UW-Madison professor Kathy Cramer is helping to lead a commission that aims to put Americans’ well-being at the center of economic discussions. Photo: Althea Dotzour
Does the American economy work for its people?
Kathy Cramer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, would argue that this is not the case. She is one of the leaders of the Commission on Reshaping Our Economy of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which today [Nov. 9, 2023] released a report with 15 recommendations on “how to create an economy that works for the people who make it work.” It includes recommendations for increasing economic security, strengthening economic opportunity and improving the political voice of the American.
Below, Cramer shares more about the commission’s work over the past two years to rethink the way the economy works and find concrete ways to make it a people-centered model stands.
Q: What was the vision behind the Commission’s work?
A: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an honor society and research organization that has existed for a long time in the United States – John Adams was one of the founders. The Academy identifies major problems in the country and the world and brings together teams of people from diverse backgrounds to think deeply, gather information, and make policy recommendations about how we can achieve a better life.
The backstory of this commission is that there was already a commission on democracy and its report was titled “Our Common Goal.” It probably won’t surprise anyone, but they’ve found that the economy plays a huge role in the health of our democracy. And so they said, let’s create our own commission that focuses on the economy. This commission, called “Reimagining Our Economy,” was tasked with identifying what major problems in the economy are hindering the prosperity of most people—if not all people in the country. We spent two years learning, gathering facts, listening to people across the country, and gradually arriving at a set of 15 recommendations.
It is a non-partisan commission made up not only of academics and economists, but also of artists, authors, workers and people in faith communities, among others. It’s a great cast of characters to work with.
Q: How did you get involved?
A: They invited me to participate in the scoping process. I would imagine this is because I study public opinion and democracy and have studied fractures in public opinion here in Wisconsin – namely the rural-urban divide. After the scoping process, they asked me to be one of three co-chairs. I’m a badger through and through. The Wisconsin Idea is central to me as a career and as a person. I am a professor because I want to use my knowledge to improve the common good. So I took the chance to do this work.
Q: How did the Commission try to keep the project bipartisan?
A: If you want to propose viable solutions, they need to resonate with a wide range of people. How did we do that? We achieved this partly by inviting a wide range of people to become part of the Commission, but hopefully also by the way we acted as a Commission to make it clear that everyone’s voice counts. We also make a lot of effort to listen to people outside of our mission. Hopefully it has been integrated into the process itself to arrive at solutions that can support a wide range of people. We also had the honor of meeting Bryan Steil, a Republican representing Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District, and Jim Himes, a Democrat representing Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District. At the time, you were the ranking member and chair of a bipartisan congressional committee dealing with issues very similar to ours.
Q: What do you think makes a good recommendation?
A: We were looking for things that were bold, that could actually be done, that were bipartisan, that addressed the problems that we had identified in the economy. The problems we identified were broad, fundamental things. For example, there is a common belief that if you work 40 hours a week, you should be able to support yourself, if not your family. And that is simply no longer the case for many, many people. We wanted these recommendations to directly address the underlying problems that prevent many people from thriving.
An overarching principle that helped us make recommendations is that too often the economy operates as if it were operating for the good of the economy. It is for the sake of greed, as many of our listening session participants told us. It doesn’t work for people. Ideally, an economy is created as something that allows people to create and exchange what they need to live and hopefully thrive. We are really far from this ideal.
Q: How do you hope people react when they see the results?
A: I hope people realize that the economy doesn’t just happen, but that it takes shape as a result of conscious decisions, whether by policymakers or by people in different sectors. It was created by humans, and we humans can create a different economy. When people feel a sense of hopelessness or feel like it’s out of their control, that’s actually not the case. We can decide as a country, if not more broadly, to actually have an economy that works better for people.
I also hope that they realize that even in this time of division, things can be changed, that people can agree on some pretty basic but big, important things that can be done to create a healthier economy, that focuses more on our well-being. I hope elected officials and everyone else recognizes that.
Q: What does a “people first” economy look like to you?
A: It looks like an economy where people can work 40 hours without damaging their bodies, and have time with the people they love, and have time for hobbies – to have time to do the things that they love. That they can dedicate themselves to work at work that is meaningful, that nourishes their soul instead of destroying it. For me, that would be an economy where people are the focus.
Q: Why should people pay attention to the project?
A: Business is a big part of our lives. We probably spend more time at our workplace than with our families. And for many people in the United States, the economy isn’t doing particularly well. This report focuses on how we can create an economy that works for people and how we can create a country and an environment where we can truly prosper and thrive as people and have the things that we need.
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