Which of your achievements in D.C. stand out the most? We (and I use the pronoun ‘we’ advisedly because these were team efforts) got the Family and Medical Leave Act through Congress, raised the minimum wage for the first time in many years, strengthened pension protections and workplace safety, and mounted a major campaign against sweatshops and child labor. We also expanded job-training opportunities for millions of American workers.
How have your Washington experiences shaped your work? Washington teaches you that economics and politics can’t readily be separated; it’s all “political economy,” as 19th century academics used to use the phrase. My books since then — Locked in the Cabinet, The Future of Success, Reason, and, most recently, Supercapitalism — all examine the interstices between politics and economics, and try to reframe public understanding of what’s at stake.
What is the most important issue facing the next presidential administration? Widening inequality.
