Bard Economist Pavlina Tcherneva’s Work on the Job Guarantee Becomes Focus of US National High School Debate Topic
Thousands of high school students across the United States have been studying Bard Professor of Economics and Research Scholar of the Levy Economics Institute Pavlina Tcherneva’s work on the job guarantee in preparation for their 2023–24 national debate tournaments, which take on the topic of economic inequality. “Personally, I can’t think of a greater impact of my work than seeing young people engage with it, study it, and defend its principles,” says Tcherneva.
Bard Economist Pavlina Tcherneva’s Work on the Job Guarantee Becomes Focus of US National High School Debate Topic
Thousands of high school students across the United States have been studying the work of Bard Professor of Economics and Research Scholar of the Levy Economics Institute Pavlina Tcherneva in preparation for their national debate tournaments. The official resolution for the 2023–24 High School Policy Debate Topic reads: “The United States federal government should substantially increase fiscal redistribution in the United States by adopting a federal jobs guarantee, expanding Social Security, and/or providing a basic income.” Tcherneva’s book The Case for a Job Guarantee was included in the compilation of research, which the Library of Congress prepares each year, pertinent to the annually selected national debate topic. As this year’s debate season progressed, the federal jobs guarantee policy has emerged as the overwhelming favorite policy for student debate teams on the affirmative. As a result, there are at least a few thousand students across the United States who have gotten very well acquainted with Tcherneva’s work over the past three months.
According to Chris Gentry, program manager of the Policy Debate League for Chicago Public Schools, “Almost every affirmative team across the country is running a jobs guarantee case, and to do so they are pulling heavily on Tcherneva’s publications.” During one weekend tournament, Gentry realized that essentially every debate relied on Tcherneva’s work. In just one round that he was judging, 10 different articles or books that she wrote had been quoted. “At least twice this last weekend, I heard ‘well that’s not what Tcherneva is trying to get at here,’” he added. Another high school debate coach in Los Angeles confirmed that Tcherneva has likely been the most cited author in high school debate this year, and as a result the student debaters are quite familiar with her work.
“Personally, I can’t think of a greater impact of my work than seeing young people engage with it, study it, and defend its principles,” says Tcherneva. After meeting with a group of high school student debaters this month, she adds, "The questions the students asked about the job guarantee were probing, well-informed, thoughtful, and inspired—with a keen focus on social justice. I hope that some of them will become policy makers.”
Inspired by this nationwide student engagement, Tcherneva has also opened up spots in her summer workshop “Public Finance and Economic Policy” to select high-school debate students interested in going deeper into Modern Monetary Theory and the job guarantee. Organized and hosted by Bard College and the OSUN Economic Democracy Initiative (EDI), this five-day workshop taking place online June 17–21 is for undergraduate students interested in public policy to tackle economic instability and insecurity, and in understanding the financing capacity and policy space available to governments to pursue these aims. Applications from high school debate students will be reviewed in April and early May. Students can apply here.
Tcherneva also recently developed a resource tool jobguarantee.org, created and maintained by Bard College students and alumni, with the support of OSUN, for anyone interested in learning more about the job guarantee policy innovation.
Centered on the well-being of some of the most vulnerable parts of the US population, the 2023–24 national debate topic of “Economic Inequality” prevailed over “Climate Change” and represents a pressing issue at the forefront of our collective societal consciousness.
Professor of Economics Pavlina Tcherneva discusses the disconnect between the way economists see the US economy and the way families experience it. “Housing affordability, health care, education—these things have not fundamentally changed,” she tells Ian Masters on Background Briefing. “We emerged out of this COVID pandemic without some profound structural changes. [...] There were some policies that seemed to work and they expired, and others that we don’t see the benefits from yet. But I think that basically that is the message: we are back to the status quo.”
Professor Pavlina Tcherneva on the Disconnect Between Biden’s Great Economic Numbers and How Voters Feel about the Economy
Pavlina Tcherneva, professor of economics at Bard College and research scholar at Bard’s Levy Economics Institute, discusses the disconnect between the way economists see the US economy and the way families experience it. “Housing affordability, health care, education—these things have not fundamentally changed,” she tells Ian Masters on Background Briefing. “We emerged out of this COVID pandemic without some profound structural changes. I think that there are some good signs. We do want to keep this momentum. There were some policies that seemed to work and they expired, and others that we don’t see the benefits from yet. But I think that basically that is the message: we are back to the status quo. Folks are still experiencing the stresses of daily life. And there are far too many Americans that still live paycheck to paycheck.”
The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College is pleased to announce that it has received a two-year $500,000 grant from the Hewlett Foundation. The award will support the institute’s Gender Equality and the Economy program and aims to generate new knowledge and share information about the economic empowerment of women, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Bard College’s Levy Economics Institute Receives $500,000 Hewlett Grant for Its Gender Equality and the Economy Program
The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College is pleased to announce that it has received a two-year $500,000 grant from the Hewlett Foundation. The award will support the institute’s Gender Equality and the Economy (GEE) program and aims to generate new knowledge and share information about the economic empowerment of women, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
The GEE program focuses on the ways in which economic processes and policies affect gender equality, and examines the relationships between gender inequalities and economic outcomes. During the grant period from 2023–2025, the institute and its partners—including Levy scholars Thomas Masterson, Fernando Rios-Avila, Aashima Sinha, and Ajit Zacharias, alongside regional partners Abena Oduro of the University of Ghana and Nthabiseng Moleko of the University of Stellenbosch—plan to generate new research on gender disparities in employment security and welfare outcomes in Ghana and South Africa. The dominance of wage employment in South Africa versus self-employment in Ghana, for example, may present different labor market scenarios with potentially significant implications for employment security and welfare outcomes. The grant will also support continued research using the Levy Institute’s expanded measure of poverty: the Levy Institute Measure of Time and Income Poverty (LIMTIP). Inspired by feminist approaches to economics, the LIMTIP takes account of time for household production in order to create a more accurate reading of economic deprivation.
“We are grateful to the Hewlett Foundation for their generous decade-long support” said Ajit Zacharias, senior scholar and director of the Institute’s Distribution of Income and Wealth Program. “Inequality in earnings between men and women is an important and well-studied aspect of gender inequality. However, the gender disparities in child-rearing, care of dependent adults, and division of other family responsibilities often force women into less secure forms of employment than men with similar labor market profiles. The gender distribution of types of employment thus has a fundamental effect on current earnings differentials. Such disparities also drive the gender disparity in cumulative earnings, i.e., earnings over working life. They have gendered implications for old-age income security, e.g., by shaping private savings or eligibility for employer-provided pensions. We aim to provide fresh insights and evidence on these issues, hoping they will contribute to policies that promote gender equality and social justice.”
The award will facilitate two workshops in the region to disseminate its findings, along with related work by scholars in the region, and engage with policymakers and other stakeholders. Additionally, the institute will host an international workshop on gender and economic analysis featuring new research in feminist economics, providing a platform for new studies and mutual engagement with global research and policy community members.
Finding the Money: New Documentary on the Paradigm-Shifting Modern Monetary Theory Features Levy Scholar Stephanie Kelton and Bard Economists
Finding the Money, a new film by Maren Poitras, follows economist Stephanie Kelton, research associate at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, on an exploration of Modern Monetary Theory—the heterodox economic policy model that reframes our understanding of government funding, spending, and national debt. “An alternative story of money will revolutionize our conception of what we as a society believe we can afford and can achieve,” says the filmmaker. Bard economists featured in the film include economics professors and Levy scholars Pavlina R. Tcherneva and L. Randall Wray, and Levy research associates Mathew Forstater and Fadhel Kaboub. This past weekend, Finding the Money had its world premiere at the 2023 Woodstock Film Festival with Kelton, Wray, Tcherneva, and Forstater all in attendance.
Bard Economist Pavlina Tcherneva Provides Expert Opinion on UN Job Guarantee Report, to Speak at Report’s Official Launch on June 30
Pavlina Tcherneva, associate professor of economics at Bard College, provided expert opinion during the preparation of the new United Nations report on the job guarantee, “The Employment Guarantee as a Tool in the Fight Against Poverty.” Professor Tcherneva collaborated with UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Olivier De Schutter on the project.
“The UN report is a significant recognition of the job guarantee as a key strategy for addressing unemployment, poverty, and inequality,” says Professor Tcherneva. “Nation states concerned with these issues will have the opportunity to respond and, if so willing, adopt the technical recommendations outlined in the report.”
Tcherneva will participate in the official launch of the report on June 30, in a side event held on the occasion of the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The event is jointly organized by the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights and ATD Fourth World, and cosponsored by the Permanent Mission of Belgium and the Permanent Mission of Luxembourg to the United Nations in Geneva.
Tcherneva will speak remotely on a panel moderated by Olivier De Schutter, and will be joined by Aye Aye Win, president of the International Committee for October 17th; Kate Philip, programme lead on the Presidential Employment Stimulus, South Africa; and Mito Tsukamoto, chief of the Development and Investment Branch (DEVINVEST) of the Employment Policy Department at the International Labour Office (ILO).
For more information about the event, including the concept note and list of speakers, visit srpoverty.org.
Pavlina Tcherneva is an associate professor of economics at Bard College, the director of the OSUN Economic Democracy Initiative, and a research scholar at the Levy Economics Institute at Bard College. She is the author of The Case for a Job Guarantee (Polity, 2020) which has been published in eight languages.
What Is Money?: Bard Economist L. Randall Wray Discusses How Money Works on the Podcast Something You Should Know
L. Randall Wray, professor of economics at Bard and senior scholar at the Levy Institute, speaks with Mike Carruthers on Something You Should Know about the definition of money and how it actually works. “We need to get away from this notion that money is something we can get our hands on,” Wray explains. “If you go back in time, most market activity as far back as we go took place on the basis of credit and debit. And really that is how we should look at money. Money is credit in your hands and it’s somebody’s debt.” Wray asserts that the Federal Reserve cannot run out of money. “Money is a keystroke credit to an account . . . As long as there is one person left at the Fed with one finger, they can keystroke some more credits . . . Can the government or the private sector spend too much and cause inflation, which will reduce the value of the money? Yes, that can happen.” Wray’s newest book Money for Beginners: An Illustrated Guide was published in May 2023. Professor Wray’s interview begins at 24:00.
Three Bard College Students Win Gilman International Scholarships to Study Abroad
Three Bard College students have been awarded highly competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships by the US Department of State. Gilman Scholars receive up to $5,000, or up to $8,000 if also a recipient of the Gilman Critical Need Language Award, to apply toward their study abroad or internship program costs. This cohort of Gilman scholars will study or intern in more than 80 countries and represents more than 520 US colleges and universities in all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Dance major Zara Boss ’25, from Portland, Maine, has been awarded a $3,000 Gilman scholarship to study at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, via CIEE for spring 2024. Boss also received a $5,000 Freeman-ASIA award, which provides scholarships for US undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need to study abroad in East or Southeast Asia. “Being a Gilman scholarship recipient is an incredible honor, as it will allow my life-long aspiration of studying in Japan to come to fruition. I am very grateful for the opportunity to be immersed in the language and culture and am immensely looking forward to studying literature and dance in Tokyo this upcoming spring,” said Boss.
Historical Studies major Chi-Chi Ezekwenna ’25, from Bronx, New York, has been awarded a $3,000 Gilman scholarship to study at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea via tuition exchange from fall 2023 to spring 2024. “Receiving the Gilman scholarship has allowed for a dream that has been fostering since I was 12 years old to finally become a reality. I used to believe that the chance to visit Korea would only come much later down the road, yet I was positively proven wrong, as being a Gilman recipient has allowed me the chance to go during my college career,” said Ezekwenna.
Bard College Conservatory and Economics dual major Nita Vemuri’24 has been awarded a $3,000 Gilman scholarship to study in Paris, France for summer 2023. “I am beyond thrilled to learn more about French music and its relationship to the French language in Paris with the help of the Gilman scholarship,” said Vemuri.
Since the program’s inception in 2001, more than 38,000 Gilman Scholars from all US states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other US territories have studied or interned in more than 160 countries around the globe. The Department of State awarded more than 3,600 Gilman scholarships during the 2022-2023 academic year.
As Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said, “People-to-people exchanges bring our world closer together and convey the best of America to the world, especially to its young people.”
The late Congressman Gilman, for whom the scholarship is named, served in the House of Representatives for 30 years and chaired the House Foreign Relations Committee. When honored with the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal in 2002, he said, “Living and learning in a vastly different environment of another nation not only exposes our students to alternate views but adds an enriching social and cultural experience. It also provides our students with the opportunity to return home with a deeper understanding of their place in the world, encouraging them to be a contributor, rather than a spectator in the international community.”
The Gilman Program is sponsored by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and is supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education (IIE). To learn more, visit: gilmanscholarship.org
Youssef Ait Benasser Joins Bard College Faculty as Assistant Professor of Economics in the Division of Social Studies
Bard College’s Division of Social Studies is pleased to announce the appointment of Youssef Ait Benasser as Assistant Professor of Economics. Their tenure-track appointment will begin in the fall of the 2023–24 academic year.
“Bard’s global engagement provides the ideal environment for my work in international economics,” said Benasser. “I am excited to contribute to the disruptive research and support the transformative learning that sets Bard’s community apart in the social sciences and beyond.”
Born in Rabat, Morocco,Youssef A. Benasser (they/he)received a BA in Political Science from Sciences Po Paris and an MSc in Economics and Public Policy from Ecole Polytechnique (X), before completing their PhD in Economics at the University of Oregon. Their research agenda is influenced by decolonial critics of the Bretton-Wood international economic system and inspired by the Third World’s quest for an alternative economic project. It centers on empirical assessments of recent trends in international trade policy, such as policy uncertainty, reversals, or rivalries, and their impacts on the global flow of goods and money. Passionate about teaching and pedagogy, Dr. Benasser has taught in higher ed institutions for more than seven years. Their courses span macro and international economics at the introductory, intermediate, and advanced levels. Dr. Benasser also has a risk analysis background, having previously held positions in the financial and government sectors.
Bard Economist Pavlina Tcherneva Interviewed on Background Briefing with Ian Masters
Ian Masters spoke with Pavlina Tcherneva, associate professor of economics at Bard College, research associate at the Levy Economics Institute, and author of The Case for a Job Guarantee (2020), on his nationally syndicated radio program Background Briefing. In the episode, “As Pundits Warn of Recession and Inflation, We Get the Best Economic News Since 1969,” Masters asks Tcherneva for her take on the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report, which added 517,000 jobs in January 2023 and stunned most economists and people who continue to harbor a doomsday mentality about the economy.
According to Tcherneva, two years after the COVID-induced crisis, such good news about low unemployment levels tells us that “public policy has tools. It can act boldly, quickly and bring jobs back.” She points out, however, that these low unemployment numbers also reflect the 5.7 million people who are not looking for work, and 4 million people who are working part-time but would like to have full-time jobs.
“Part of the anxiety still being experienced in the labor market is that the jobs are there but they are not exactly these well-paying jobs with very good benefits and good working conditions. On that front, there is more to be accomplished. Let us remember our minimum wage is still $7.25, and no one can live on $7.25 an hour,” she asserts.
Tcherneva sees the big fiscal policies implemented over the last two years by the Biden administration, which do not overly focus on the financial sector or prioritize tax cuts for the wealthy, as all good news. Still, she advocates for more economic progress. “The question for me is did we come out of the pandemic with better jobs, better conditions for working families than we had going into the pandemic?”
Campus Center, George Ball Lounge6:00 pm – 8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 It time for a break! Join us for recharging snacks and drinks in this midterm season! Brought to you by the Economics Club!