300 Economists Warn Obama: Grave Danger Ahead

300 Economists Warn Obama: Grave Danger Ahead
by Bryce Covert
September 16, 2010

Three hundred economists released a letter to President Obama today with one message: focus on jobs, not on the deficit. Robert Borosage, co-director of the Institute for America’s Future and one of the authors of the statement, said the letter is “a call for action on the economy and a return to economic common sense” in a conference call with the media this morning. This is not the time for balancing the budget and slashing the deficit, he pointed out; rather, it is “the time for bold initiatives to rebuild America and to generate jobs and growth.”

.... Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor, was perfectly clear on where he stands: “There is a serious danger that if we continue with the policies that we are now seeing in Washington, we’re going to have not just a double dip recession, but we are toying with the possibility of much more serious deflation and a US lost decade analogous to Japan’s lost decade.” There are only four sources of economic demand, three of which — consumers, businesses, and export countries — have problems of their own, he reminds us. Government is the last source when all else fails — and all else IS failing. If we can’t learn the lesson from these facts, Reich thinks we risk repeating 1937, when FDR listened to budget balancers and deficit hawks. His move “plunged us back into depths of very deep depression,” and he says we’re in danger of doing the same thing all over again unless we can “stop our obession with short-term deficits and understand both economic logic and history.”

Other economists are also making noise about this issue. The New America Foundation recently released “Plan B for Economic Recovery“, which included a statement from ND20 contributors Marshall Auerback and James K. Galbraith, called for a focus on jobs and progressive ideas to get the economy back on track. And Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein just ran an interview series, “Blue Skies,” that lays out different ideas to kick-start job creation from Dean Baker, Heather Boushey, Michael Lind, and others. Moral of the story: this recession demands creative and bold action, not a resort to fear.

http://www.newdeal20.org/2010/09/16/300-economists-warn... /


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(Excerpt)

STATEMENT BY ECONOMISTS

DON'T KILL GROWTH AND JOBS IN THE NAME OF DEFICIT REDUCTION


In the fall of 2008 the U.S. and other major economies were in a free fall in the wake of a global financial crisis. Emergency stimulus policies here and around the world broke the fall, but brought us only part way to full recovery.

Today there is a grave danger that the still-fragile economic recovery will be undercut by austerity economics. A turn by major governments away from the promotion of growth and jobs and to premature focus on deficit reduction could slow growth and increase unemployment – and could push us back into recession.

History suggests that a tenuous recovery is no time to practice austerity. In the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal generated growth and reduced the unemployment rate from 25 percent in 1932 to less than 10 percent in 1937. However, the deficit hawks of that era persuaded President Roosevelt to reverse course prematurely and move toward budget balance. The result was a severe recession that caused the economy to contract sharply and sent the unemployment rate soaring. Only the much larger wartime spending of the early 1940s produced a full recovery.

Today, the economy is growing only weakly. 7.8 million jobs have been lost in the recession. Consumers, having suffered losses in home values and retirement savings, are tightening their belts. The business sector, uncertain about consumer spending, is reluctant to invest in expansion or job creation, leaving the economy trapped on a path of slow growth or stagnation. Over 20 million American workers are now unemployed, underemployed or simply have given up looking for a job.

The President and Congress should redouble efforts to create jobs and send aid to the states whose budget crises threaten recovery by forcing them to lay off school teachers, public safety workers, and other essential workers. It also makes sense to invest in public service jobs – and in infrastructure projects for transportation, water, and energy conservation that will make our economy more productive for years to come.

STATEMENT ENDORSERS:

Institutional affiliations are provided for identification purposes only.

Statement Authors
Robert Borosage and Roger Hickey, Institute for America's Future
Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research
Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect and Dēmos

Endorsers

Economists

Tanweer Akram | Senior Economist, ING Investment Management

Randy Albelda | University of Massachusetts Boston

Sylvia Allegretto | University of California, Berkeley

Gar Alperovitz | University of Maryland

Nancy Altman | Social Security Works

Eileen Appelbaum | Rutgers University

Diane Archer | Institute for America’s Future

Michael Ash | University of Massachusetts Amherst

Nahid Aslanbeigui | Monmouth University

Marshall Auerback | Roosevelt Institute

Reuven Avi-Yonah | University of Michigan

Hillel Bachrach | 20/20 HealthCare Partners LLC

M. V. Lee Badgett | University of Massachusetts Amherst

Ron Baiman | Center for Tax and Budget Accountability

Dean Baker | Center for Economic and Policy Research

Radhika Balakrishnan | Rutgers University

Nesecan Balkan | Hamilton College

Nina Banks | Bucknell University

William Barclay| Chicago Political Economy Group


Chuck Barone| Dickinson College


Michael Belzer| Wayne State University


Lourdes Beneria| Cornell University


Barbara R. Bergmann| American University


Alexandra Bernasek| Colorado State University


Cihan Bilginsoy| University of Utah


Cyrus Bina| University of Minnesota (Morris Campus)


Angela Glover Blackwell| PolicyLink


Howard Botwinick| State University of New York , Cortland


Roger Bove| West Chester University (Retired)


Paula Braveman| University of California, San Francisco


Clair Brown| University of California Berkeley


E. Richard Brown| University of California Los Angeles


Robert Buchele| Smith College


Cruz Bueno| University of Massachusetts–Amherst


Jim Campen| University of Massachusetts Boston (emeritus)


Colin S. Cavell, Ph.D.| University of Bahrain American Studies Center


John Chasse| Association for Evolutionary Economics


Howard Chernick| Hunter College CUNY


Paul Christensen| Hofstra University


Steve Clemons| New America Foundation


Anne Cobb| Empire State College


Lizabeth Cohen| Harvard University


James Crotty| University of Massachusetts Amherst


James Cypher| California State University Fresno


Diana Da| Diana Dai Communications Inc.


Peter Damiano| The University of Iowa


Anita Dancs| Western New England College


Jane D’Arista| PERI/SAFER


Paul A David| Stanford University


Paul Davidson| University of Tennessee


Susan M. Davis| Buffalo State College


Charles Davis| Indiana University


John Davis| Marquette University


Anthony D’Costa| Asia Research Centre


Amy B. Dean| Author, “A New New Deal”


Gregory DeFreitas| Hofstra University


James Devine| Loyola Marymount University


Ranjit Dighe| SUNY College at Oswego


David Doane| Oakland University


Karen Dolan| Institute for Policy Studies


G. William Domhoff| University of California, Santa Cruz


Peter Dorman| Evergreen State College


Amitava Dutt| University of Notre Dame


Gary Dymski| University of California Riverside


Todd Easton| University of Portland


Gary Edelman| Edelman & Associates


Barbara Ehrenreich| Author, “Nickeled and Dimed”


Justin Elardo| Portland Community College


Zohreh Emami| Alverno College


Brian England| University of Utah


Gerald Epstein| University of Massachusetts at Amherst


Jeff Faux| Economic Policy Institute


Steven Fazzari| Washington University


Rashi Fein| Harvard University


Susan Feiner| University of Southern Maine


Thomas Ferguson| University of Massachusetts, Boston and Roosevelt Institute


Rudy Fichtenbaum| Wright State University


David Fields| University of Utah


Catherine Finnoff| University of Massachusetts at Amherst


Richard Flacks| University of California, Santa Barbara


Nancy Folbre| University of Massachusetts at Amherst


Robert Francis| Shoreline Community College


Robert Frank| Cornell University


Gerald Friedman| University of Massachusetts at Amherst


James K. Galbraith| University of Texas, Economists for Peace and Security


John Gallup| Portland State University


William Ganley| Department of Economics & Finance, Buffalo State College


Angel Garcia Banchs| Universidad Central de Venezuela


David George| La Salle University


Christophre Georges| Hamilton College


Arthur Gerds| Unaffilliated


Teresa Ghilarducci| New School for Social Research


Helen Ginsburg| Brooklyn College and National Jobs for All Coalition


Lonnie Golden| Penn State Abington


Stephen Gorin| Plymouth State University


Ulla Grapard| Colgate University


Carole Green| University of South Florida


Daphne Greenwood| University of Colorado-Colorado Springs


Karl D. Gregory| Oakland University and KDG & Associates


Lawrence Grossberg| University of North Carolina


Robert Guttmann| Hofstra University


Jacob Hacker| Yale University


Robin Hahnel| Portland State University


John Battaile Hall| Portland State University


Lori Hansen| Former Member, Senate Democrats Social Security Advisory Board


Martin Hart-Landsberg| Lewis and Clark College


Heidi Hartmann| Institute for Women’s Policy Research


John Harvey| Texas Christian University


Carol Heim| University of Massachusetts, Amherst


James Heintz| University of Massachusetts


Susan Helper| Case Western Reserve University


John Henry| University of Missouri–Kansas City


Conrad Herold| Hofstra University


Adam Hersh| University of Massachusetts


Gillian Hewitson| University of Sydney


Joan Hoffman| John Jay College of Criminal Justice


Michael Intriligator| University of California Los Angeles


Dorene Isenberg| University of Redlands


Ken Jacobs| University of California Berkeley


Peter Jacobson| University of Michigan


Robert Johnson| Roosevelt Institute


Helene Jorgensen| Author, Sick and Tired


Arne Kalleberg| University of North Carolina


J. K. Kapler| University of Massachusetts Boston


Victor Kasper Jr.| Buffalo State College


Jeffrey Keefe| Rutgers University


Mary King| Portland State University


Eric Kingson| Syracuse University


Andrew Kohen| James Madison University (emeritus)


Ben Kohl| Temple University


Gerald F. Kominski| University of California Los Angeles


Brent Kramer| City University of New York


Peter Karl Kresl| Bucknell University (emeritus)


Robert Kuttner| The American Prospect


Supriya Lahiri| University of Massachusetts Lowell


Thomas Lambert| Indiana University Southeast


Dr. Tom Larson| California State University, Los Angeles


Keith Leitich| Central & East Asian Affairs Analyst


Margaret Levenstein| University of Michigan


Charles Levenstein| University of Massachusetts Lowell


Henry Levin| Columbia University


Marc Levine| University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee


Mark Levinson | Service Employees International Union


Victor Lippit| University of California, Riverside


Robert Lynch| Washington College


Catherine Lynde| University of Massachusetts Boston


Arthur MacEwan| University of Massachusetts Boston (emeritus)


Christopher Mackin| Ownership Associates, Inc.


Yahya Madra| Gettysburg College


Jeff Madrick| Roosevelt Institute; Schwartz Center, The New School


Mark Maier| Glendale Community College


Jean Maier| US Society for Ecological Economics


Julianne Malveaux| Bennett College for Women


Arindam Mandal | Siena College


John Mannah| New School for Social Research


Theodore Marmor| Yale University


Julie Matthae| Wellesley College


Peter Matthews| Middlebury College


Daniel McFadden| University of California, Berkeley


Hannah McKinney| Kalamazoo College


Walter W. McMahon| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign


Joseph Medley| University of Southern Maine


Michael Meeropol| Western New England College (emeritus)


Martin Melkonian| Hofstra University


John Messier| University of Maine Farmington


Peter Meyer| The E.P. Systems Group, Inc.


Thomas Michl| Colgate University


Marcelo Milan| University of Wisconsin Parkside


William Milberg| New School for Social Research


Lawrence Mishel| Economic Policy Institute


Vernon Mogensen| Kingsborough Community College, CUNY


Michael Morrill| Keystone Progress


Philip Moss| University of Massachusetts Lowell


Tracy Mott| University of Denver


Jamee Moudud| Sarah Lawrence College


Dedrick Muhammad| Institute for Policy Studies


Kevin Murphy| Oakland University


Michael Murray| Bates College


Michele Naples| The College of New Jersey


Julie Nelson| University of Massachusetts Boston


Immanuel Ness| Brooklyn College/CUNY


Katherine Newman| Princeton University


Eric Nilsson| California State University–San Bernardino


Laurie Nisonoff| Hampshire College


Jack Norman| Institute for Wisconsin’s Future


Michael Nuwer| State University of New York Potsdam


Paulette Olson| Wright State University


Mary Orisich| Holyoke Community College


Pierre Ostiguy| Bard College


Christine Owens| National Employment Law Project


Aaron Pacitti| Siena College


Spencer Pack| Connecticut College


Thomas Palley| New America Foundation


Robert Pandolfo| DBA/Analyst, self-employed


Dimitri Papadimitriou| Levy Economics Institute


Richard Parker| Harvard University


James Parrott| Fiscal Policy Institute


M. Stephen Pendleton| Buffalo State College


Michael Perelman| California State Universty–Chico


Tova Perlmutter| Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice


Rick Perlstein| Author, "Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America"


Joseph Persky| University of Illinois at Chicago


Mark Peterson| University of California Los Angeles


Karl Petrick| Western New England College


John Philo| Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice


Paul Pieper| University of Illinois at Chicago


Bruce Pietrykowski| University of Michigan–Dearborn


Karen Rosel Polenske| Massachusetts Institute of Technology


Robert Pollin| University of Massachussets Amherst


Marilyn Power| Sarah Lawrence College


Thomas M. Power| University of Montana


Mark Price| Keystone Research Center


Edith Rasell| United Church of Christ Justice & Witness Ministries


Michael Reich| University of California Berkeley


Robert B. Reich| University of California Berkeley; former Secretary of Labor


Cordelia Reimer| Hunter College - CUNY


Joseph Ricciardi| Babson College


Malcolm Robinson| Thomas More College


John Roche| St. John Fisher College


James Rock| University of Utah


Charles Rock| Rollins College


John Roemer| Yale University


Sergio Romero| Boise State University


Jaime Ros| University of Notre Dame


Batt Rosemar| Cornell University


Michael Rosen| Milwaukee Area Technical College


Sam Rosenberg| Roosevelt University


Joshua Rosenbloom| University of Kansas


David Rosnick| Center for Economic and Policy Research


Lynda Rush| California State Polytechnic University


Hector Saez| Beyond Growth


Anandi Sahu| Oakland University


John Sarich| Institute of Global Communications


Lisa Saunders| University of Massachusetts–Amherst


Harwood Schaffer| University of Tennessee


Helen Scharber| University of Massachusetts–Amherst


Ted Schmidt| Buffalo State College


John Schmitt| Center for Economic and Policy Research


Victor Schoenbach| University of North Carolina


Sanford Schram| Bryn Mawr College


Sherle R. Schwenninger| New America Foundation


Elliott Sclar| Columbia University


Stephanie Seguino| University of Vermont


Jean Shackelford| Bucknell University


Sumitra Shah| St. John’s University


Derek Shearer| Occidental College


Kristen Sheeran| Economics for Equity and Environment Network


Heidi Shierholz| Economic Policy Institute


Richard Shirey| Siena College


Laurence Shute| California State Polytechnic University, Pomona


Alexandra Sidiropoulos| Miskin & Tsui-Yip LLP


Mark Silverman| Steptoe & Johnson LLP


Peter Skott| University of Massachusetts Amherst


Lewis Smith| Economist, retired


Vince Snowberger| Economist, retired


Case Sprenkle| University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign


James Ron Stanfield| Colorado State University (emeritus)


Casey Stanton| Transportation Equity Network


Howard Stein| University of Michigan


Mary Stevenson| University of Massachusetts Boston


James Stewart| Penn State University


Jeffrey Stewart| University of Cincinnati


Frank Stricker| California State University–Dominguez Hills


Peter Temin| Massachusetts Institute of Technology


David Terkla| University of Massachusetts Boston


Mark Thoma| University of Oregon


Frank Thompson| University of Michigan


Chris Tilly| University of California Los Angeles


Jim Tober| Marlboro College


John Tower| Oakland University (Retired)


Scott Trees| Siena College Economics Department


Dale Tussing| Syracuse University


Leanne Ussher| Queens College, City University of New York


David Vail| Bowdoin College


Marjolein van der Veen| The Nation


Bryan Van Name| Economics Blogger


Matt Vidal| King’s College London


Rudiger von Arnim| University of Utah


Valerie Voorheis| Marlboro College Graduate Center


Paula Voos| Rutgers University


Steven Wallace| University of California Los Angeles


Paul Wallace| Retired


Joseph Washington| Unaffilliated


Lucy Law Webster| Economists for Peace and Security


John Weeks| University of London (emeritus)


David Weiman| Barnard College, Columbia University


Scott A. Weir| Unaffilliated


Mark Weisbrot| Center for Economic and Policy Research


Charles Weise| Gettysburg College


Thomas Weisskopf| University of Michigan


Ralph Whitehead| University of Massachusetts–Amherst


Jeannette Wicks-Lim| University of Massachusetts Amherst


Roger Wilkins| Campaign for America’s Future


John Willoughby| American University


Martin H. Wolfson| University of Notre Dame


Yavuz Yasar| University of Denver


June Zaccone| National Jobs for All Coalition


Ajit Zacharias| Levy Economics Institute


David Zalewski| Providence College


James M. Zelenski| Regis University


Michael Zimmerman| University of Colorado


Frederick Zimmerman| University of California Los Angeles


Ben Zipperer| University of Massachusetts–Amherst



Civic and Labor Leaders

Deepak Bhargava| Center for Community Change


Jeff Blum| USAction


James Boland| International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers


Robert Borosage| Campaign for America’s Future


Anna Burger| Former Secretary-Treasurer, SEIU


Darcy Burner| Progressive Congress Action Fund


Nancy Duff Campbell| National Women’s Law Center


Rea Carey| National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund


Ashley Carson| Older Women’s League


Larry Cohen| Communications Workers of America


Darryl Fagin| Americans for Democratic Action, Inc.


Rabbi Michael Feinberg| Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition


Mark Friedman| Third Culture


Leo Gerard| United Steelworkers of America


Robert Greenwald| Brave New Films


Mary Kay Henry| Service Employees International Union


Roger Hickey | Campaign for America’s Future


Michael Huttner| ProgressNow


Rev Jesse Jackson| Rainbow-PUSH Coalition


Avis Jones-DeWeever| National Council of Negro Women


Bob King| United Auto Workers Union


Joan Kuriansky| Wider Opportunities for Women


Antonio Lodico| Mon Valley Unemployed Committee


Meizhu Lui| Closing the Racial Wealth Gap, Insight Center for Community Economic Development


Ben Manski| Liberty Tree Foundation


Don Mathis| Community Action Partnership


Gerald McEntee| American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees


Brian Miller| United for a Fair Economy


Terry O’Neill| National Organization for Women


Robert Patrician| Communications Workers of America


Miles Rapoport| Dēmos


Charles Rodgers| New Community Fund


Justin Ruben| MoveOn.org


Steven Schwartz| Ballot Initiative Strategy Center


Karen See| Coalition of Labor Union Women


Hilary Shelton | NAACP


Curtis Skinner| National Center for Children in Poverty


Ted Smukler| Interfaith Worker Justice


Margery Tabankin| The Streisand Foundation


Scott Wallace| Wallace Global Fund


Deborah Weinstein| Coalition on Human Needs


Michael J. Wilson| Americans for Democratic Action



State Civic Leaders

Betty Ahrens| Iowa Citizen Action Network


Gerard Bradley| New Mexico Voices for Children


Linda Brown| Arizona Advocacy Network


Bless Burke| Western North Carolina Workers' Center


Simone Campbell| NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby


Sarah Chaisson Warner| New Hampshire Citizens Alliance for Action


Melba Collins| Arkansas Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice


Lynda DeLaforgue| Citizen Action/Illinois


Rion Dennis| Progressive Maryland


Adrienne Evans| United Action for Idaho


Linda Garding| North Dakota People.org


Debra Gardner| Public Justice Center


Rebekah Gienapp| Workers Interfaith Network (Memphis, Tenn.)


Jesse Graham| Maine People's Alliance


Jill Harrington| Ocean State Action


Alice Hoffman| Pa. Alliance of Retired Americans


Nancy Holle| Community, Faith and Labor Coalition


Janice "Jay" Johnson| Viginia Organizing


Jonathan Klein| Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE-LA)


Robert Kraig| Citizen Action of Wisconsin


Mary Mancini| Tennessee Citizen Action


Craig McMahon| Step Safe


Bill Moyer| Backbone Campaign


Bill Newton| Florida Citizen Action Group


Anne Nolan| Candidate for Minnesota State Representative, District 15A


Brian O'Shaughnessy| Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State


Will Pittz| Washington Community Action Network


Tom Rankin| California Alliance for Retired Americans


Brian Rothenberg| ProgressOhio


Phyllis Salowe-Kaye| New Jersey Citizen Action


Joel Scott| Detroit Federation of Teachers


Nicholas Segura Jr.| International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers LU569


Eric Sklar| Vice Mayor, St. Helena, Calif.


Marc Stier| Penn Action


Tom Swan| Connecticut Citizen Action Group


Linda Teeter| Michigan Citizen Action


Ron Williams| Oregon Action


Gary Zuckett| West Virginia Citizen Action Group

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