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The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being, Great Britain, 1995 and 2005

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  • Ajit Zacharias

Abstract

Forty-five years ago, the A. Philip Randolph Institute issued "The Freedom Budget," in which a program for economic transformation was proposed that included a job guarantee for everyone ready and willing to work, a guaranteed income for those unable to work or those who should not be working, and a living wage to lift the working poor out of poverty. Such policies were supported by a host of scholars, civic leaders, and institutions, including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; indeed, they provided the cornerstones for King's "Poor Peoples' Campaign" and "economic bill of rights." This paper proposes a "New Freedom Budget" for full employment based on the principles of functional finance. To counter a major obstacle to such a policy program, the paper includes a "primer" on three paradigms for understanding government budget deficits and the national debt: the deficit hawk, deficit dove, and functional finance perspectives. Finally, some of the benefits of the job guarantee are outlined, including the ways in which the program may serve as a vehicle for a variety of social policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ajit Zacharias, 2011. "The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being, Great Britain, 1995 and 2005," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_668, Levy Economics Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_668
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Masterson, 2011. "Quality of Match for Statistical Matches Used in the 1989 and 2000 LIMEW Estimates for France," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_676, Levy Economics Institute.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment; Full Employment; Budget Deficits; National Debt; Public Policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B50 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - General
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • H60 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - General
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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