On July 22, 2022, the Coalition for a National Infrastructure Bank sponsored a town hall titled “It’s the ‘Productive’ Economy, Stupid.” Included in the discussion, Cornell Professor and PBI Advisory Board member Robert Hockett pushed back against the proposed solution of former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers to soaring inflation: increase the joblessness rate. Professor Hockett also co-wrote with Zack Exley an article in The Nation challenging Summers’ position:
“Summers’s view—which, alas, is very much in keeping with contemporary orthodoxy—is rooted in the curious notion that if you make enough people poor by taking away their jobs, they won’t be able to buy goods or services, which will result in lower demand and, eventually, lower prices. But a policy of killing demand by taking jobs from 18 million Americans will leave an awful lot of collateral damage.”
Via the NIB Coalition: As an alternative to Summers’ plan, Hockett proposes that we increase production by enacting HR 3339: The National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2021, which would create 25 million new high-paying jobs and create massive growth.
You can use this link to find your Senators and Representatives to recommend they support HR 3339: The National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2021.