Kevin Warsh’s call for fresh thinking at the Fed runs up against a deeper problem. The tools and concepts guiding monetary policy may no longer fit an economy reshaped by AI, shifting prices, and the fading power of interest rates.
Article | Government & Politics, Inequality & Distribution, Labor, Technology & Innovation
The Macroeconomic Roots of the Collapse of the Political Center in the US
The collapse of America’s political center isn’t a mystery. What looks like a sudden political crisis is really the result of an economy that’s been abandoning ordinary workers for decades.
By Thomas Ferguson, Servaas Storm, and Jie Chen
Article | Business & Industry, Government & Politics, Inequality & Distribution, Labor, Laws, Technology & Innovation
The AI Boom Runs on an Even More Dangerous Machine (Part 2)
Silicon Valley promises abundance, but corporate America is built for extraction. The underlying operating system is stuck on making big shareholders rich the expense of everyone else. It’s time for a reboot. *From the “AI and the Future of the American Worker,” a series on how artificial intelligence is impacting labor, power, and the meaning of work. (Read Part 1 of this article here).
Article | Business & Industry, Finance, Government & Politics, Industrial Policy, Laws, Technology & Innovation
The AI Boom Runs on an Even More Dangerous Machine (Part 1)
AI is powered by more than algorithms – underneath is a flawed, decades-old corporate operating system that redirects gains away from workers. The good news: It doesn’t have to be this way. Part of “AI and the Future of the American Worker,” a series on how artificial intelligence is impacting labor, power, and the meaning of work.
Article | Government & Politics, Health
Senate Finance Committee Democrats are seeking evidence and proposals to shape health-care legislation. Their critique of insurers has merit, but reforms confined to insurance risk leaving hospitals, conglomerates, and much of the system’s extraction untouched, sets the stage for further disappointment.
By Phillip Alvelda and Thomas Ferguson
Article | Government & Politics, Inequality & Distribution, Labor
Social Security and the Vanishing Paycheck
By Pia Malaney
Article | Government & Politics
Big Money and the Maine Election: Round 2
By Thomas Ferguson, Paul Jorgensen, and Jie Chen
Article | Government & Politics
Big Money, the Maine Senate Race and US Party Competition: A Tale in Two Pictures
By Thomas Ferguson, Paul Jorgensen, Matthias Lalisse, and Jie Chen
Working Paper | Government & Politics, Health
By Phillip Alvelda and Thomas Ferguson
Article | Macroeconomics
Europe’s new fiscal rules still bind policy to fragile estimates of potential output. For Italy, targeting lower unemployment could sustain stronger growth, improve deficit outcomes, and expose the self-defeating logic of austerity when debt is measured against a stagnating economy.
Article | Finance
By Biagio Bossone and Massimo Costa
Working Paper | Government & Politics, Inequality & Distribution, Labor, Technology & Innovation
The collapse of America’s political center isn’t a mystery. What looks like a sudden political crisis is really the result of an economy that’s been quietly abandoning ordinary workers for decades.
By Thomas Ferguson, Servaas Storm, and Jie Chen
Working Paper | Government & Politics, Health
Senate Finance Committee Democrats have invited outside evidence and proposals for their next health-care agenda. Their critique of insurers has force, but the remedies leave most of the system untouched, risking further disappointment unless reform reaches hospitals and entire conglomerates.
By Phillip Alvelda and Thomas Ferguson
Working Paper | History, Philosophy & Ethics
As America marks 250 years of independence, Adam Smith is again being pressed into service as a founding myth. A deeper reading of The Wealth of Nations reveals a far richer thinker than today’s easy invocations of markets and liberty suggest.
Working Paper | Economics Profession, Government & Politics, Inequality & Distribution
Equality runs deeper than preference or policy fashion, rooted in human social instincts and reflected in outcomes across societies. It is time for economics and policy alike to reckon with how profoundly distribution shapes well-being and social stability.
By Mark Glick, Gabriel Lozada, and Darren Bush
Working Paper | Technology & Innovation
Beneath the grand claims and vast capital spending, AI is delivering weak productivity, mounting losses, and growing financial strain. If the boom cannot generate profits, jobs, or durable gains, how much longer can the bubble hold?
Working Paper | Laws
What should courts prioritize in determining antitrust cases: measurable welfare effects, or the protection of competitive rivalry itself? The Consumer Welfare Standard and the Protect Competition Standard offer different answers.
By Mark Glick, Gabriel Lozada, and Darren Bush
Dec 08, 2025
Webinars and Events
LEPC VII will bring together leading thinkers, practitioners, and policymakers to analyze the drivers behind this sub national success, and to chart actionable pathways for the future. Each session outlined explores a foundational dimension of India’s growth story, with attention to both policy diagnosis and on-the-ground innovation.
Dec 02, 2025
Webinars and Events
International Conference on Digitalisation, Market and Society is a cross-disciplinary plenary on how digital transformation is altering work, gender norms, and social institutions—and how society can respond inclusively.
Jul 24, 2025
Webinars and Events
The focus of this year’s monsoon school is on pluralistic approaches to research on inequality, bringing together perspectives from varied streams of economic thought. It will provide an interactive platform for advanced-level PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and scholars affiliated with Indian research institutes to engage with diverse concepts, debates, and methodologies related to inequality.
Jul 14, 2025
Webinars and Events
The urgency of the climate crisis cannot be overstated, particularly given its disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities in the Global South.
May 31, 2025
Webinars and Events
Four months of the Trump presidency have already changed the world as we knew it. How did we get here? What consequences have the tariffs had and will have? How will U.S.-European trade relations evolve? What about the confrontation with China?
Apr 10, 2025
Webinars and Events
with THOMAS FERGUSON, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INET
Jul 15, 2025
Jul 14, 2025
Jul 07, 2025
YSI projects are collaboratively organized by members of the community to explore topics in new economic thinking. Projects may be held virtually (discussions, webinars, reading groups) or in person (workshops, pre-conferences). Learn more about YSI here
