What the Democrats Must Do: Project Syndicate — Brad DeLong

Although the United States has entered a period of deepening social strife and economic depression, the Republicans who are in charge have neither the ideas nor the competence to do anything about it. The Democrats must start planning to lead, starting with a commitment to full employment…. A federal commitment to full employment is not a new idea. The US Employment Act of 1946 embraced the principle.... The best response to... objections has always been John Maynard Keynes.... “Anything we can do, we can afford.”...

Far from acting as an independent binding constraint on economic activities, the financial system exists precisely to support such activities. Finding useful jobs for willing jobseekers is surely something we are capable of doing....

First and foremost, the Democratic Party must commit unconditionally to the principle that every American who wants a job should be able to find one. And while that job need not be great, it must pay enough to keep the worker’s family above the poverty line. Every policy under consideration should be judged by whether it accords with this principle....

Grasping Reality
What the Democrats Must Do: Project Syndicate
Brad DeLong | Professor of Economics, UCAL Berkeley