Stimulus

Today’s prolonged economic slump is fundamentally different from an ordinary recession. In the aftermath of a severe financial collapse, an economy is at risk of succumbing to a prolonged deflationary undertow. With asset prices reduced, the financial system damaged, unemployment high, consumer demand depressed, and businesses reluctant to invest, the economy gets stuck well below its full employment potential.

ABSTRACT: PROFILES about Imran Khan. Khan, who once ruled the sport of cricket from Karachi to Lord’s, is in contention to rule the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Khan makes for an unusual politician—a former tabloid celebrity aspiring to negotiate with the Taliban. He is rated in opinion polls as his country’s most popular politician. He leads the somewhat amorphous party Tehreek-e-Insaf, or the Movement for Justice, which he founded in 1996. It promises a crackdown on corruption, freedom from American influence, competent governance, and a more equitable economy.

Lina Khan illuminates the reasons behind the precipitous decline of American startups over the past few decades, and Danielle Kehl explains why high-speed Internet in many major American cities is slower and costlier than offerings in comparable municipalities around the world. Elizabeth Weingarten hosts.

Contents

I.  Overview
II.  The Story Begins with Oil & Gas
III.  Job Creation and Investment
IV.  The Catalyst for a Manufacturing Revival
V.  The Rise of New Industries
VI.  Shoring up America’s Fiscal Position
VII.  Infrastructure Investment is the Missing Piece of the Story
VIII.  Serious Obstacles Remain

The share of wages and salaries in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has declined in most rich nations over the past 20 to 30 years. Over the same period, income inequality has grown in most of these nations, and rapidly in some of the largest of them, resulting in slow wage growth for most consumers. 

Millennials are the first downwardly mobile generation in decades, staring down a host of economic challenges--student debt, the rise of low-wage jobs, and the ballooning cost of tuition, food, and rent. Media regularly serve up sobering statistics about twentysomethings, while Occupy Wall Street struggles to stay on message. How will the Great Recession affect Millennials longterm? And do they have what it takes to fight back?

The eurozone crisis has re-emerged with rising borrowing costs in Italy and Spain and increasing concerns about the prospects for growth.

Counterterrorism Research Fellow Brian Fishman and Schwartz Fellow Steve Levine explore the real challenges facing the U.S. in Afghanistan and rising gas prices at home. Pamela Chan hosts.

Few media narratives about Detroit describe the city’s potential to define our technological future. Instead we hear stories of crumbling buildings, empty streets or, conversely, its rise as a burgeoning city of everything hip and cool. Yet every four months or so, hundreds of Detroiters take part in shaping the future of technology through innovative community-led DiscoTechs.

This piece is coauthored by Bruce Jentleson, Professor at Duke University, and Jay Pelosky, Principal of J2Z Advisory. It originally appeared on the Huffington Post.