LBJ In the Arena: April 15, 2020
LBJ Professors James Galbraith, a world-renowned economist, and Michael Lind, one of the nation's foremost public intellectuals, unpack the human impact of the economic crisis set off by the current public health crisis. Galbraith and Lind bring a set of perspectives that bridges history, economic theory and practical experience in the international and national policy making arenas.
Deeper Dive | Additional Reading | Related Radio & Podcasts
Deeper Dive
The political economy of the pandemic
James Galbraith
WORT (Madison, Wis.), March 26, 2020
How do we begin to understand the worsening economic crisis intertwined with the pandemic? The LBJ School's James Galbraith offers insight.
Additional reading
Bad economic theory and practice, demolished
James Galbraith
The American Prospect, April 6, 2020
LBJ's James Galbraith weighs in on The American Prospect's economists roundtable on the coronavirus, arguing that the pandemic has made obsolete some mainstays that economic theory and the government have relied upon. The pressing needs, he argues, "are to provide critical care and to break the chain of transmission of COVID-19, while keeping the population supplied and calm, for as long as it takes to get the job done."
Economic numbers don't matter right now. Government must help Americans get by
James Galbraith
The Guardian, March 28, 2020
GDP will crash this quarter, but it's not a catastrophe in itself. The fall is a measure of the effectiveness of the lockdown.
Here is what the U.S. government should do right now to protect the economy
James Galbraith
The Guardian, March 25, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic needs decisive leadership to ensure medical and civilian supplies and to safeguard livelihoods.
The pandemic is an alien invasion
Michael Lind
The American Mind, March 25, 2020
Fight to win: Create a time-limited Health Finance Corporation.
What the government needs to do next
James Galbraith
Institute for New Economic Thinking, March 23, 2020
Tax rebates, tax cuts and business bailouts will not solve this crisis. Here's what's needed.
How government should respond
Michael Lind
Spectator USA, March 20, 2020
Treating the economic effects of the global COVID-19 epidemic as a conventional recession means prescribing the wrong medicine and harming the patient.
Op-Ed: We need food, medicine and safety — not tax cuts and corporate bailouts — to face coronavirus
James Galbraith
Los Angeles Times, March 19, 2020
As the COVID-19 crisis deepens, my fellow economists have reached deep into their bare cupboards of old ideas, and what have they found? Models that do not work.
The mobilization that must start now
James Galbraith
The Nation, March 18, 2020
With the coronavirus bearing down on our economy, we must deploy all our resources now to survive—so that one day we may thrive.
Needed: A finance agency to handle the financial meltdown from the coronavirus
Michael Lind and James Galbraith
The Boston Globe, March 12, 2020
Congress should create a Health Finance Corporation to address resource allocation and the financing of the Covid-19 response. Immediately.
How America can beat COVID-19
James Galbraith
Project Syndicate, March 4, 2020
Compared to a world war, the COVID-19 epidemic is a fairly manageable problem, provided that the U.S. government can rise to the challenge. But without a mass mobilization to secure critical supplies and prevent a panic, the crisis could easily spin out of control.
Related Radio & Podcasts
It is not necessary to hope in order to persevere
James Galbraith
Rumble with Michael Moore, April 1, 2020
What would a Great Depression/World War II-like mobilization of American society look like if we were to attempt to fix our country and society today in the midst of the pandemic? Michael Moore discusses with LBJ's James Galbraith.
How coronavirus reveals political differences in U.S.
James Galbraith
To the Point, KCRW (Los Angeles), March 26, 2020
While COVID-19 exposes the political divide, caution is being urged about the billions of dollars in corporate relief, along with cash grants to unemployed workers, approved by the Senate and Congress. LBJ's James Galbraith talks about what the government should do next.
Practical advice to ensure medical and civilian supplies get to where they are needed
James Galbraith
Background Briefing, March 26, 2020
Economist James Galbraith of the LBJ School offers practical advice to ensure medical and civilian supplies get to where they are needed as the coronavirus pandemic worsens due to the lack of decisive leadership.