Raising Our Game: A New Economic Strategy for America

The 21st century economy is more competitive, more technology dense, and more interconnected than ever before. With the the rise of new economic powers, it is clear that the rest of the world has raised its game, and America must raise ours. For years, NDN has advocated an economic strategy for America that does just that. The strategy must include: modernizing and controlling costs in our healthcare and energy systems, investing in infrastructure and worker skills, accelerating innovation and new business development, and engaging with the global economy. To learn even more, please join us for a presentation by Simon Roseberg on February 4 at lunch.  For more information on Raising Our Game, and to RSVP please click here.  Below, please find some useful resources on these topics:

The Rise of the Rest

The Rise of the Rest: How New Economic Powers are Reshaping the Globe by Jake Berliner, 4/23/10
In this white paper, Globalization Initiative Deputy Policy Director Jake Berliner describes the rise of new economic powers and the challenges and opportunities they are presenting the American and global economies.

Crafting An American Response to the Rise of the Rest by Simon Rosenberg, 1/21/2010
In this essay written for Salon, Simon lays out three strategies for the Obama Administration to craft a comprehensive response to the new politics of the 21st Century.

Economic Strategies & Globalization by Peter Brodnitz, 11/8/07
This presentation details the results of extensive polling conducted by NDN and Benenson Strategy Group in October of 2007 on the American public's opinions about globalization and the changing economy

Accelerating Job Creation and Innovation

The Acceleration Agenda: Job Creation, Innovation and Economic Development in the 21st Century by Dan Carol, 9/15/10
Senior Fellow for Innovation and Clean Economy Dan Carol describes a series of low-cost but high-impact steps we can take now to accelerate job creation, growth, and American competitiveness.

Towards a New Economic Strategy for America - Steps We Can Take in 2010 by Simon Rosenberg, Dr. Robert Shapiro, and Jake Berliner, 7/23/10  
NDN outlines a political and policy framework to take steps to promote near-term job creation and economic growth. Policy recommendations include a payroll tax cut and a new model for bottom-up economic development.

Rediscovering the Obama Narrative by Dan Carol, 4/21/10 
Carol lays out an Obama-esque vision for public-private, bottom-up economic development and innovation.

The New Landscape of Globalization: The Real Foundations of American Prosperity in the 21st Century by Dr. Robert Shapiro, 6/20/2007 
Shapiro offers this forward-looking paper on the state of globalization, the structural problems facing the American economy, and a road map to prosperity in this new economic era.

Focusing on the Struggle of Everyday People

Why It Doesn't Matter Much that Obama's Jobs Record is Better than Bush's by Dr. Robert Shapiro, 1/5/11 Shapiro points out that, while job creation in the first two years of the Obama Presidency has far outpaced the Bush record, Obama is getting less credit because people's underlying economic conditions remain extremely weak.

The Pitfalls of Economic Nostalgia by Dr. Robert Shapiro, 12/15/10 
Shapiro identifies the structural problems behind America's slowest recovery in decades, and offers new approaches to address jobs, housing values, and the stagnating incomes of middle class Americans.

Keeping the Focus on the Struggle of Everyday People: 2010 Edition by Simon Rosenberg, 1/26/2010
More than ever, we need to recognize that the lack of income growth for average families is the greatest domestic challenge facing America today, and lead a national conversation about how we can create a plan that addresses the struggle of everyday people.

A Lost Decade for Everyday Americans by Jake Berliner, 12/17/2009
In this white paper, we argue that everyday Americans are at the end of a “lost decade” and explain the still misunderstood causes of the virulence of the recession.

Investing in Infrastructure and the Clean Economy

What's Next On Climate - Five Strategies for Moving the Clean Economy by Dan Carol, 10/20/10
Efforts to pursue carbon reduction policies have not gone according to plan over the last year. Therefore, we must deploy new strategies for moving the clean economy forward. In this memo, Dan Carol lays out 5 supplemental but decidedly big strategies for doing so.

A Politics of Investment by Simon Rosenberg, 7/27/10
In an article written by Ron Brownstein, Simon argues that "The challenge for us in the next few years is creating a politics of investment during a time of potential austerity to make sure that we're ... funding the future and not the past."

Electricity 2.0: Unlocking the Power of the Open Energy Network (OEN) by Michael Moynihan, 2/4/10 In a major policy paper, Green Project Director Michael Moynihan argues that America must upgrade to Electricity 2.0, an open, distributed network, to unlock the potential of clean technology and unleash a renewable revolution.

Investing in Our Common Future: U.S. Infrastructure by Michael Moynihan, 11/13/07 
Michael Moynihan looks at the current state of public investment in infrastructure and proposes a set of measures to restore our national political will and improve funding mechanisms to rebuild and advance U.S. infrastructure.

21st Century Skills and Learning

Tapping the Resources of America's Community Colleges: by Dr. Robert Shapiro, 7/26/07 
Young Americans are increasingly adept at working with computers, but many American workers still lack those skills. Here, we propose a direct new approach to giving U.S. workers the opportunity to develop those skills.

A Laptop in Every Backpack  by Simon Rosenberg and Alec Ross, 5/1/07 
The more globally interconnected world means that Americans will need more facility with the global communications network. Therefore we believe that America needs to put a laptop in every backpack of every child.