Roosevelt Institute

After decades of empirical evidence, policymakers are confident about neoliberalism’s economic failures: harsh inequality, corporate concentration, and slow growth, to name just a few. As our Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz writes, they’re also warping our democracy and creating power imbalances throughout society—providing “a fertile field for authoritarianism and illiberal ideas.” In a 🆕 working paper, Stiglitz reflects on how to build a post-neoliberal economy that supports, not undermines, a thriving democracy. “Neoliberalism is not really a program based on economic theory; it is a political agenda,” Stiglitz writes. Its harsh philosophy of individualism has fostered despair and alienation, polarization, short life expectancies, and environmental degradation, he explains, and—as we've further explored in our recent report "The Cultural Contradictions of Neoliberalism"—the Right has harnessed these negative impacts to push a reactionary agenda. Rebuilding from neoliberalism’s economic and political devastation requires rewriting the policy rules to: ✅ Promote competition in markets ✅ Tax the wealthy ✅ Empower worker unions ✅ Strengthen government capacity It also requires abandoning the conventional wisdom that markets should be the default institutional arrangement. 💡 The paradigm shift away from neoliberalism is about more than just economic efficiency. “Our socioeconomic system shapes who we are and affects what kind of society we create,” Stiglitz writes. “We have to ask, what kind of people and what kind of society do we want?” https://lnkd.in/gGvre9Vm

JOB ALERT! Roosevelt Institute is hiring a Managing Director of Development. Check it out on Jobsthatareleft.org and GAINPower.org #HiringNow #Elections2024.

ICYMI: Our top stories of the week ⤵️ ✅ Joseph Stiglitz on how our economic system shapes our society ▶️ In a new working paper, Roosevelt’s chief economist explains how neoliberalism didn’t just cause economic devastation—it created massive power imbalances throughout society and warped our democracy. ▶️ ▶️ But we can reverse this by rewriting the policy rules to promote competition in markets, tax the wealthy, empower worker unions, and strengthen government capacity. ✅ Why financial reform needs to be on the progressive agenda ▶️ In a new brief, Roosevelt Fellow Graham Steele argues that the 2022 banking crisis, the uncertainty of a new digital financial ecosystem, and unfinished business from the 2008 recession all pose a risk to a safe and stable financial sector. ▶️ ▶️ “Making the financial system fairer and less extractive will also help advance other economic policies that rely on the capital and services provided by the financial sector,” writes Steele, “including climate policy, financial inclusion policy, industrial policy, and antitrust policy.” Catch up on this and what we’ve been reading in this week’s #RooseveltRundown https://lnkd.in/eJz5aj5N

We are hiring a Managing Director of Development! This person will report to the Chief Development Officer and will oversee the fundraising strategy for our think tank and people development programs. They will also manage 4 staff members. Share with your network, or apply! We are working with NRG Consulting Group on this search. Reach out to [email protected] with any questions. https://lnkd.in/gmuAuuXE

🎊Today, we announce some additions to our 2024 cohort of think tank fellows! We welcome 2 new senior fellows and 5 new program fellows who will enrich the progressive policy community with a breadth of voices and expertise. Meet the new Roosevelters ⬇️ ➡️ Sarah Bloom Raskin, former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Colin W. Brown Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Law and senior fellow at the Duke University Center on Risk.  ➡️ Michelle Holder, associate professor of economics, John Jay College (CUNY), and the 2023 Urban Institute One Million Black Women Research Partnership scholar. ➡️ Joshua Macey, associate professor at Yale Law School and three-time winner of the Morrison Prize for most influential environmental law article. ➡️ Indivar Dutta-Gupta, former president and executive director, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), researcher, analyst, advocate, and policy influencer. ➡️ Samantha Shorey, visiting assistant professor of communication at the University of Pittsburgh and a field researcher who studies automated technologies in the workplace. ➡️ Daniel Martinez HoSang, professor of American studies at Yale University, with secondary appointments in the department of political science and Yale School of Medicine. ➡️ Portia Allen-Kyle, managing director at Color Of Change, and civil rights attorney and public policy expert. Our think tank vice president, Suzanne Kahn, reflects on the new additions: “Each of these fellows brings a valuable perspective that will help inform the direction of the think tank’s work going into a pivotal time for progressive policy. By fostering a community of thinkers and doers, we’re laying the groundwork for a transformative change to our economy and democracy.” https://lnkd.in/eNYbuvRq

We are thrilled by the work of the '23-'24 cohort of Emerging Fellows. As Katie Kirchner, National Director of Roosevelt Network, states, "If we believe that change might be our one constant, then it should be clear that our fight must be for the kind of change we want and need." Their work covers a wide range of topics related to the change they want to see in their local communities—for example, examining the unequal balance of power in New York City restaurants or documenting bold and imaginative infrastructure policy for Seattle communities; these students' work embodies the will and creativity to imagine a more just, democratic world.

ICYMI❗ Last week, we hosted an exciting virtual discussion, building on our recent research paper, 'The Cultural Contradictions of Neoliberalism: The Longing for an Alternative Order and the Future of Multiracial Democracy in an Age of Authoritarianism' authored by Shahrzad Shams, Harry Hanbury, and Deepak Bhargava and our The American Prospect #Goodlife series. As author and panelist Deepak Bhargava highlights, "What we have been doing hasn't worked—the more technocratic, economistic way of doing politics, which is prevalent in the progressive moment, has not been compelling to people." Watch and listen as the panel discusses why progressives need to prioritize culture and offer a vision for the good life rather than just policy solutions, below👇 : https://lnkd.in/gqRvWhUX

ICYMI: Our top stories of the week ⤵️ ✅ Why the Supreme Court is a threat to our democracy ▶️ In a new blog post, Roosevelt’s Suzanne Kahn warns of the impact of one of this term’s most significant decisions—overturning Chevron deference. ▶️ ▶️ The Chevron ruling could make it difficult for agencies to; regulate the health insurance industry, set & enforce wage and labor standards, and enforce rules under the Clean Air and Water Acts. ✅ The Roosevelt Network's 2024 Emerging Fellows journal—a collection of policy briefs exploring progressive solutions to state and local issues ▶️ In this collection of undergraduate papers, student authors from the Roosevelt Network Emerging Fellowship program engage deeply with research that embraces the intersections of policy, power, and narrative change to develop around-the-corner policy ideas that could fundamentally change their communities. ▶️▶️ The Roosevelt Network’s Emerging Fellowship is a yearlong fellowship experience focused on policy writing and designed for students in the last one to two years of their undergraduate degree program. Catch up on this and what we've been reading in this week's #RooseveltRundown: https://lnkd.in/gSpptxr8

🆕 Progressive economic policy has some unfinished business, and we should not wait for another large financial failure to do it. Here's why we need to make regulating our financial system a priority now: 📉 The 2008 Financial crisis taught us many lessons which we have not fully addressed. 🏛️ Deregulation during the Trump administration, which is a driver of failures like Silicon Valley Bank. 💳 The growing digitization of financial services, which current regulations and oversight schemes are ill-equipped to address. 💲 💵 Finance is an important component of building a fair, equitable, and resilient economy, and financial instability derails economic progress and is devastating for families and communities. Roosevelt fellow Graham Steele offers a framework for regulating our banking system in our latest brief 📄 https://lnkd.in/gzqrmbeq

📢 We are thrilled to announce the search for a new President & CEO who will build on and drive our organization's strategic direction. After 12 successful years at the helm, our current President and CEO, Felicia Wong, will transition to focus on our Roosevelt Society Initiative. Learn more about this opportunity and share it with your network. https://lnkd.in/gx9xYGrE