Strategies to Fight Economic Insecurity

In their new book The Wolf at the Door: The Menace of Economic Insecurity and How to Fight It, Justus S. Hotchkiss Professor of Law Emeritus Michael J. Graetz and Yale University Sterling Professor of Political Science Ian Shapiro ’87 trace the sources of insecurity in America and describe potentially effective and politically viable policy recommendations to restore economic security.

The Wolf at the Door
The authors argue people fear not what the rich are making, but the prospect of losing what they have, whether jobs, social status, or physical safety. A “toxic combination of economic distress and political dysfunction” has fueled recent populist movements in the United States on the left and the right, but solutions like protectionism or class warfare will not alleviate the fears and frustrations of middle-class or poor Americans, they write. Instead, pursuing and implementing effective policies through the political system can ameliorate the dangers posed to the livelihoods of workers by technology and globalization.

At the heart of The Wolf at the Door is a framework for a successful distributive politics, written to inform lawmakers, politicians, and activists. Graetz and Shapiro propose substantive ideas to reward work, increase wages, increase jobs, protect families suffering from unemployment, and provide health insurance and childcare. Their suggestions range from expanding the earned income tax credit to broadening medical insurance coverage to increasing private-public partnerships for infrastructure projects. With insight and clarity, Graetz and Shapiro provide a compelling analysis of the crisis and the potential tools at policymakers’s disposal, just before the 2020 elections.