Joe Gallant
On May 13, Senator Elizabeth Warren keynoted our 25th anniversary celebration here in Washington, D.C., where she laid out her vision of American economic policy that that works for all Americans. Introducing herself as a longtime reader and one time writer for the Prospect, Warren praised the magazine for its foresight and boldness. She declared:
"When the top 10 percent gets 100 percent of the income growth over the course of a generation, then the America of opportunity is vanishing."
Warren reminded her audience that in the postwar era we had both growth and equity, and we could have it again. Indeed, she said, not only is broadly shared prosperity consistent with growth but it is required for growth. The idea that economic justice must be sacrificed for growth, she added, "doesn't just come from Republicans. A lot of Democrats seem to have floated along with the idea that economic growth is in direct opposition to the well being of America's working families, and that we have to choose one or the other. That claim is flatly wrong."
Warren went on to lay out a detailed program for growth with equity-which could become the Democratic platform if a progressive is nominated, or significantly influenced by policies long espoused by Senator Warren, and by The American Prospect.
While the senator has said numerous times she is not running for president, she has become a national spokeswoman for progressive economic policy. Even before seeking the Senate, Warren caught the public's attention on financial matters as a scholar of bankruptcy, then as chair of the oversight panel for the government's bailout of the financial industry.
In her speech, Senator Warren went on to systematically deconstruct the conservative theory of trickle-down economics that not only led to the financial crisis but also continues to hobble the recovery and widen inequality. She also pushed back on President Obama's criticism of her for opposing trade negotiating authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Last month, Warren and Senator Sherrod Brown sent a letter to the president asking him to declassify the negotiating text of TPP.
"No more trade deals that benefit huge corporations! And leave workers eating dirt!"
You can view the entirety of the speech given at The American Prospect's 25th anniversary below:
