Archived Publication Types

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. With poverty, inequality, and unemployment trending upward worldwide, job creation, especially for […]

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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 Institute, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), convened an international conference to […]

There is broad consensus that the prospects for the domestic economy have become dire, requiring extensive government intervention. In a new Strategic Analysis highlighted in the current issue of the Report, Levy scholars take a more skeptical view of the effectiveness of the policy prescriptions currently on offer—and argue that the global economy must be […]

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The Federal Reserve’s response to the current financial crisis has been praised because it introduced a zero interest rate policy more rapidly than the Bank of Japan (during the Japanese crisis of the 1990s) and embraced massive “quantitative easing.” However, despite vast capital injections, the banking system is not lending in support of the private […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 100A, 2009 PDF (132.41 KB)

A conference organized by The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College with support from the Ford Foundation. On April 16 and 17, 2009, top policymakers, economists, and analysts gathered at the Ford Foundation’s headquarters in New York City to offer their insights and policy guidelines on the extraordinary challenges posed by the global financial crisis. […]

A conference organized by The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College with support from the Ford Foundation. On April 16 and 17, more than 150 policymakers, economists, and analysts from government, industry, and academia gathered at the NYC headquarters of the Ford Foundation for the Levy Institute’s annual Minsky conference on the state of the […]

Download Conference Proceedings, April 16–17, 2009 PDF (978.29 KB)

In the current global financial crisis, economists and policymakers have reembraced Big Government as a means of preventing the reoccurrence of a debt-deflation depression. The danger, however, is that policy may not downsize finance and replace money manager capitalism. According to Senior Scholar L. Randall Wray, we need a permanently larger fiscal presence, with more […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 99A, 2009 PDF (144.84 KB)

This issue of the Summary begins with a Strategic Analysis by the Levy Institute’s Macro-Modeling Team, along with a review of the latest Federal Reserve flow-of-funds data. The authors foresee a steep rise in the private sector balance and an abrupt fall in GDP in the United States, with employment rising to 10 percent in […]

Download Volume 18, No. 2 PDF (250.89 KB)

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) has proposed subjecting the entire federal budget to “intergenerational accounting”—which purports to calculate the debt burden our generation will leave for future generations—and is soliciting comments on the recommendations of its two “exposure drafts.” The authors of this brief find that intergenerational accounting is a deeply flawed and […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 98A, 2008 PDF (154.70 KB)

This issue of the Report opens with Senior Scholar L. Randall Wray’s new Public Policy Brief on money market capitalism (financialization), which has resulted in a series of boom-and-bust cycles in equities, real estate, and, most recently, commodities. Wray maintains that policymakers must fundamentally change the structure of our economic system in order to break […]

Download Volume 19, No. 1 PDF (613.61 KB)

“Change” was the buzzword of the Obama campaign, in response to a political agenda precipitated by financial turmoil and a global economic crisis. According to Research Associate Thomas Palley, the neoliberal economic policy paradigm underlying that agenda must itself change if there is to be a successful policy response to the crisis. Mainstream economic theory […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 97A, 2009 PDF (309.68 KB)

Recent attempts by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to counter the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression have brought into question the role of the government and the effectiveness of its rescue package. Levy Institute scholars foresee an extended period of stagnation and possibly deflation if the government does not take […]

Download Volume 18, No. 1 PDF (668.80 KB)

In a new public policy brief, Senior Scholar L. Randall Wray shows how money manager capitalism—characterized by highly leveraged funds seeking maximum returns in an environment that systematically underprices risk—has destabilized one asset class after another, with commodities being simply the latest. Policymakers must fundamentally change the structure of our economic system and reduce the […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 96A, 2008 PDF (251.42 KB)

Recent experience has bolstered the view that asset prices must come under the central bank’s purview in order for the economy to retain some semblance of stability. However, in a new Public Policy Brief, Pedro Nicolaci da Costa argues that attitude changes among regulators will be even more important than shifts in mandate in ensuring […]

Download Volume 18, No. 4 PDF (490.82 KB)

This latest issue of the Summary includes an overview of the Institute’s annual Minsky conference, which focused on the current economic crisis in the United States, its effects on the world economy, and possible solutions. Also featured is a new Strategic Analysis that challenges the notion that a stimulus package larger than the one approved […]

Download Volume 17, No. 3 PDF (2.80 MB)

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s latest plan for tackling the housing-centered credit crisis involves giving the Federal Reserve vast new authority to regulate investment banks, not just depository institutions. However, news analyst Pedro Nicolaci da Costa argues that attitude changes among regulators will be even more important than shifts in mandate in ensuring that regulators like […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 95A, 2008 PDF (119.27 KB)

This issue of the Report  highlights the Institute’s annual Minsky conference, which this year focused on credit, markets, and the real economy, and the fiscal policies needed to counter recession. A new Strategic Analysis argues in favor of a fiscal stimulus much larger than the $150 million currently allocated, and that it should apply over […]

Download Volume 18, No. 3 PDF (1.24 MB)

The focus of this year’s conference was the current economic and financial crisis in the United States and its effects on the world economy. Topics included the causes and consequences of the "Minsky moment"; the impact of the credit crunch on the economic and financial market outlook; dislocations and policy options; margins of safety, systemic […]

In April 2008, top policymakers, economists, and analysts from government, industry, and academia gathered at the Levy Institute’s research and conference facility in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, to present their insights about the American economy and the financial sector in the context of Minsky’s economic theories. Participants discussed Minsky’s financial instability hypothesis and the ability of […]

Download Conference Proceedings, April 17–18, 2008 PDF (960.01 KB)

According to Senior Scholar L. Randall Wray, the current crisis in financial markets can be traced back to securitization (the “originate and distribute” model), leverage, the demise of relationship-based banking, and a dizzying array of extremely complex instruments that—quite literally—only a handful understand.

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According to Senior Scholar L. Randall Wray, the current crisis in financial markets can be traced back to securitization (the “originate and distribute” model), leverage, the demise of relationship-based banking, and a dizzying array of extremely complex instruments that—quite literally—only a handful understand.

Download PDF (231.05 KB)

According to Senior Scholar L. Randall Wray, the current crisis in financial markets can be traced back to securitization (the “originate and distribute” model), leverage, the demise of relationship-based banking, and a dizzying array of extremely complex instruments that—quite literally—only a handful understand.

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 94A, 2008 PDF (231.05 KB)

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 […]

Download Biennial Report, 2006–2007 PDF (1.64 MB)

In a new Public Policy Brief, Senior Scholar Jan Kregel reviews Hyman P. Minsky’s concept of financial fragility, and concludes that the current financial crisis is the result of insufficient margins, or "cushions," of safety based on how creditworthiness is assessed in the new originate-and-distribute financial system. Contents: NEW PUBLIC POLICY BRIEF Minsky’s Cushions of […]

Download Volume 18, No. 2 PDF (215.89 KB)