Search

Forty-five years ago, the A. Philip Randolph Institute issued 'The Freedom Budget,' in which a program for economic transformation was proposed that included a job guarantee for everyone ready and willing to work, a guaranteed income for those unable to work or those who should not be working, and a living wage to lift the working poor out of poverty. Such policies were supported by a host of scholars, civic leaders, and institutions, including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; indeed, they provided the cornerstones for King's 'Poor Peoples' Campaign' and 'economic bill of rights.' This paper proposes a 'New Freedom Budget' for full employment based on the principles of functional finance. To counter a major obstacle to such a policy program, the paper includes a 'primer' on three paradigms for understanding government budget deficits and the national debt: the deficit hawk, deficit dove, and functional finance perspectives. Finally, some of the benefits of the job guarantee are outlined, including the ways in which the program may serve as a vehicle for a variety of social policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author mentions that no other public policy goal with the exception of civil rights was more widely supported than full employment among African-American organizations and leaders following World War II. The author discusses the development of the "Freedom Budget" by civil rights activist Bayard Rustin and union organizer A. Philip Randolph in 1966 working with New Deal Keynesian economists. The Rustin-Randolph proposal suggested full employment and a job guarantee through public works and using the government as employer of last resort.