March 18, 2012

The Eurozone Crisis and Alternatives to Austerity: Debating & Debunking the Prevailing Myths

10:00 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.
Pace University
Room W615
551 5th Ave
New York, N.Y. 10176

The Eurozone crisis is being used to justify the erosion of workers' rights and the implementation of policies that would increase unemployment and have devastating ripple effects on the global economy for years to come. The conventional wisdom of key international institutions holds that European governments’ excessive spending on social safety nets created unsustainable levels of debt that ultimately brought about the crisis. But the crisis was precipitated, in large part, by the same institutional failures that caused the financial crisis in the United States, including lax regulations on reckless bankers and a housing bubble. The current failure of the European Central Bank to guarantee countries’ debts, combined with austerity policies demanded by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, have created a downward spiral that merely exacerbates the crisis. This panel, part of the larger Left Forum conference, critically examined the assumptions made by these institutions and propose more effective policies and actions that could be taken to halt the crisis and prevent its spread to the rest of the world.

March 18, 2012

Latin America Unites and the Challenge to U.S. Hegemony

12:00 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.
Pace University
Room E316
551 5th Ave
New York, N.Y. 10176

With the recent creation of yet another regional western hemispheric organization, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), alongside with the already existing Unasur and ALBA projects, Latin American integration moves forward and challenges US hegemony and imperialism. This panel, part of the larger Left Forum conference, discussed how real this challenge is to U.S. hegemony by examining the history of these challenges, its political-economic context, its relationship to social movements in the region, and the official goals of this process.

March 17, 2012

Accountability in Post Earthquake Haiti: Reconstruction Failures and the UN's Cholera Problem

5:00 p.m. - 6:40 p.m.
Pace University
Room E316
551 5th Ave
New York, N.Y. 10176

Even before the 2010 earthquake that killed an estimated 200,000 Haitians, the Haitian people and their economy had been devastated by foreign intervention and neoliberal economic policies imposed by the United States and other powers. Today, half a million internally displaced persons (IDPs) still live in camps, and at least half of the rubble from destroyed buildings and infrastructure remains to be cleared. Much of the money pledged by the international community to help with reconstruction has yet to be spent, and the exclusion of Haitians from decision-making means there is little transparency and accountability around existing relief and reconstruction programs. In March 2011 the United States undermined Haitian democracy by supporting flawed elections in Haiti, and used threats to overturn the results. Meanwhile, the United Nations has refused to admit that it is responsible for a cholera outbreak that has killed over 7,000 Haitians. This panel, part of the larger Left Forum conference, discussed ongoing efforts to ensure the accountability of international actors and support the rights of Haitians to determine the future of their country.

March 9, 2012

The Crisis of Care Labor and Family Leave Policies

9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
University of Oregon
Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics
175 Knight Law Center
1585 East 13th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97403

CEPR Senior Economist Eileen Appelbaum took part in a panel discussion on "The Crisis of Care Labor and Family Leave Policies" as part of a larger conference on "Gender Equity and Capitalism." Other panelists included Victoria Lawson, professor of geography at the University of Washington; Debra Schwartz, SEIU 503 care provider division field coordinator; and Nancy Folbre, University of Massachusetts Amherst. More information on the conference can be found on the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics' website.

March 7, 2012

Kick-Off To Discussion Series On Low-Wage Work

12:00 - 1:30 p.m.
The Aspen Institute
One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 700
Washington, D.C., 20036

The Workforce Strategies Initiative at the Aspen Institute kicked off its new discussion series "Reinventing Low-Wage Work: Ideas That Can Work for Employees, Employers and the Economy" with a conversation titled "From Fast Food to Fine Cuisine: A Discussion on Work in the Restaurant Industry." Invited speakers included Congresswoman Donna Edwards; Saru Jayaraman, executive director of Restaurant Opportunities Center United; Andy Shallal, owner of Busboys and Poets; and John Schmitt, senior economist for the Center for Economic and Policy Research. A video of the event is available below or after the jump.

March 6, 2012

Transatlantic Perspectives on Current Financial and Economic Developments

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
George Mason University
School of Public Policy
Founders Hall 602
3351 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA, 22201

CEPR Co-Director Mark Weisbrot took part in a roundtable discussion for the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program titled "Transatlantic Perspectives on Current Financial and Economic Developments." Other panelists included Sonia Ketkar and Jeremy Mayer of George Mason University's School of Public Policy. Desmond Dinan, also of George Mason University's School of Public Policy,  moderated. The event was sponsored by George Mason University and The Streit Council.

March 5, 2012

How Does the Global Economy Impact WIC?

1:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Room 430
50 Constitution Ave NE
Washington, D.C. 20002

CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker took part in a panel discussion titled "How Does the Global Economy Impact WIC?" as part of the National WIC Association's 22nd Annual Washington Leadership Conference. Dean was joined on the panel by Robert Greenstein, director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Registration and agenda information can be found on the event's website.

February 24, 2012

The Impact of Social Policies and Workplace Law

11:15 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center
3800 Reservoir Road Northwest
Washington, D.C.

In response to the rapid growth of low-wage work, policymakers have proposed a wide range of interventions and strategies, from traditional approaches like raising the minimum wage and unionization, to investing in primary and secondary education and job training, to intervening in the labor market with “living wage” laws and stepped-up labor law enforcement. Yet systematic empirical analysis of the efficacy of these various interventions is relatively scarce. Which policy strategies are most and least effective, and under what conditions have they succeeded or failed? How does each of them impact low-wage immigrants and African Americans in particular?

CEPR Senior Economists Eileen Appelbaum and John Schmitt took part in a panel discussion on "The Impact of Social Policies and Workplace Law" as part of a larger two-day conference titled "What Works for Workers? A Conference on Public Policies and Innovative Strategies for Low-Wage Workers." Registration for the conference, which is sponsored by Georgetown University's Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, is $25. To RSVP, click here. Click here for a full agenda and paper abstracts.

February 23, 2012

Hill Briefing on Minimum Wage

11:00 a.m.
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Room 430
Washington, D.C. 20510

CEPR joined with the National Employment Law Project and the Economic Policy Institute to co-sponsor a well-attended briefing for congressional staffers on the minimum wage. John Schmitt walked congressional staffers through the extensive body of economic research that suggests that moderate increases in the minimum wage have little or no measurable impact on employment.

February 16, 2012

Annual Steinhardt Lecture at Lewis & Clark College

7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Lewis & Clark College of Arts and Sciences
Council Chamber, Templeton Center
0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Road
Portland, OR, 97219

The economic debate between progressives and conservatives is routinely framed as a battle between progressives who support government intervention in the economy to promote equality and reduce poverty and conservatives who favor leaving things to the market. This “loser liberalism” framing, where the liberal agenda is about taxing the winners to help the losers, is likely to lead to bad policy outcomes and is also disastrous from a political standpoint.

CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker gave the college's annual Steinhardt Lecture, which covered some of the largely undiscussed government policies that redistribute income upwards. This list of policies includes patent and copyright protection, too big to fail insurance for large banks, and protectionist barriers that prop up the pay of doctors and other highly educated professionals. For more information, visit the event's website.