Josh Bivens

Community College Participation in Welfare Programs: Do State Policies Matter?.

This article examines how, to what extent, and why community colleges have responded to welfare-to-work initiatives. Data from a national survey shows that 80% of community colleges have implemented programs targeting welfare recipients that include short-term training linked to degree programs, on-the-job internships with employers, and job readiness and soft skill courses. The number of hours that Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipients are required to work per week and the degree that states allow TANF recipients to substitute education for other work activities are important policies affecting community college participation in welfare-to-work programs.

Macro Policy Lessons from the Recent Recession

It is time to take a look back at how effective the Bush economic policies have been. In one of the most comprehensive analyses of policy to date, these economists present a critical historical analysis of recent policy. They conclude that more coordinated policy could have resulted in an economy that started to recover quickly, would probably have resulted in more job growth, and would not have left America with ongoing sources of instability and high future budget deficits.

A ‘High-Pressure Economy’ Can Boost Productivity

The last four years have seen an extraordinarily sharp deceleration in productivity growth (the average amount of income generated in an hour of work in the economy). In fact, it has been below 1 percent for three years. But taking the slow productivity growth in recent years as fixed and unchangeable would be a huge policy mistake. It locks in inadequate fiscal and monetary policies. On the flip side, argues the author, there is evidence that pushing up wages by further reducing unemployment would increase productivity as businesses gain more incentive to invest in the capital equipment and processes that make those workers more productive.

The U.S. Economy Can Grow Faster

When an economist argued that Bernie Sanders’s fiscal program could stimulate GDP growth to significantly faster rates, many mainstream economists rose in anger against the projections. But this economist says there is indeed room for faster growth than these critics assert.

Tightening Monetary Policy Now Is a Bad Mistake

There is no more important policy decision facing the U.S. government than whether it is time to tighten monetary policy after years of economy-rescuing monetary stimulus. This economist look at each and every argument for tightening now and finds them all lacking.

Going green doesn't kill jobs

Claims that environmental regulations will worsen the unemployment crisis are false. When the economy is struggling the exact opposite is true, says Josh L. Bivens

Review: The End of Loser Liberalism: Making Markets Progressive. By Dean Baker

Challenge, vol. 55, no. 3, May/June 2012, pp. 129–136.