Plenty of Nothing: The Downsizing of the American Dream and the Case for Structural Keynesianism

by Thomas I. Palley

Overview

Business papers today are in a triumphant mood, buoyed by a conviction that the economic stagnation of the last quarter century has vanished in favor of a new age of robust growth. But if we are doing so well, many ask, why does it feel like we are working harder for less? Why, despite economic growth, does inequality between rich and poor keep rising? In this wide-ranging and provocative book, Thomas Palley pulls together many threads of "new liberal" economic thought to offer detailed answers to these pressing questions. And he proposes a new economic model—structural Keynesianism—that he argues would return America to sustainable, fairly shared prosperity. The key, he writes, is to abandon the myth of a natural competitive economy, which has justified unleashing capital and attacking unions. This has resulted in an economy dominated by business.


Palley's book, which began as a cover article for The Atlantic Monthly in 1996, challenges the economic orthodoxies of the political right and center, popularized by such economists as Milton Friedman and Paul Krugman. He marshals a powerful array of economic facts and arguments to show that the interests of working families have gradually been sacrificed to those of corporations. Expanding on traditional Keynesian economics, he argues that, although capitalism is the most productive system ever devised, it also tends to generate deep economic inequalities and encourage the pursuit of profit at the expense of all else. He challenges fatalists who say we can do nothing about this—that economic insecurity and stagnant wages are the inevitable results of irresistible globalization. Palley argues that capitalism comes in a range of forms and that government can and should shape it from a "mean street" system into a "main street" system through monetary, fiscal, trade, and regulatory policies that promote widespread prosperity.



Plenty of Nothing offers a compelling alternative to conventional economic wisdom. The book is clearly and powerfully written and will provoke debate among economists and the general public about the most stubborn problems in the American economy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691050317
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	07/16/2000
Edition description:	With a New introduction by the author
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Thomas I. Palley is Assistant Director of Public Policy (Economics) at the AFL-CIO and the author ofPost-Keynesian Economics: Debt, Distribution, and the Macro Economy.

Table of Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

Preface

Ch. 1 Debunking Economic Naturalism

Ch. 2 Making Sense of the Economy and Economics

Ch. 3 Plenty of Nothing: An Overview

Ch. 4 The State of the American Dream

Ch. 5 The Logic of Economic Power, Part I: Diagnosing the Problem

Ch. 6 The Logic of Economic Power, Part II: Policies for Prosperity

Ch. 7 The Triumph of Wall Street: Finance and the Federal Reserve

Ch. 8 From New Deal to Raw Deal: The Attack on Government

Ch. 9 Free Trade and the Race to the Bottom

Ch. 10 International Money: Who Governs?

Ch. 11 Structural Keynesianism and Globalization

Ch. 12 Recipe for a Depression

Epilogue: Ending Economic Fatalism

Notes

References

Index

Editorial Reviews

Thomas I. Palley has written an important book in a clear and persuasive style. He understands the economic plight of working American families. He explains what caused that plight and what can be done about it. . . . His analysis is rigorous. His conclusions are correct. His policies are the right stiff. He discusses the kind of family policy we need for the next millennium.

Review of Social Economy - William M. Dugger

A useful and often insightful treatise on policy debates and recent economic debates in the United States. He ably documents and explains 'the downsizing of the American dream.'

Science & Society - James Devine

Thomas Palley has presented us with a timely book . . . a necessary book. . . . It reminds us that we do not have to accept Wall Street's version of the choices we face.

Review of Political Economy - Robert E. Prasch

This is a good and useful book. At a time when mediocre economic performance is celebrated as though it were excellent . . . Plenty of Nothing is for people who are tired of being treated like fools. . . . The revolutionary thought that policy does matter, for good or evil, is a prime contribution of this book, though it is a mark of the degraded state of economic discourse that it is needed at all.

Dissent - James K. Galbraith

Thomas I. Palley has written an important book in a clear and persuasive style. He understands the economic plight of working American families. He explains what caused that plight and what can be done about it. . . . His analysis is rigorous. His conclusions are correct. His policies are the right stiff. He discusses the kind of family policy we need for the next millennium.
— William M. Dugger

Review of Social Economy

A useful and often insightful treatise on policy debates and recent economic debates in the United States. He ably documents and explains 'the downsizing of the American dream.'
— James Devine

Science & Society

Thomas Palley has presented us with a timely book . . . a necessary book. . . . It reminds us that we do not have to accept Wall Street's version of the choices we face.
— Robert E. Prasch

Review of Political Economy

This is a good and useful book. At a time when mediocre economic performance is celebrated as though it were excellent . . . Plenty of Nothing is for people who are tired of being treated like fools. . . . The revolutionary thought that policy does matter, for good or evil, is a prime contribution of this book, though it is a mark of the degraded state of economic discourse that it is needed at all.
— James K. Galbraith

Dissent

Palley (Post-Keynesian Economics: Debt, Distribution, and the Macro Economy, St. Martin's, 1996) presents this remarkable text that attempts to dispel many of the myths associated with economic naturalism. He investigates why the rich have gotten richer, the poor have gotten poorer, and the middle class has shrunk, introducing an economic evaluation of the U.S. economy from the "main street capitalism" of the past and the "mean streets capitalism" of the present. The argument for structural Keynesianism compels a reassessment of current policies and attitudes toward labor and stresses that increasing employment must take precedence over decreasing inflation when formulating fiscal policies. According to Palley, a prosperous and equitable economy can be sustained by increasing real income for workers and allowing everyone to share the wealth. This well-organized work is extensively supported by statistics, charts, and graphs. With its timely appeal, it warrants a place on the shelves beside other master works of economic theory. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.Robert L. Balliot Jr., East Greenwich Free Lib., RI

Library Journal

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1998

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