Chicago Political Economy Group

The Chicago Political Economy Group evolved from a Political Economy study group formed at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois circa 1995. Members of CPEG include academics, political activists and others who have a serious interest in progressive political economy.

Group Members

As at March 9, 2010, the following were members of the group:

• Ron Baiman, Director of Budget and Policy Analysis at the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, an Illinois based public policy think tank. He is also a long-time member of the Editorial Board of the Review of Radical Political Economics.
• Bill Barclay, worked for 22 years in financial services before retiring in 2004. Since then he has been active in the Oak Park Coalition for Truth and Justice and Democratic Socialists of America.
• Sidney Hollander, former employee of the Chicago Department of Human Services who worked on legislative issues and lives in Chicago.
• Haydar Kurban, Associate Professor of Economics at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
• Joe Persky, Professor of Economics at University of Illinois, Chicago.
• Elce Redmond, community organizer and political trainer who has worked with non-governmental organizations and labor unions in the United States and around the world.
• Sam Rosenberg, Professor of Economics and the Associate Provost and Director of the Honors Program at Roosevelt University in Chicago. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the International Review of Applied Economics.
• Mel Rothenberg, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at University of Chicago, a longtime social activist, and a writer on a variety of issues, many related to the construction of socialism.

New members

As of January 2013;

• Yasir Abu Zayd is a graduate student in economics at Roosevelt University and a research intern at the Center for Budget and Tax Accountability .

• Ursula Mlynarek is a graduate student at Roosevelt University in the Economics Department.

• Sharon Post is the Research Director at SEIU Healthcare Illinois/Indiana.

• Dee Wernette is retired from two positions: Sociologist/Demographer, Argonne National Laboratory, 1979-2001, and Professor of Sociology, Lewis University, 1981-2007.

Jobs and the Future of the US Economy

On Oct. 1, 2010, Chicago Political Economy Group, the Howard University Economics Department, the National Jobs for All Coalition, the Center for Full Employment and Price Stability, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, and the U.S. Solidarity Economics Network sponsored an event entitled "Jobs and the Future of the US Economy: Possibilities and Limits". The event was held at the Armour J. Blackburn University Center at Howard University, Washington, D.C..

The purpose of the event was summarized as follows: "The US economy is in the midst of the greatest jobs crisis since the Great Depression. But this crisis is more than a short run phenomenon. For many decades we have experienced a long-term failure to generate jobs for all. A fundamental restructuring of the US economy is essential to overcome both the crisis and reverse the long term failure to generate jobs. A number of proposals have been offered to make jobs a central priority of US economic policy. Our purpose in calling this conference is to bring together the proponents of these various programs, to discuss their similarities and differences, and develop a strategic perspective on how to proceed."

The program of events for the day was as follows:

Morning Session I: Jobs Proposal Presentations:

• Introduction and Moderator: Haydar Kurban, Howard University
• Ron Baiman, Chicago Political Economy Group and Center for Tax and Budget Accountability
• Joshua Bivens, Economic Policy Institute
• Mathew Forstater, Center for Full Employment and Price Stability and University of Missouri, Kansas City
• Darrick Hamilton, New School for Management and Urban Policy and Center for Economic Policy Analysis
• Philip Harvey, National Jobs for All Coalition, and Rutgers University Law School, Camden
• John Schmitt, Center for Economic and Policy Research
• Jeffrey Thompson, Political Economic Research Institute and University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Morning Session II: Summary and Discussion of Similarities and Differences of Jobs Programs:

• Moderator: Janet Griffin-Graves, Howard University
• Heather Boushey, Center for American Progress
• Helen Ginsburg, National Jobs for All Coalition and Brooklyn College
• Michael Golash, Amalgamated Transit Union, Washington, D.C.
• Lisa Saunders, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Afternoon Session: Strategic and Political Considerations:

• Moderator: Aisha Thompson, Howard University
• Treston Davis-Faulkner, National Jobs with Justice
• Trudy Goldberg, National Jobs for All Coalition and Adelphi University
• Rodney Green, Howard University
• Julie Matthaei, U.S. Solidarity Economics Network and Wellesley College
• Elce Redmond, South Austin Coalition, Chicago
• Mel Rothenberg, Chicago Political Economy Group, and University of Chicago

DSA Link

Ron Baiman, Bill Barclay and Sidney Hollander, members of the organization, are also members of the Democratic Socialists of America.

On November 14, 2009, Bill Barclay, member, DSA, and member, Chicago Political Economy Group, addressed the DSA National Convention in Chicago, Illinois about CPEG's Jobs Program.