Nancy Folbre and James Heintz outline some preliminary steps toward a more satisfactory integration of family and market dynamics. They examine distinctive characteristics of the family economy that deserve consideration. They then develop critical assessment of three different types of models: accounting frameworks, neoclassical growth models that assume joint utility, and neoclassical growth models that problematize family decision making between the generations, often dubbed overlapping generation models. They argue that overlapping generation models provide a starting point for more satisfactory models. The paper concludes by outlining ways in which this approach could be fruitfully extended.

Michael Ash, Deepanker Basu and Arin Dube provide an innovative new approach for assessing the relationship between public debt and GDP growth in the postwar advanced economies. They find little evidence of a negative relationship. They also consider their results relative to four influential papers that have found a substantial negative relationship between public debt and economic growth, especially when public debt levels exceed 90 percent of GDP.  Ash, Basu and Dube show that these results are highly sensitive to the specific ways in which these alternative models are developed and are not robust to alternative appropriate testing methodologies.

Puerto Rico is experiencing a severe economic, social, and debt crisis. But the predominant idea guiding discussions for resolving the crisis is an austerity agenda that will only worsen conditions. This paper by Amanda Page-Hoongrajok, Shouvik Chakraborty and Robert Pollin of PERI develops a “green growth” program for Puerto Rico as an alternative to austerity. This program is capable of delivering much lower energy costs, expanding job opportunities, eliminating dependence on fossil fuel imports, and creating openings for small-scale business ventures. But major debt write-downs will be necessary to enable the green growth program to move forward at a significant scale.