DALLAS, TEXAS – Published today, the latest edition of The Catalyst: A Journal of Ideas from the Bush Institute, tackles an urgent question: How can we build an inclusive economy that works for more Americans? The top economists and other contributors who wrote for Building the New American Economy don’t agree on everything, and that’s by design. Together, however, they sketch a broad vision of how to face new challenges while fostering inclusive growth, and they offer practical roadmaps for how to get there.
Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute opens the issue by explaining how protectionism, nationalism, and heavy-handed government intervention won’t deliver for working Americans. Instead, removing barriers in housing, licensing, education, and investment will support greater mobility and growth.
Neil Chilson, head of AI policy at the Abundance Institute, takes on removing obstacles in innovation, misguided polices that could squander the United States’ lead in AI and other cutting-edge technologies. Economist Melissa Kearney highlights investing in strengthening families, improving skills training, and fighting childhood poverty to ensure more Americans share in our country’s prosperity. She envisions an inclusive capitalism that doesn’t dismiss markets or pretend they’re sufficient on their own.
Benn Stiel, of the Council of Foreign Relations, notes that despite the rise of populist frustration, most Americans prefer good jobs to handouts – and that the best way to boost productivity would be to remove barriers that limit labor mobility and to have a “predistribution” agenda.
The Bush Institute’s Robin Berkley, the Ann Kimball Johnson director of education, and Alexis Yelvington, program manager of opportunity, discuss the need to ensure that young Americans gain and develop the right skills to be successful in tomorrow’s economy. With American students falling behind in math and reading, they offer suggestions for how to strengthen the education system in the United States.
At the heart of the issue are essays probing when the government should intervene in markets – and when it shouldn’t. Cullum Clark, director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative, assesses the risks of industrial policy by looking back at U.S. history in the semiconductor industry. Igor Khrestin, the Bush Institute’s senior advisor of global policy, reflects on China’s joining the World Trade Organization 25 years ago, arguing that instead of improving trade practices, it has created a growing threat to American workers and global security.
Angela Rachidi, of the American Enterprise Institute, focuses on how well-intentioned social welfare policies can inadvertently trap families in poverty. She proposes fixing the social safety net, so it promotes advancement rather than dependency.
Closing out the issue is American Enterprise Institute’s James Pethokoukis, who challenges the popular impulse to target billionaires, arguing that the wrong restrictions could ultimately leave society poorer.
To read the full edition of The Catalyst, visit https://www.bushcenter.org/catalyst/building-the-new-american-economy
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About the George W. Bush Institute
The George W. Bush Institute is a solution-oriented nonpartisan policy organization focused on ensuring opportunity for all, strengthening democracy, and advancing free societies. Housed within the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the Bush Institute is rooted in compassionate conservative values and committed to creating positive, meaningful, and lasting change at home and abroad. We utilize our unique platform and convening power to advance solutions to national and global issues of the day. Learn more at bushcenter.org.
