A New Attack on Financial Reform, Investing in Progressive Youth, and More

1. Financial Reform Under Fire

At Vox, Roosevelt Fellow Mike Konczal looks at the Republicans’ plan to use the budget reconciliation process to dismantle most major components of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, including orderly liquidation authority, limits on shadow banking, and the GOP’s top target, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

2. Building Tomorrow with Progressive Youth

Roosevelt National Network Director Joelle Gamble participated in a panel marking the release of Young People For and Generation Progress’s new report, “Building Tomorrow: The Need for Sustained Investment in America’s Progressive Youth.” Jump to 20:30 to hear Joelle speak about her work in this space.

3. Don’t Fear the Robots

Roosevelt Fellow and Senior Economist Marshall Steinbaum participated in a Forbes Q&A about the threat of robots taking Americans’ jobs. Marshall argues that this “threat” has been overblown, and that the data on wage stagnation and slowing productivity suggest that there are more important problems with today’s labor market.

4. Can Economic Nationalism Serve the Left?

Writing for Dissent magazine, Roosevelt Fellow J.W. Mason makes the case that the aims of social democracy may be best served by delinking nation-states from an international system that has evolved into a mechanism for global financial markets to dictate domestic policy and dismantle the safety net.

5. Spotlight on Roosevelt @ Kenyon

The Kenyon Collegian highlights the work of Roosevelt’s Kenyon College chapter, led by Devon Chodzin and Alyssa Williams, which is seeking to draw on students’ policy knowledge to assist other organizations on campus and develop local policy solutions of its own on issues ranging from gun control to environmental standards.

What We’re Reading:

In These Times reports that on the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech, in which he called for a “radical revolution of values” to support racial and economic justice, the Movement for Black Lives launched its new Beyond the Moment campaign to achieve just that.

Events:

Join us on Wednesday, April 26 at 7:30 a.m. for our next Big Ideas Breakfast, “Bridging the Divide: Tax Cuts & Taxpayers,” featuring Brookings fellow and author Vanessa Williamson, Roosevelt Senior Economist Marshall Steinbaum, and National Network Director Joelle Gamble. Click here to RSVP.