There’s no economy without care. View this in your browser and share with your friends. <[link removed]> <[link removed]>
We at Roosevelt mourn the continued loss of Black and brown lives to police brutality. For the justice and accountability our communities deserve, we all must work to dismantle systemic racism.
An Overdue Investment in Care
“I don’t know how anyone could live through the pandemic and not see clearly that a care infrastructure is part of the backbone of an overall strong economy.”Roosevelt Fellow Lenore Palladino in the New Republic <[link removed]>
The future of policymaking is—and must be—gender-forward.
And as the pandemic has reminded us, we can’t afford to wait for it.
Over the last year, the COVID-19 crisis and structural sexism have intersected to devastating effect: Women have disproportionately lost <[link removed]> or left <[link removed]> their jobs, reduced <[link removed]> their paid hours, and devoted additional, unpaid hours to childcare and household work <[link removed]>.
Black and brown women, who faced record job loss <[link removed]> and are overrepresented both in the hardest-hit industries <[link removed]> and in care work, could experience prolonged and unnecessary economic loss—as they always have—in the absence of meaningful structural change.
As Roosevelt’s Rhiana Gunn-Wright told the New Republic <[link removed]>, “Economic transformation is not possible without care infrastructure, at least if you want to do it equitably.”
Enter the American Jobs Plan, a significant portion of which would invest in the care economy at unprecedented scale and with a transformational approach, as Roosevelt Program Manager Emily DiVito explains in a Washington Post op-ed <[link removed]>.
In contrast to the subsidy-driven solutions of prior interventions, the AJP would spend $25 billion for the creation of childcare facilities and $400 billion for home and community care for people with disabilities and the elderly.
In addition to creating jobs <[link removed]> and bolstering collective-bargaining rights, it would also “address the supply shortages that make finding care difficult—shortages made worse because about 20,000 <[link removed]> childcare centers have closed permanently during the pandemic,” DiVito writes. “It’s a strong pivot toward policymaking that tackles systemic sexism in the economy head-on.”
The Inflation Illusion
Last week, Roosevelt’s Mike Konczal, J.W. Mason, and Lauren Melodia warned <[link removed]> that the year-over-year inflation numbers for March, released on Tuesday, might seem misleadingly high.
As predicted, the Consumer Price Index did indeed rise—2.6 percent <[link removed]>—as did <[link removed]> food and gas prices.
However, as they emphasized—and the White House echoed <[link removed]>—these numbers are not cause for concern, because they reflect deflation in 2020 rather than inflation this year.
To get a more accurate picture, and to avoid raising alarm over artificially high numbers, monitor the inflation rate starting from January 2020, as Konczal told Slate <[link removed]>.
Join the Conversation
On Tuesday, IRS commissioner Charles Rettig estimated <[link removed]> that the US loses roughly $1 trillion each year in unpaid taxes—due primarily to tax evasion by large corporations and the wealthy. Next week, join us for two webinars covering how this happens, and how to fix it.
Fair Share: How Wealth Tax and Progressive Taxation Can Create Equity
With opening remarks from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 2:00 PM ET
Moderator:
- Lindsay Owens <[link removed]>, Great Democracy Initiative Fellow and Groundwork Collaborative Interim Director
Featured speakers:
- Amanda Fischer <[link removed]>, Policy Director at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth
- Darrick Hamilton <[link removed]>, Roosevelt Fellow and Founding Director of the Institute for the Study of Race, Stratification, and Political Economy at The New School
- Kitty Richards <[link removed]>, Roosevelt Fellow and Strategic Advisor to the Groundwork Collaborative
Learn more and register <[link removed]>.
In partnership with our colleagues at the Brennan Center for Justice:
Tax the Rich: How to Tackle Wealth Inequality in America
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 12:00 PM ET
Moderator:
- Kyle Strickland <[link removed]>, Roosevelt Deputy Director of Race and Democracy
Featured speakers:
- Morris Pearl and Erica Payne, co-authors of Tax the Rich! How Lies, Loopholes, and Lobbyists Make the Rich Even Richer <[link removed]>
Learn more <[link removed]> and register <[link removed]>. <[link removed]>
What We’re Reading <[link removed]>The Shooting of Daunte Wright and the Meaning of George Floyd’s Death <[link removed]> - The New Yorker
Fed Is Taking On a Racist Legacy in the Field of Economics <[link removed]> - Bloomberg
In a Year of Reckoning, Slavery Reparations Bill Moves Forward in the House [feat. Roosevelt’s William “Sandy” Darity Jr. and Mehrsa Baradaran] <[link removed]> - Los Angeles Times
Sharing Work Is a Smart Alternative to Layoffs—and the Feds Pay [feat. Roosevelt’s Kitty Richards and Emily DiVito] <[link removed]> - Bloomberg
Welcome to the New Progressive Era <[link removed]> - The Atlantic
Can Biden Be Our FDR? <[link removed]> - New York Times
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