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New Directions in Research on Gender-Aware Macroeconomics

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New Directions in Research on Gender-Aware Macroeconomics Summary S pring – S ummer 2002 Volume 11, Number 2/3 CONTENTS INSTITUTE RESEARCH Program: Distribution of Income and Wealth 4 S Y M P O S I U M : New Directions in Research on Gender-Aware Macroeconomics and International Economics 14 JOEL PE R L M A N N , Poles and Italians Then, Mexicans Now? Immigrant-to-Native Wage Ratios, 1910 and 1940 Program: Financial Markets and Monetary Policy 15 C O N F E R E N C E : The 12th Annual Hyman P.Minsky Conference on Financial Markets,“Recession and Recovery: Economic Policy in Uncertain Times” 24 ALEX IZURIETA , Dollarization: A Dead End 25 KENNETH H. T H O M A S , CRA’s 25th Anniversary: The Past, Present, and Future Program: Federal Budget Policy 27 JAMEE K. M O U D U D, State Policies and the Warranted Growth Rate Explorations in Theory and Empirical Analysis 29 AJIT ZAC H A R I A S , A Note on the Hicksian Concept of Income 30 J Ö RG BIBOW, What Has Happened to Monetarism? An Investigation into the Keynesian Roots of Milton Friedman’s Monetary Thought and Its Apparent Monetarist Legacies 32 KORKUT A . E RT Ü R K , Asset Prices, Liquidity Preference, and the Business Cycle Strategic Analysis 33 WYNNE GODLEY and ALEX IZURIETA, Strategic Prospects and Policies for the U.S. Economy INSTITUTE NEWS 34 New Board Members 34 New Research Associates 35 New Levy Institute Book 36 Upcoming Event: Conference,“Economic Mobility in America and Other Advanced Countries” PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS 38 Publications and Presentations by Levy Institute Scholars 41 Recent Levy Institute Publications Su m m a ry Spring–Summer 2 002 Volume 11, Number 2/3 SCHOLARS WYNNE GODLEY Distinguished Scholar PHILIP ARESTIS Institute Professor and Senior Scholar WALTER M. CADETTE Senior Scholar STEVEN M. FAZZARI Visiting Senior Scholar JAMES K. GALBRAITH Senior Scholar CHRISTOPHER JENCKS Visiting Senior Scholar ROBERTA. MARGO Senior Scholar SUSAN MAYER Visiting Senior Scholar DIMITRI B. PAPADIMITRIOU President JOEL PERLMANN Senior Scholar MALCOLM SAWYER Visiting Senior Scholar EDWARD N. WOLFF Senior Scholar JÖRG BIBOW Visiting Scholar ALEX IZURIETA Research Fellow W. RAY TOWLE Resident Research Associate QIYU TU Visiting Fulbright Scholar L. RANDALL WRAY Visiting Research Fellow AJIT ZACHARIAS Research Fellow RESEARCH ASSOCIATES RANIA ANTONOPOULOS WILLIAM J. BAUMOL BARRY BLUESTONE ROBERTE. CARPENTER YUVAL ELMELECH KORKUT A. ERTÜRK KRIS FEDER MATHEW FORSTATER MICHAEL J. HANDEL ROBERT HAVEMAN THOMAS KARIER WILLIAM H. LAZONICK JAMEE K. MOUDUD MARYO’SULLIVAN JAMES B. REBITZER WILLEM THORBECKE ROGER WALDINGER BARBARAWOLFE The Levy Econo mics Ins ti t ute of Bar d Coll e ge, fou n d ed in 19 8 6 , is a nonp rof i t ,n on p a rtisan res e a r ch orga n i z a ti o n devot ed to public service . Thro u g h scho l a r ship and econo mic res e a r ch it gene rat es via bl e , eff ective public policy res p onses to important econo mic proble ms that profou n d ly affect the qua l i t y of li f e in the Uni t ed States and abroad. The Sum m a r y is a qua r terly publi c a ti o n of the Ins ti t ute ,i n tend ed to keep the aca demic commu n i t y informe d abou t the Ins ti t ute’s res e a r ch. To accomplish this goal , it contains sum m a r ies of recent res e a r ch publi c a ti o ns and reports on other activiti e s . W. RAY TOWLE, Editor KATHERINE HARPER, Text Editor The Sum m a r y and other Levy Ins ti t ute publi c a ti o ns are avai l a b le on the Ins ti t ute’s webs i te . To comm e nt on or inqui r e abou t publi c a ti on s , res e a r ch, and event s , cont a ct the Ins ti t ute online at www.l ev y. or g . T H E L EV Y E C O N O M I C S I N S T I T U T E O F BA R D C O L L E G E Bl i t h ewood An n a n d a l e - on - Hu d s on , NY 1 2 5 0 4 - 5 0 0 0 Phone: 8 4 5 - 7 5 8 - 7 7 0 0 ,2 0 2 - 8 8 7 - 8 4 6 4 (in Wa s h i n g ton , D. C . ) Fa x : 8 4 5 - 7 5 8 - 1 1 4 9 E - m a i l : i n fo@ l ev y. or g Web s i te: w w w. l ev y. or g C Printed on recycled paper LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT To our readers: This dou b le issue begins with an account of an interna ti o nal sympo s i um on gend er-aw a r e macr oeconom i c s , he ld at the Levy Ins ti t ute in May under the distrib utio n of in c ome and wealth program . Some 40 participants from var ious universi t ies and inter- na ti o nal orga n i z a ti o ns pres en t ed their latest res e a r ch and discussed futur e directio ns in res e a r ch and pol i c y . A gend er wage gap was comm on l y found in develo ping cou n t rie s , as were adverse impacts from interna ti o nal capital flows, trade libera l i z a ti on ,a n d glob a l i z a ti on . The working group exp res s e d the need for bett er data and models and exp a n s i o n of gend er-aw a r e econo mics into ot h e r areas of econo mic stud y. A working paper by Seni o r Scholar Joel Perlmann under the same program conf i r ms that Mexi c a n - to- n a t ive wage rat ios are worse toda y than those of comp a ra b le immigrants in 1910. He sug gests that today ’ s low- s k i ll e d immi- grants may not be able to advan c e the same way that immigrants did in the first half of the 20th centu r y. The program on financial markets and monetary policy begins with an account of the 12th annual Hyman P.Minsky conference,held in New York City in April. Some 100 participants from industry, government,and academia discussed the cur- rent state of the U.S. economy and its future direction. Many of the speakers advanced the notion that the recession was over, that it was one of the mildest on record, and that a moderate economic recovery was unfolding.Others, including Wynne Godley, the Institute’s Distinguished Scholar, expressed doubts pointing to a number of challenges ahead,e.g., record-high pri- vate sector debt, waning profits, high financial leverages, outlandishly flexible accounting, current account deficits, and the bubble mentality. Finally, some presenters noted the strong underlying structure of the U.S. economy and pro-growth eco- nomic policies that mitigated the impact of a number of shocks over a short period of time. A working paper by Research Fellow Alex Izurieta explores a country’s ability to undertake its own fiscal policies after dollarization of its economy and finds it inadequate to generate income, protect employment, and guard the financial stability of the economic system. Another working paper, by Kenneth H. Thomas, lecturer in finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, evaluates the Community Reinvestment Act (1977) and recommends reforms balancing consumer and industry interests, including a return to a focus on lending to the most needy low- and moderate-income individuals. In a working paper under the program on federal budget policy,Research Associate Jamee K. Moudud investigates the effects of tax and expenditure policies on the warranted growth rate and proposes mechanisms for policymakers to raise the rate when there is long-run unemployment. Thr ee working papers are includ ed under exp l o rati o ns in theory and emp i r ical analysi s . Res e a r ch Fello w Ajit Zacha ri a s di s a g rees with the notio n that ex post defi n i ti o ns of in c ome incorporat e Hick s ’s conc ept and conc lud es that Hic ks cannot be used as a theoretical starting point for a modern natio nal income accou n t ing syst em. Vis i t ing Scholar Jörg Bib ow of the Uni versi t y of Ham b urg comp a r es the monet a r y theories of Keynes and Frie dman and finds the theory of in t erest and the dynamics of adju s t - me nt processes and exp ecta ti o n forma ti o n to be the key differenc es betw een them. He sug gests that the current monet a r y syst em ma y be the worst of al l pos s i b le world s , si n c e pol i ti c a l ly unche cked monet a r y dicta t ors determine econo mic welf a r e in modern democ r aci e s .
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