economist Thomas Philippon found that financial services themselves have become less, not more, efficient over this time period. The unit cost of financial services, or the percentage of assets it costs to produce all financial issuances, was relatively high at the dawn of the twentieth century, but declined to below 2 percent between 1901 and 1960. However, it has increased since the 1960s, and is back to levels seen at the early twentieth century. Whatever finance is doing, it isn’t doing it more cheaply.
Follow below the fold for more.
Slow Growth and Inequality Are Political Choices. We Can Choose Otherwise. (Washington Monthly)
In the concluding article for Washington Monthly's special issue on inequality, Roosevelt Institute Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz presents a policy path to reduce inequality.
- Roosevelt Take: In his article, Stiglitz references his 2014 white paper, "Reforming Taxation to Promote Growth and Equity," available here.
Why the GOP Won't Touch Obamacare (Politico)
Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Richard Kirsch says that it's too late for anything but minor changes to the Affordable Care Act, because people like having health insurance.
The Midterm Minimum-Wage Mandate (WaPo)
Minimum wage ballot measures will be progressives' big win today, predicts Katrina vanden Heuvel, a member of the Roosevelt Institute's Board of Directors. The direct impact on workers matters.
Obamacare Could Have Turned Millions of Uninsured Americans Into Voters (MoJo)
Erika Eichelberger points out that the navigators who help people sign up for insurance on the ACA's exchanges could have been required to train to register voters as well.
New on Next New Deal
Election 2014: Women's Rights in the Balance
Roosevelt Institute Fellow Andrea Flynn's series on the close-call races that will impact women's health and economic security concludes with the Kansas Senate and gubernatorial races.
Guest Post: A Review of Fragile By Design
David Fiderer argues that the book distorts the realities of the financial crisis in a manner that could be dangerous, should it become conservative's central text on the topic.