Economic Growth Program

In the last few decades, the foundations of the American social contract -- the system of institutions and policies designed to empower and support citizens from childhood through work and retirement -- have started to crumble. As a result, we need to find ways to create a new social contract that fosters innovation and openness, encourages long-term growth and broadly-shared prosperity, and engages individuals and families not only as participants in the economy but also as citizens.

Renewing the American Social Contract is a series of major policy papers outlining bold proposals from leading thinkers for reforming American social policy in areas from wages and job creation to taxation and the welfare state.  Representing diverse perspectives from across the political spectrum, the contributors to  the series share a commitment to questioning orthodoxy and enlarging the boundaries of debate.

The papers will be released from November, 2012 to January, 2013, and will conclude with the capstone paper "The Next Social Contract: An American Agenda for Reform" by Michael Lind.

• Raising American Wages by...Raising American Wages

• by Ron Unz, Publisher, The American Conservative (November 15)

• Debts, Deficits, and Demographics: Why We Can Afford the Social Contract

  by Dean Baker, Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research (November 19)

• Economic Recovery and Social Investment: A Strategy to Create Good Jobs in the Service Sector

  by Robert Kuttner, Co-Editor, The American Prospect (November 26)

• Tax Reform that Works: Building a Solid Fiscal Foundation with a VAT

  by Bruce Bartlett, Columnist, The Fiscal Times (November 28)

• The Public Option Vs. the Coupon Welfare State

  by Mike Konczal, Fellow, the Roosevelt Institute (December 3)

• Competing Visions of the Past: Learning from History for American Social Policy

  by Steven Attewell, Doctoral Candidate, UC-Santa Barbara (December 6)

• Kludgeocracy: The American Way of Policy

  by Steven Teles, Associate Professor of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University (December 10)

• Social Contract Budgeting: Prescriptions from History and Economics

  by Peter Lindert, Distinguished Professor of Economics, UC-Davis (December 17)

• Public Attitudes Toward the Next Social Contract

  by Bruce Stokes, Director of Global Economic Attitudes, Pew Research Center

• Expanded Social Security: A Plan to Increase Retirement Security for All Americans

  by Michael Lind, Steven Hill, Robert Hiltonsmith, and Joshua Freedman

• The Next Social Contract: An American Agenda for Reform

  by Michael Lind, Policy Director -- Economic Growth Program, New America Foundation (forthcoming)

Previous Papers from the Next Social Contract Initiative

• The American Social Contract: Lessons from the Great Recession

• by Sherle R. Schwenninger, Director, Economic Growth Program, New America Foundation

• The Case for Wage-Led Growth

• by Jeff Madrick, Senior Fellow, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis

• The Next Priority for Health Care: Federalize Medicaid

• by Greg Anrig, Vice President of Policy and Programs, The Century Foundation

• The Dignity Voucher Program: An Innovative Approach to Eldercare

• by Michael Lind and Lauren Damme, New America Foundation

• Building a New Unemployment Insurance System

• by Steven Attewell, Doctoral Candidate, UC-Santa Barbara