One of the central, unanswered questions in debates surrounding the Green New Deal and ongoing stimulus negotiations in Congress is: how will we marshal the resources to transform America's economy around its principles of clean energy jobs, justice for frontline communities, and rapid decarbonization? This conversation has begun to take shape in the fields of economics and finance, where green stimulus, industrial policy, and other long-ignored policy levers have once again moved to the center of discourse. On Monday, April 20th, the McHarg Center organized a moderated discussion on this topic between Stephanie Kelton, Richard Murphy, and Gernot Wagner in conversation with Mark Paul and Billy Fleming.

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Stephanie Kelton, SUNY Stony Brook, is a well-known policy expert who has served as Chief Economist of the US Senate Budget Committee and as Senior Economic Advisor to the presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders. She continues as chair of the Board of Economists for Peace and Security. In 2016, POLITICO recognized her as one of the 50 people across the country who is most influencing the political debate.

Richard Murphy is company secretary of the Green New Deal Group Limited, Professor of International Political Economy, City, University of London, and director of the Corporate Accountability Network. He is a chartered accountant and tax justice advocate based in England.

Gernot Wagner is a clinical associate professor at New York University’s Department of Environmental Studies and associated clinical professor at the NYU Wagner School of Public Service. He writes the Risky Climate column for Bloomberg Green. Prior to joining NYU, Gernot was the founding executive director of Harvard’s Solar Geoengineering Research Program (2016 – 2019).

Mark Paul is a political economist working in the areas of inequality, environmental economics, and applied microeconomics. His research is focused on understanding the causes and consequences of inequality and assessing and designing remedies to address it. Professor Paul is also involved in economic policy in the United States and is currently a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, The Atlantic, Vox, The American Prospect, The Nation, The Hill, and Jacobin, among other publications. Prior to coming to New College he was a Postdoctoral Associate at the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University.

Billy Fleming is Wilks Family Director of the McHarg Center at the University of Pennsylvania. His writing has appeared in the Guardian, Places Journal, Dissent, and Jacobin. He is the co-editor of Design With Nature Now (Lincoln, 2019), An Adaptation Blueprint (Island Press, 2020), and lead author of "The 2100 Project: An Atlas for the Green New Deal."