One well-respected economic think tank is putting forth positive ideas for expanding prosperity and ending the economic stagnation that working families have experienced. The Economic Policy Insitute http://www.epi.org/ has proposed the following Agenda for Shared Prosperity puts the interests of working families first. Among the proposals put forth are:
Health care and retirement security: Building on existing popular and effective programs to provide accessible and affordable health care and ensure retirement security, we will propose:
(a) that all Americans have guaranteed access to affordable health care through employer-provided insurance or a public plan; and (b) that retirees receive at least 70% of their pre-retirement income via a supplement to a strengthened Social Security.
Fair trade: An alternative approach to globalization and competitiveness will include policies to rebalance trade, to invest in new technologies that generate high-quality domestic manufacturing employment, and to promote environ-mental and labor policies to ensure that globalization benefits working people in both developed and developing nations.
Rewarding work: A plan for rebalancing the labor market will include raising and indexing the minimum wage, ensuring the right of workers to organize unions, and making full employment a central commitment of economic policy.
Building America: Economic growth can be stimulated by public investment in the nation's roads, bridges, dams, water supply, airports, mass transport systems, universal Internet access, and human capital through education and training.
Energizing America: A responsible energy policy can reduce energy dependency and carbon emissions and create hundreds of thousands of jobs by producing renewable energy.
Balancing work and family: Economic and social policy can make it easier for families to balance the obligations of work and family by increasing flexible work hours, providing paid family and paid sick leave, and committing more resources to the education and care of children.
World-class education for all: An agenda for American education will improve public education and close economic and race/ethnic disparities by expanding education to include high-quality early childhood education and after-school and summer programs; understanding that better health and housing policies and poverty amelioration as integral to efforts to close racial and economic achievement gaps; making public schools more effective by improving teacher quality and shrinking classes; making college education available and affordable for every young person who is prepared to do college work; and providing lifelong learning for every American by improving and expanding two-year colleges, adult education pro-grams, and job training and retraining programs.
A new security: A proposal to rebuild the safety net will develop a set of policies to ensure that, for those who are willing and able, work is a pathway out of poverty. We will also detail how to rebuild the nation's safety net so people do not fall into privation.
Managing our fiscal health: An improved federal fiscal system of taxation and expenditures can be created to meet the nation's needs, raise revenues fairly, respond to economic downturns, and be fiscally responsible by not escalating government debt relative to the size of the economy over the long run.
Opportunity for all: Policies to ensure that America's core values of opportunity for all are embedded in our economic and social programs. Each person, regardless of socio-economic, racial, or ethnic background, must be able to contribute to the nation's economy and well-being and to prosper accordingly.
The Agenda for Shared Prosperity is a good start toward reducing America's growing income and opportunity gap.
Health care and retirement security: Building on existing popular and effective programs to provide accessible and affordable health care and ensure retirement security, we will propose:
(a) that all Americans have guaranteed access to affordable health care through employer-provided insurance or a public plan; and (b) that retirees receive at least 70% of their pre-retirement income via a supplement to a strengthened Social Security.
Fair trade: An alternative approach to globalization and competitiveness will include policies to rebalance trade, to invest in new technologies that generate high-quality domestic manufacturing employment, and to promote environ-mental and labor policies to ensure that globalization benefits working people in both developed and developing nations.
Rewarding work: A plan for rebalancing the labor market will include raising and indexing the minimum wage, ensuring the right of workers to organize unions, and making full employment a central commitment of economic policy.
Building America: Economic growth can be stimulated by public investment in the nation's roads, bridges, dams, water supply, airports, mass transport systems, universal Internet access, and human capital through education and training.
Energizing America: A responsible energy policy can reduce energy dependency and carbon emissions and create hundreds of thousands of jobs by producing renewable energy.
Balancing work and family: Economic and social policy can make it easier for families to balance the obligations of work and family by increasing flexible work hours, providing paid family and paid sick leave, and committing more resources to the education and care of children.
World-class education for all: An agenda for American education will improve public education and close economic and race/ethnic disparities by expanding education to include high-quality early childhood education and after-school and summer programs; understanding that better health and housing policies and poverty amelioration as integral to efforts to close racial and economic achievement gaps; making public schools more effective by improving teacher quality and shrinking classes; making college education available and affordable for every young person who is prepared to do college work; and providing lifelong learning for every American by improving and expanding two-year colleges, adult education pro-grams, and job training and retraining programs.
A new security: A proposal to rebuild the safety net will develop a set of policies to ensure that, for those who are willing and able, work is a pathway out of poverty. We will also detail how to rebuild the nation's safety net so people do not fall into privation.
Managing our fiscal health: An improved federal fiscal system of taxation and expenditures can be created to meet the nation's needs, raise revenues fairly, respond to economic downturns, and be fiscally responsible by not escalating government debt relative to the size of the economy over the long run.
Opportunity for all: Policies to ensure that America's core values of opportunity for all are embedded in our economic and social programs. Each person, regardless of socio-economic, racial, or ethnic background, must be able to contribute to the nation's economy and well-being and to prosper accordingly.
The Agenda for Shared Prosperity is a good start toward reducing America's growing income and opportunity gap.
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