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Political Economy Research Institute

Game Changer: No More Wall Street Bailouts

Gerald Epstein and Marc Jarsulic

PERI researchers Gerald Epstein and Marc Jarsulic explain how Wall Street banks take massive risks and engaged in corrupt dealings, with the federal government and Federal Reserve primed to bail them out once trouble arises. The pressure to continue such practices are increasing, due to the rise of crypto currencies, the AI stock price explosion, and the Trump family’s profiteering in these markets. Epstein and Jarsulic argue that such bailouts should become illegal. The government should instead focus on protecting states, municipalities, small businesses, and workers from becoming collateral damage from financial meltdowns.

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IMF Conditionality and Bureaucratic Quality

Ananya Ganesh and Lawrence King

Mainstream economists agree on the need for a “Weberian” bureaucratic state which is relatively free from corruption, relies on professionally trained staffing, and follows the rule of law. The International Monetary Fund claims its programs support such a state, while critics of the Fund argue that it erodes bureaucratic capacity. PERI researcher Lawrence King and Ananya Ganesh demonstrate that the critics are correct: IMF programs consistently trigger a severe degradation of institutional capacity over time, with stabilization-intensive programs proving particularly destructive. These findings overturn the literature celebrating the benign nature of stabilization conditions.

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IMF graphic

Game Changer: Building the Care Economy

Nancy Folbre

PERI researcher Nancy Folbre shows that the United States persistently underinvests in the care economy. She explains how three interconnected proposals — universal child care, paid family and medical leave plus long-term care support, and a monthly child allowance — would transform life for American families. These three proposals form a coherent package that addresses caregiving at every stage of life: from infancy through old age. In other countries, these policies have led to an expansion of women’s workforce participation, reduced child poverty, improved population health, and overall public benefits that substantially exceed their costs.

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Capital Flight from Resource-Rich Africa

Léonce Ndikumana

The unrecorded transfer of money—i.e. “capital flight”—is a global economic problem. PERI researcher Léonce Ndikumana and co-authors focus on the experiences of Cameroon, Ghana, and Zambia to explain how capital flight contributes to broader illicit financial flows. Deal-makers help private actors embezzle funds, evade taxation and exchange controls, and create shell corporations to disguise funds. The financial hemorrhage through capital flight creates major obstacles for African countries to achieve their development goals and even finance basic services. Ndikumana advances a workable program for controlling capital flight, in Africa and more broadly.

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africa map

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