August 30

What you need to know to navigate today’s most critical debates.

Policy Options Dwindle as Economic Fears Grow (NYTimes)
With no one willing to spend, analysts like Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Joseph Stiglitz see little hope of avoiding a Japanese-style economic malaise.

Obama and Jobs — He Should Look to FDR (HuffPo)
Saul Friedman recalls the success of the WPA and the CCC and suggests that they should serve as a model for modern-day recovery efforts.

It’s Not Over Until It’s in the Rules (NYTimes)
The rule-making process at the SEC and CFTC offers Wall Street lobbyists yet another opportunity to undermine the Dodd-Frank reforms.

Obama’s Old Deal (Newsweek)
Michael Hirsh writes that on financial reform, Barack Obama has channeled Summers and Geithner rather than the spirit of FDR.

Bernanke Tries to Manage Expectations of Fed Role (NYTimes)
The Fed chair expressed optimism about the recovery on Friday but said that he can’t be expected to work miracles without the help of the president and Congress.

Don’t Trust the Fed (Daily Beast)
Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Marshall Auerback argues that it’s time to look beyond monetary policy and create a guaranteed jobs program.

Against Claims that the North Atlantic Today Suffers from “Structural Unemployment” (Berkeley Blog)
Brad DeLong explains that current economic woes do not fit the symptoms of structural unemployment and that lack of demand is at the heart of the jobs crisis.

The saving mentality is hurting the economy’s recovery (WaPo)
Robert Samuelson examines the ongoing psychological recession that is keeping consumers from spending.

Why Cheaper Money Won’t Mean More Jobs (HuffPo)
Robert Reich argues that more quantitative easing will only help big corporations get bigger while leaving consumers and small businesses worse off.

Simpson’s ‘Tits’ Are the Least of It (HuffPo)
Robert Kuttner challenges the growing consensus among opinion-makers that Social Security is somehow at fault for the economic crisis.

The Bubble That Isn’t (Slate)
Daniel Gross counters claims that a bond bubble is forming, noting that investors and the Treasury know what they’re getting into and are behaving responsibly.

Did Uncle Sam Cause the Housing Bubble? (MoJo)
Kevin Drum considers the finer points of the debate and concludes that the government definitely played a role — but it depends how you define “government.”

Fannie/Freddie Acquitted (Modeled Behavior)
Citing last week’s Conservator’s Report, Karl Smith maintains that government housing subsidies have done more harm than good but finds the GSEs innocent of creating a bubble.

Obama Plans Refinancing Aid, Loans for Jobless Homeowners, HUD Chief Says (Bloomberg)
July’s housing numbers were bad enough to make the administration reconsider its strategy, but the fate of the homebuyers’ tax credit is still uncertain.

Environmental groups face their future in climate-change debate (WaPo)
Environmentalists are somewhere between the anger and bargaining stages of grief following the premature death of the Senate’s climate legislation.

Cap-and-Trade is Beginning to Raise Some Concerns (NYTimes)
Would the market for carbon offsets be as rife with abuse as the one for CDOs?

The Coming Food Crisis (Foreign Policy)
John Podesta and Jake Caldwell warn that inaction on climate change now could provoke an endless series of global food shortages in the near future.