Washington, D.C. — For several decades, politicians and economists have thought that high levels of inequality were good for the economy. But as CAP Managing Director of Economic Policy David Madland explains in his new book, Hollowed Out, America’s economy now suffers from the kinds of problems that plague less-developed countries. The decline of the American middle class has destabilized consumer demand, undermined trust, exacerbated governmental failures, and limited the development of human capital.
As Hollowed Out details, in order to have strong and sustainable growth, the economy needs to work for everyone and grow from the middle out. On Wednesday, June 24, the Center for American Progress will host Madland and Washington Post columnist and Brookings Institution Senior Fellow E.J. Dionne for a conversation about Hollowed Out and its implications for America’s economy, democracy, and the middle class.
Hollowed Out is particularly timely because the 2016 election is shaping up to be a battle of middle-out economics against trickle-down economics, with progressive ways of thinking about the economy providing a strong rebuttal to the trickle-down theory that inequality helps the economy. The new thinking about the costs of inequality has set the stage for transformative political conflict that will shape economic policymaking for generations.
Read an exclusive excerpt of Hollowed Out and an interview with Madland about the book in Salon.
Join the conversation on Twitter by following @DavidMadland and @CAPEconomy.
WHO:
Welcoming remarks:
Carmel Martin, Executive Vice President for Policy, Center for American Progress
Featured author:
David Madland, Author, Hollowed Out; Managing Director, Economic Policy, Center for American Progress
Moderated by:
E.J. Dionne Jr., Columnist, The Washington Post; Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
WHEN:
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
12:30 p.m. ET
A light lunch will be served at noon.
WHERE:
Center for American Progress
1333 H Street NW, 10th Floor
Washington, D.C., 20005
For more information, contact Allison Preiss at [email protected] or 202.478.6331.
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