The Next Progressive Era

A discussion with Authors Phillip Longman and Ray Boshara, with Commentary by Mark Schmitt and Reihan Salam.

A century ago, Americans faced a raft of challenges much like
today’s: asset bubbles and crashes, predatory lending and financial
goliaths, to name but a few. The progressives of that era, however, did
something about it — laying a foundation for much of the social
contract of the 20th Century. What would they say about the crises —
and policy responses — of 2009?

In their new book,
Longman and Boshara show how today’s progressives have much to learn
from their counterparts of a hundred years ago — in fact, more than
from the New Deal. The authors also offer many new domestic policy
ideas — public investment in freight rail and “steel wheel”
interstates, small-scale banking, a Basic American Mortgage, and a
civilian equivalent of the veterans health system — that offer highly
creative solutions to America’s most pressing needs.

Participants

Phillip Longman
Co-author, The Next Progressive Era
Schwartz Senior Fellow, New America Foundation

Ray Boshara
Co-Author, The Next Progressive Era
Vice President for Domestic Policy Programs and Director Asset Building Program, New America Foundation

Respondents

Mark Schmitt
Editor, American Prospect

Reihan Salam
Author, Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream
Fellow, New America Foundation