The Last of the Baby Boomers Are Turning 65, And…
Between now and 2030, nearly 30 million Americans born between 1959 and 1964 will turn 65, the tail end of the Baby Boom generation. As the largest cohort on record to reach retirement age, they are often called the “peak boomers.” In a new study supported by the Alliance for Lifetime Income, my co-author Luke Stuttgen and I found that… Continue reading
Noticing and Solving the Problem with Jobs and Wages
America’s vaunted job-creating machine has been breaking down, and the administration is finally noticing. It was in 2003 when I first asked myself whether the dynamics that normally produce lots of new jobs when the economy expands were changing in some fundamental way. I had noticed that job losses during the mild 2001 recession were five to six times as…Continue reading
Politicians Who Ignore the Problem with Jobs May End Up…
While public debate about jobs usually focuses on the unemployment rate, what matters more are the changes in the number of people still working and how many hours they’re working, because that determines how much wealth and income the economy produces. On these matters, major developments are unfolding which could play decisive roles in determining not only the economic prospects…Continue reading
The Lessons of LBJ and Robert McNamara for Barack Obama
Robert McNamara died this week, but his life holds lessons for Barack Obama’s presidency. Arguably the leading light of JFK’s stable of the best and the brightest, McNamara’s work as an architect and prime executor of LBJ’s Vietnam debacle is well remembered by tens of millions of boomers who came of age during Vietnam, as well as the President. The…Continue reading
Will Higher Savings Help or Hurt the Economy?
What happens if Americans come out of the current downturn with a serious commitment to save more? There are many sound and obvious reasons for people to save — to build up a cushion should they lose their jobs, for example, accumulate the down payment for a house, cover their children’s college tuition, and be able to retire on more…Continue reading
Sensory Overload Produces Sloppy Policy
Washington policymaking is caught in its own version of sensory overload. All at once, there are too many problems that seem — and actually are — urgent, mind-bogglingly complex, and politically ultra-sensitive to handle well. The result now emerging could be waves of ill-considered decisions. Exhibit A is climate change. Taking serious measures to protect the planet’s climate and ecosystems…Continue reading
Choices in Universal Health Care
Beijing, China — As the health care debate in Washington begins in earnest, a quick trip around the world over the last week has given me a fresh perspective. My first stop was Sweden, to deliver a talk on America’s economic prospects, post-financial crisis. But, first, I found I had to see a doctor for a mild, recurrent eye infection,…Continue reading
Getting Serious about Our Financial Mess
The best way to clear your head of the political chatter that passes for policy debate in Washington is to get out of town. I’m writing today from Stockholm, a grand old city on a picturesque harbor and archipelago, where it’s harder to care much about Larry Summers’ squabbles with White House colleagues, the cynical fulminations from Newt Gingrich or…Continue reading
The Downfall of the Waxman-Markey Bill: Politics-as-Usual Meets Climate Change
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s recent approval of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill presents a crucial test for serious advocates of measures to control climate change. It won committee approval with backing from some environmental groups that have promoted cap-and-trade for 15 years, as well as industry groups representing companies that produce most of our greenhouse gases. The disappointing fact…Continue reading