Archived Publication Types

Central bankers and many economists have abandoned “activist” policies and monetarism and adopted in their place a new view of the role of monetary policy. This view draws on many of the tenets of more traditional theories of money—monetarism’s emphasis on inflation control and skepticism about the use of easy-money policies to permanently increase output, […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 71A, 2003 PDF (114.37 KB)

A new Policy Note summarized under the Financial Markets and Monetary Policy program outlines Germany’s poor economic record since unification. Author J�rg Bibow warns that the "German disease" (protracted policy-inflicted domestic demand stagnation) and the threat of a deflationary spiral are spreading throughout the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).   Contents: Institute Research – Program: […]

Download Volume 12, No. 4 PDF (467.60 KB)

In a new Strategic Analysis, Distinguished Scholar Wynne Godley argues that personal debt levels in the United States cannot continue and that the country’s balance of payments deficit has largely been ignored by both the government and the public. Godley foresees an era of growth recession characterized by rising unemployment—and the risk of financial implosion. […]

Download Volume 12, No. 3 PDF (532.74 KB)

The latest Strategic Analysis by the Institute’s Macro-Modeling Team shows that the growth rate of private sector debt is unsustainable. The domestic economy is headed for a period of growth recession that can be offset only by a fiscal stimulus from the government sector, the authors say, and by increasing net export demand. Contents: The […]

Download Volume 12, No. 2 PDF (156.84 KB)

In this issue: Senior Scholar James K. Galbraith, in a new Policy Note, argues that conditions attached to an International Monetary Fund loan to Brazil are a form of blackmail that will deflate the Brazilian economy and lead to further loans until the private foreign sector is safely divested of its Brazilian holdings.   Contents: […]

Download Volume 12, No. 1 PDF (121.14 KB)

An overview of the Institute’s recent conference “Economic Mobility in America and Other Advanced Countries” leads off this issue of the Report. The conference encompassed sessions on a range of issues, from the effect of education on intergenerational mobility to the persistence of hardship over the life cycle. Contents: Conference: “Economic Mobility in America and […]

Download Volume 12, No. 4 PDF (943.69 KB)

This brief considers the interaction between physician incentive systems and product market competition in the delivery of medical services via managed care organizations. At the center of the analysis is the process by which health maintenance organizations (HMOs) assemble physician networks and the role these networks play in the competition for customers. The authors find […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 70A, 2002 PDF (96.21 KB)

In this brief, Biagio Bossone of the International Monetary Fund evaluates narrow banking from the perspective of modern theories of financial intermediation. These theories portray the status quo banking system as a solution to otherwise intractable problems of imperfect information, risk, and even moral hazard. The system’s characteristic coupling of liquid liabilities with illiquid assets—seen […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 69A, 2002 PDF (110.78 KB)

Newly released Congressional Budget Office figures show that the government’s fiscal stance in 2000 was tighter than at any time in the previous 40 years, with imbalances financed in recent years by dramatic increases in the level of private debt—a trend that cannot be sustained indefinitely. Summarized in this issue of the Report, the Institute’s […]

Download Volume 12, No. 3 PDF (28.23 MB)

At issue in the debate over the renewal of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977 are the various yardsticks regulators use to judge whether individual institutions are meeting the credit and service needs of low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities. Based on careful examination of new CRA data and assessments of comments by selected stakeholders, […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 68A, 2002 PDF (59.81 KB)

Included in this issue of the Report are summaries of the presentations made at the Institute’s Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference; this year’s topic: "Recession and Recovery: Economic Policy in Uncertain Times." Contents: Conference: 12th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on Financial Markets * Symposium: "New Directions in Research on Gender-Aware Macroeconomics and International Economics." […]

Download Volume 12, No. 2 PDF (315.25 KB)

At the 12th annual Minsky conference, held at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on April 25, 2002, 100 participants from government, business, and the academy gathered to discuss the current state of the United States’ economy and its future direction. Many of the speakers advanced the notion that the recession was over, that […]

Download Conference Proceedings, April 25, 2002 PDF (315.25 KB)

The 1990s expansion was powered uniquely and exceptionally by a huge fall in net saving by the private sector. In a new Policy Note summarized in this issue, Distinguished Scholar Wynne Godley argues that the public sector must now step in and be the new motor that drives the economy. Contents: Editorials: "Shouldering Governmental Responsibility" […]

Download Volume 12, No. 1 PDF (234.32 KB)

New Working Papers summarized in this issue include an examination of racial and ethnic differentiation in gender inequality, a proposal for a poverty measure that considers household wealth together with income, and a study of the probable impact of the United Kingdom’s adoption of the euro. An analysis of "narrow" banking by the IMF’s Biagio […]

Download Volume 11, No. 4 PDF (206.87 KB)

This double issue begins with an account of an international symposium on gender-aware macroeconomics, held at the Levy Institute in May, and includes an overview of the Institute’s 12th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on Financial Markets.   Contents: Summaries of events include the 12th annual Hyman P. Minsky conference and a symposium on gender-aware […]

Download Volume 11, No. 2–3 PDF (1.10 MB)

This Summary begins with Senior Scholar James K. Galbraith’s analysis of a very topical issue—the war economy.   Contents: New issue of Strategic Analysis (Wynne Godley and Alex Izurieta) · Policy Notes: The War Economy (Galbraith); Hard Times, Easy Money? Countercyclical Stabilization in an Uncertain Economy (Carpenter); Are We All Keynesians (Again)? (Papadimitriou and Wray) […]

Download Volume 11, No. 1 PDF (175.77 KB)

The United States is in the early stages of a recession that could be as deep and intractable as any since the Second World War, with serious consequences for the rest of the world. In his editorial for this issue of the Report, Distinguished Scholar Wynne Godley argues that the situation can be remedied, but […]

Download Volume 11, No. 4 PDF (112.61 KB)

Although the costs associated with moving an antiquated socialist economy toward its capitalist counterpart was anticipated to be significant, German industrial efficiency was expected to quickly overcome any challenges. Things turned out rather differently. Conventional wisdom blamed poor economic performance on unification. The government and the Bundesbank therefore put in place fiscal and monetary policies […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 67A, 2001 PDF (104.92 KB)

Despite decades of policies aimed at improving the economic position of African Americans in terms of relative income and earnings, they remain substantially behind whites. The research presented in this brief indicates that the wealth gap is even more staggering. Following families over time in order to understand racial differences in the sources and patterns […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 66A, 2001 PDF (81.50 KB)

In remarks delivered at the Levy Institute’s recent conference on educational policy, summarized in this issue, Bard College President Leon Botstein stated that schools will never function well if the general culture does not express an excitement and joy about learning. Botstein stressed the need for afterschool programs, which provide a more peer-supported environment that […]

Download Volume 11, No. 3 PDF (371.76 KB)

This brief assesses the experiences of Europe’s policy regime in the two years since the introduction of the euro in 1999, particularly the performance of the European Central Bank (ECB), the institution in charge of conducting monetary policy for the euro area. Conventional accounts of European growth, price, and labor market performance over recent years […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 65A, 2001 PDF (63.90 KB)

Proposals for campaign finance reform are essentially based on the belief that political influence can be bought with financial donations to a candidate’s campaign. But do contributions really influence the decisions of legislators once they are in office? In this brief, Christopher Magee examines the link between campaign donations and legislators’ actions. His results suggest […]

Download Public Policy Brief Highlights No. 64A, 2001 PDF (18.48 KB)

At the Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference, summarized in this issue, participants discussed changes in the financial structure and their impact on the financial market and on policy, the current state of the American economy and the ability of monetary and/or fiscal policy to stem what appears to be a slowdown, and the causes of […]

Download Volume 11, No. 2 PDF (187.75 KB)

The 11th annual Minsky conference, held April 26–27, 2001, at the Levy Institute’s research and conference center on the campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, centered on the slowdown in the United States and its implications for world economic growth, options for stabilization policy, and the dynamics of global financial crises. The conference […]

Download Conference Proceedings, April 26–27, 2001 PDF (1.75 MB)