April 28: ND20 Bloggers Ready to Take On Deficit Hawks at D.C. Counter-Conference

ND2.0 bloggers Marshall Auerback and L. Randall Wray prepare to confront neoliberal propaganda and deficit hysteria at this D.C. teach-in.

The deafening screams of deficit hawks have reached a fever pitch as the Peter G. Peterson Foundation announces that it will hold a special summit “to launch a national bipartisan dialogue on America’s fiscal challenges.” The list of featured speakers reads like a FCIC subpoena, with Alan Greenspan and Robert Rubin set to stoke populist fear and proclaim the evils of government spending; other speakers include Judd Gregg, John Podesta, Paul Volcker, and former President Clinton. This motley crew of Washington and Wall St. insiders will undoubtedly disguise itself as a bipartisan effort to control the federal deficit and spearhead economic recover, but this means nothing coming from the very people who planted the seeds of the economic catastrophe they are perched to condemn.

There is pushback, however, and the Peterson Summit–along with the cronyism it represents–is being challenged. The Fiscal Sustainability Teach-In Counter-Conference, as it is being called, will be held the same day as the Peterson Summit — April 28th — at George Washington University in D.C. The purpose of the teach-in is to offer a counter-narrative to the recycled neoliberal arguments sure to be spouted at the Peterson Conference. Unlike the Peterson Conference, the teach-in is free and open to the public, with the goal of expanding economic debate, not constricting it to the status quo.

James K. Galbraith says the counter-conference “will be the important event in Washington on April 28. Unlike the other meeting, this one will feature important work by honest scholars. It deserves at least equal attention, and very much more respect.”

NewDeal2.0 bloggers have been remapping the debate over the deficit for some time now.  Marshall Auerback and L. Randall Wray will be at the forefront of the teach-in, leading discussions on inflation and fiscal sustainability.

The Fiscal Sustainability Teach-In Counter-Conference will be held April 28th at George Washington University’s Marvin Center, Room 310, The Elliot Room from 8am - 4pm.

You can find the tentative schedule for the teach-in right here, and you can also help with the cost of the conference here.