Email from Levy Economics Institute Join Us in Remembering a Year of Impactful Research and Insights. THE LEVY NEWS Our Site Research Events Publications CONTRIBUTE December 29, 2025 Friends, As 2025 comes to a close, we would like to share with you some of the highlights of our research activities over the past year at the Levy Economics Institute; a year that featured a new US administration coming into office, on-again off-again tariff policy, questions about Fed independence and the integrity of public data, and the DOGE-ification of the machinery of the federal government. Along with signs of bubbly financial markets and a weakening US labor market, uncertainty abounds. The Institute was built for such moments. In addition to catching up on our work from 2025, some of which is highlighted below, stay tuned for the year ahead, as we mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Levy Economics Institute. A series of events and content will look back on the central ideas and figures that have formed the foundation of the Levy Institute’s innovative approaches to economic research and public policy design—and look ahead to where those approaches will take us in the years to come. We are grateful to those who have attended our conferences, contributed, and followed our work this past year, and we look forward in the next year to carrying on the project of shaping and sharing an economics that can better guide public policy to deliver stability and shared prosperity. Sincerely, Pavlina R. Tcherneva President Levy Economics Institute   Charting a Way Forward   “We are living through a moment of deep division across our politics, economies, and environment, a division that stems from a deliberate forgetting—a self-induced amnesia [...] For decades, political parties have treated the working family as a slogan rather than the foundation of a healthy society. This amnesia was aided and abetted by mainstream economic theory that treated the economy as a financial machine, not a social ecosystem.” On October 29, in Bordeaux, France, Institute President Pavlina Tcherneva spoke to an audience of nearly 10,000 from over 100 countries about the imperative call to action that is refined employment policy in the United States and around the world. At the Levy Institute, we propose empirically backed policies for a better future, drawing on decades of research and original modelling to propose a way forward. Attended in-person by over 200 in Annandale this June, the Institute hosted our 32nd Annual Conference. A testament to the unique perspectives of our scholarship, the conference covered a breadth of economic topics, from Minskyan analyses of current sources of financial fragility, new directions in public finance, and visions for the next progressive policy agenda to climate finance, balance of payments constraints, and the global economy. We invited thirteen panelists, four moderators, and keynote speaker Congressman Ro Khanna (CA-17) to engage in conversations that approached economics from a Minskyan lens and focused on crafting policy for the betterment of society. Video coverage of this event is available on YouTube. During our Summer Seminar on Money, Finance, and Public Policy, we selected and hosted promising global economists at our Bard College home campus. These students gathered for an opportunity to engage with our signature theory and methods—particularly the work of Institute Distinguished Scholars Hyman Minsky and Wynne Godley, alongside new developments and research directions in Modern Money Theory (MMT)—and to apply them to critical emerging policy questions. Our programming aims to imbue the next generation of economic experts with the knowledge and skills to empower change. PUBLICATIONS Remembering Pope Francis’s Call for a Universal Basic Wage That Vision Thing: Formulating a Winning Policy Agenda MMT: Heuristics versus Paradigm Shift? Democratic Renewal and the Green Job Guarantee The Levy Institute and the Future of Economics Monitoring the Trump Economy   Following the events of August 1, 2025, when the world saw President Trump question the integrity of one of the most widely used government data sources, the Levy Institute was pleased to welcome the recently removed BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer (and Bard College alumna ’95), to a conversation on September 16 about why data—and measurement in particular—matter for policy, markets, and our daily lives. This discussion became a cornerstone of our work tracking the economic transparency (or lack thereof) at the federal level.  From our Strategic Analyses to landmark discussions, 2025 has seen the Levy Institute following the fluctuations of the Trump economy as the world has watched its first year unfold. Our researchers diligently published in-depth analyses, made key media appearances, and brought a unique lens to a challenging time. In March, one of Levy’s Senior Scholars, James K. Galbraith, published a piece in The Nation, outlining the primary drivers of the Trump administration and how they are playing out for the American economy. “You can’t make America great again by wrecking the government,” he said. Additionally, President Pavlina Tcherneva, Senior Scholar L. Randall Wray, and others have made repeated contributions for national media outlets, giving their expert analyses of the ebbs and flows in up-to-the-minute economic data. As we head into 2026, the Levy Institute has launched our new Capitol Hill Series. We held the inaugural event at Rayburn House in November—“Rethinking the Federal Reserve’s Policy Framework and Independence”—and will continue the series this Spring as we aim to bring real-world economic analysis and practical policy insight to the legislative arena. See below some of the work that the Levy Economics Institute has put into incorporating this new era into our broader economic understanding. PUBLICATIONS The US Economy amid Rising Global Uncertainty Ratings Agencies Downgrade the Dollar’s Exorbitant Privilege What Do We Save When We DOGE the Government? Trump’s Tariffs: Ending Globalization No, the Fed Is NOT Independent—It Is a Creature of Congress The Fed Lowered Rates Again. Is It Really a Surprise? Measuring What Matters   At the Levy Institute, our alternative measures of economic well-being and deprivation expose blind spots in many official statistics by incorporating what is commonly ignored: the realm of unpaid household labor and time. Applying our alternate methodologies, this year we have worked with prominent organizations like the UNDP, ILO, and IAFFE to foster conversations that aim to provide a more comprehensive picture of economic deprivation and to inform policy impacts. We joined the IAFFE in co-hosting “Advancing the Landscape of Research, Methodology, and Data on the Care Economy–A Feminist Economics Lens.” This digital event featured contributions from Levy Scholars Masterson, Zacharias, and Folbre, and explored the evolving global research and data landscape on care work from a feminist economics perspective. This targeted dialogue aimed to advance awareness of progress in terms of research, methodology, and data as well as to discuss where collective efforts can be best utilized moving forward. Our scholars have been recognized this year around the world for their research and expertise. Senior Scholar Ajit Zacharias was appointed to serve on the Committee on A Data Infrastructure for Measuring the Care Economy with The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Levy Scholar Fadhel Kaboub was invited to participate in a UN Global Policy Dialogue, “Charting New Directions: Shaping the Future of Sustainable Development.” PUBLICATIONS Keeping Up with Household Debt in the US Unmasking Hidden Poverty in America: The Role of Time Deficits   Tracking Global Trends   The American economy does not exist in a vacuum. At the Levy Institute, we feature studies from across the globe. This year, we have published pieces looking at economic conditions in China, India, Palestine, Greece, Sub-Saharan Africa, and others. On August 15, we were pleased to work in Cape Town, with the University of Ghana and Stellenbosch University on “Gendered Aspects of Economic Security.” The workshop focused on how women’s labour-market experiences in the Global South embody structural inequality–from precarious employment to pension shortfall. Participants, including several Levy Scholars, elevated new metrics, regional analyses, and policy dialogue to reimagine gender-responsive economic security systems. Among the most significant job guarantee policies in the postwar era is India's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), enshrining into law the right to employment for rural households. The act is currently being repealed by the government, and President Tcherneva led a global initiative calling on the Modi government to preserve the job guarantee law. The open letter has been signed by Olivier De Schutter, (United Nations); Isabelle Ferreras (FNRS, University of Louvain, Center for Labor and a Just Economy, Harvard Law School); James Galbraith (Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin); Darrick Hamilton (New School for Social Research); Mariana Mazzucato (University College London, Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose); Thomas Piketty (EHESS and the Paris School of Economics, World Inequality Lab & World Inequality Database); Joseph E. Stiglitz (Columbia University); Pavlina R. Tcherneva (The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College); Imraan Valodia (University of Witwatersrand, South Africa); Randall Wray (The Levy Economics Institute); and over 200 other experts. At this time, you may add your name to the list of experts in support of this letter. PUBLICATIONS A Critical Examination of the “China Collapse Narrative” Investing in Early Childhood Education and Care Services in Jordan Greece: Growing on an Unsustainable Path How Secure Is Wage Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa? How did you like this email?   Our Website | Press Room | Donate   Levy Economics Institute | Blithewood Bard College | Annandale-On-Hudson, NY 12504-5000 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice