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The Bottom Line

by James K. Boyce

The “Bottom Line” video series from Econ4 – Economics for People, the Planet and the Future – tackles key economic issues facing the American people and Obama Presidency 2.0.  Each is accompanied by a statement signed by more than 100 economists from across the country.

The newest video debunks the myth that regulation invariably undermines freedom and harms the economy:

Here’s an excerpt from the accompanying statement:

Some claim that regulation “kills jobs.” They tell us that firms will hire more workers if they don’t have to worry about such things as safe workplaces, fair wages, clean air and water, or transparent accounting standards. They’re dead wrong. Sound regulations don’t deter investment. Sound regulations don’t deter job creation. On the contrary, sound regulations are a necessary ingredient in any healthy economy.

It was unregulated financial markets that killed millions of jobs, as surely as unregulated pollution kills people.

Prior videos and statements in the Econ4 series look at real job creation, housing, and healthcare. Next up: building the new economy.

 

 

James Boyce

by James K. Boyce

James Boyce is Professor of Economics and Director of the Program on Development, Peacebuilding, and the Environment at the Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Jim recently co-authored with Leonce Ndikumana (see below), Africa’s Odious Debt: How Foreign Loans and Capital Flight Bled a Continent. Jim was also a principal author of a new “Cap-and-Dividend” policy approach to regulating greenhouse gas emissions, which produces an egalitarian alternative to traditional “Cap-and-Trade” measures.

Please check back shortly for Jim’s first post.

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