The Political Economy Research Institute’s new initiative brings together economists and practitioners to develop transformative but practical policies for a fairer, greener, and more democratic economy.
An old saying goes: “You can’t beat something with nothing.”
First, what are we trying to beat? The neoliberal order ushered in by President Ronald Reagan and continued in various forms by the Bush and Clinton administrations did considerable harm to America’s workers. Now, however, things are getting worse. We are facing a particularly pernicious form of corrupt authoritarian capitalism that is dominated by a self-seeking presidential family and a lethal coalition of techno-fossil-fuel-financialized capitalists.
How can we beat it? This summer the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) launched an ambitious initiative to develop radical yet practical economic policies for American workers and families. The initiative is called Game Changers: Economic Policies for a Working America. I launched this project along with my colleagues Jim Boyce of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Julie Schor of Boston College, because of the emerging perception that progressives in the United States could not gain leverage simply by leveling criticisms and epithets against Trump and his associates. Looking for answers to their legitimate problems, many American voters either simply sit out elections or pull the lever for extreme candidates that seek to manipulate them by identifying scapegoats—such as immigrants—as the source of their problems.
We launched Game Changers to provide real answers to the real problems facing the vast majority of Americans. We offer activists, political candidates, and government officials policy proposals that bridge the gulf between the transformative and the practical, pointing the way to an economy that is fairer, greener, more productive, more caring, and more democratic. We believe that these proposals are practical enough to offer hope to those who want to help mobilize the political forces that can bring them to fruition.
PERI is not alone in developing progressive policy ideas designed to transform current political debates. Several progressive think tanks, officials, and candidates have put forward agendas that address critical and well-known problems facing American workers and families. Representative Pramila Jayapal and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, among others, have called for the need to push a positive agenda. Building on Zohran Mamdani’s successful New York City mayoral campaign based on demands for “affordability,” the Congressional Progressive Caucus recently launched a “New Affordability Agenda” that would lower health care costs, reduce childcare expenses, and raise wages.
More extensive and detailed plans have come from think tanks along an array of ideological perspectives. The Center for American Progress created an initiative on “The Path Forward on Affordability,” directed by Jared Bernstein, President Joe Biden’s longtime economic adviser. University of California, Berkeley, economist Michael Reich and colleagues have developed “A Bold Economic Program for America.” The Roosevelt Institute has launched “The Good Life Agenda.” And there are, presumably, other progressive agendas coming along, some focused on getting ready for 2028.
The Policies to Change the Game
The Game Changers project does not attempt to offer a comprehensive program for the American left. Ours is more of a menu of ideas that can be picked up by those who want to mobilize on their behalf. The Game Changers project offers bold, new ideas to build a stronger, fairer, greener, and more inclusive economy for all Americans. The project has been developed by nine teams of experts and practitioners (about 45 people in total) working on a range of subjects: Care, Finance and Financial Regulation, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Macroeconomics (including taxes and military spending), Trade and Labor, and Work and Jobs. All in all, these teams have developed about 30 different policy proposals.
The range of policies is striking. They include “The Wealth of Welcome: Immigration Reform That Works for America,” “America’s Workers Deserve a Four-Day Work Week,” “A Universal Basic Income for Children,” “Medicare for All,” “Polluters Pay–The Extreme Weather Superfund,” “Democratize North American Trade,” “Housing as a Human Right,” “National Rent Control,” “Public Banking,” “No More Bailouts,” and “Funding the Future While Reducing Inequality.” Here is the whole list.
The economists and other experts who developed the Game Changers policies come from various universities, research institutes, and policy think tanks. They were not invited to participate based on any theoretical, methodological, or ideological litmus test but on their commitment to the ideals of Game Changers, their expertise in their subject areas, and their willingness to volunteer their time.
For us, changing the game means:
1) Investing in each other, through the public provision of care, health care, and other critical services; 2) Securing our future by breaking the power of the fossil-fuel industry and addressing climate change; and 3) Righting the rules by ending reckless and predatory financial practices, implementing tax policies to reduce wealth inequality, and preventing employers from firing workers without just cause.
These are not revolutionary demands in the traditional sense. But if widely implemented, they would bring about a revolutionary improvement in the lives of working people and help defend the democratic institutions needed to bring about even greater change.
Asserting our rights to economic security and the opportunity to thrive in an equitable and sustainable environment offers us an antidote to a lethal form of capitalism.
Gerald Epstein is a professor of economics and co-director at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), UMass-Amherst.