What is Classroom to Capitol?
A resource for social workers, instructors, and students in the areas of community organizing, policy analysis and advocacy, and organizational development--a tool in your quest for social justiceFollow Classroom to Capitol
Search This Site
SUBSCRIBE
@melindaklewis on Twitter
- I'm particularly excited about #4! brookings.edu/blog/up-front/… 3 years ago
- We need all of these policies--for the middle-class, for redeeming the American Dream, and for our shared future. brookings.edu/blog/up-front/… 3 years ago
- Looking forward to talking about these ideas in Orlando with @OxUniPress this week! twitter.com/OUPEconomics/s… 3 years ago
- Talking about the book with college students is a particular joy! kansan.com/arts_and_cultu… 3 years ago
- RT @OUPPsychology: Currently in America there is a more than 30% gap in college graduation rates by family income. Find out more. #educatio… 3 years ago
Melinda Lewis
social policy, social work, advocacy, and community organizing analysis and commentary
USE AGREEMENT
All materials on this site, except those explicitly credited to other sources, are the creation and property of Melinda K. Lewis. Visitors to this site are encouraged to use these materials for their advocacy and their own learning, and may share these materials as desired to further the pursuit of social justice. The author only requests that all materials obtained from this site, including presentations, documents, and images, be credited to Melinda K. Lewis, and that others be directed to this site for additional information. No material from this site may be sold or used for any commercial purposes without the express written permission of Melinda K. Lewis.Disclaimer
Melinda Lewis takes full responsibility for the content featured directly on this blog. This site is in no way affiliated with the University of Kansas or its School of Social Welfare. The opinions and commentary contained here are those of the author alone, who makes no claim to speak on behalf of other students, faculty, or administration at the School.networked blogs
The charts that are shaping U.S. economic policy. April Fool.
My oldest son has big plans to switch my toothbrush with my husband’s today, so we’ll see how that works out. Hijinks, people, big time.
But nothing compared to the surreal experience of watching policymakers make economic policy based, apparently, on fairly little understanding of actual economic realities.
If you haven’t seen them already, take a look at the Economic Policy Institute’s ‘top charts’ for 2012. These are the sets of economic information that, in a perfect world, would be driving U.S. policy decisions about social spending, infrastructure, entitlements, and, of course, tax policy. Of course, I think life would be better if the good folks at EPI got to run a lot more of our social policy.
Here are some of my favorites:
What are we going to do to get these lost generations reengaged in the labor market? What does this mean for my graduating students? For the concept of ‘retirement’ in the years to come?

Seriously. We make way less than $250,000 per year, and I still feel super economically privileged. I know my kids will be able to go to college. We own a home. I can buy something ridiculous at Target without flinching, for crying out loud. Economic security for the real middle class, and let’s be real about who we’re talking about.

A social problem we don’t define as ‘problematic’. There is such a thing as ‘too much’, not just ‘too little’. Both extremes matter. A lot.

Cuts in government spending aren’t victimless. More efficiency doesn’t necessarily yield a stronger economy.

It’s going to take a long time to claw back from this kind of devastation. And, the subtitle: those who started with less end up with…way less.

And here’s the not foolish part: we need to advocate to shift the policy conversation so that these are the figures that are animating the debate. We need economic policies that don’t make us slap our foreheads.
We need to not feel like April fools.
Share this:
Like this:
Related