Three Reasons We Need the Build Back Better Act

Build Back Better, Create New Jobs

With two pivotal investment packages approaching uncertain House votes in the coming days, one thing is clear: The time for action is now.

As negotiations over the scale and structure of the Build Back Better Act come down to the wire, policymakers must remember these three facts:

• Most of today’s price changes are temporary and sector-specific—driven by mismatches between supply and demand.
• The Build Back Better Act invests public funding in long-standing, specific supply chain bottlenecks and market failures and would, therefore, relieve inflationary pressures.
• The Build Back Better Act would set us on a trajectory of sustained economic prosperity and move us closer to full employment.

The bill would increase the supply of childcare, create new jobs, and allow parents to get back to work. In short, it’s an opportunity we can’t afford to squander.

Read more in “How the Build Back Better Act Would Alleviate Inflation and Drive Sustained Prosperity.”

Student Debt Cancellation IS Progressive

In the United States today, more than 45 million people collectively owe $1.73 trillion in student debt, with the burden of this debt disproportionately falling on Black and Latinx students. 

The solution is simple, and progressive: cancel student debt.

As a recent Roosevelt issue brief found, broad-based federal student debt cancellation would most benefit those with the fewest economic resources, particularly Black and Latinx borrowers, and would operate as an effective tool to grow the Black middle class.

Learn more in this fact sheet.

Last Chance to Register for EconCon 2021

Next Wednesday and Thursday (October 6 and 7), join experts, organizers, and advocates from Roosevelt and progressive organizations across the country at EconCon 2021, a virtual conference focused on building an economy that works for everyone. 

Explore this year’s EconCon sessions (including a full employment panel with Roosevelt’s Mike Konczal) and register now.

What We’re Reading

How Joe Biden Could End the Debt Ceiling—All by Himself [feat. Roosevelt’s Mike Konczal] – Vox

Why Reparations Are Needed to Close the Racial Wealth Gap [feat. Roosevelt’s William “Sandy” Darity Jr.] – New York Times

Racial Wealth Gaps in Teaching Won’t Close without Bold Economic Policies [feat. Roosevelt’s Darrick Hamilton and Darity Jr.] – Prism

The Road to Climate Action Might Run through Labor Law Reform – Jacobin

Inside Lina Khan’s War on Monopolies – Politico

I’m One of Biden’s Economic Advisers. Here’s How We Should Think about Work. – New York Times