In Keynes Against Capitalism, PERI researcher James Crotty demonstrates that John Maynard Keynes—the most influential economist of the 20th Century—advanced a coherent program on behalf of 'Liberal Socialism.' Crotty's view sharply diverges from mainstream perspectives which have long held that Keynes's overarching project was mild reform of capitalism. Professor James Galbraith writes "This book is a marvel of economic narrative, with Crotty's clarity and Keynes's elegance in stunning counterpoint, from Versailles through the Depression to the war and Bretton Woods, all bringing forth the great, neglected fact that Keynes's Liberal Socialism was far more radical than modern memory would have us think."
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Shadow Networks: Financial Disorder and the System that Caused Crisis
In Shadow Networks: Financial Disorder and the System that Caused Crisis, Francisco Louçã and PERI researcher Michael Ash examine the root causes of the 2007 – 09 global financial crisis. They explore how finance became hegemonic in the capitalist system; and what have been the social consequences of the rise of finance. They show how "shadow finance," or the non-regulated part of the financial system, is a crucial part of the operation of big banks and financial agencies. They also document how the broader "shadow economy" emerged through deliberate actions by government officials and other decision makers to advance a neoliberal capitalist order.
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The Persistence of Earnings Inequality by Race among U.S. Women
PERI researcher Jeannette Wicks-Lim examines how racism has caused Black and White women to interact with the labor market in profoundly different ways. This has led to a significant racial earnings gap that has persisted from 1979 to 2016. In particular, Black married women have historically been much more active in the labor force than White married women. To account for this expression of White privilege, Wicks-Lim examines the earnings gap by household type. This approach reveals how a roughly 120 percent White earnings premium has persisted among single mothers, single women without children, and among married women without children.
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The Institutional, Empirical and Policy Limits of 'Modern Money Theory'
This paper by PERI Co-Director Gerald Epstein considers some of the central limitations of Modern Money Theory (MMT), including with respect to international financial markets. Epstein argues that these constraints are much more binding on the policy applicability of MMT than many MMT advocates appear to recognize. To address these limitations, MMT analysts would have to enter the messy institutional, policy and empirical realms that undermine their simplistic policy proposals. Epstein concludes that, in light of these limitations, MMT’s major policy suggestions are of little practical relevance for progressive macroeconomic policymaking.
>> Read Epstein's blog critique, "Is MMT 'America First' Economics?"
