---
title: "Potshot at Progressive Economics Misses the Mark"
summary: |-
  U.S. economy needs to be competitive in this globalized economy by holding innovation and productivity at its core.
date: "2011-12-09"
issues: ["Economic Theory"]
authors: ["Robert D. Atkinson"]
content_type: "Op-Eds & Contributed Articles"
canonical_url: "https://itif.org/publications/2011/12/09/potshot-progressive-economics-misses-mark/"
---

# Potshot at Progressive Economics Misses the Mark

In the fall *Breakthrough Journal*, ITIF President Rob Atkinson fires back at the Center for Economic Policy and Research's Dean Baker. In response to Baker's sharp critique of Atkinson's assault on liberal economic orthodoxy, Atkinson acknowledges that Keynesian spending can spur demand and address issues of fairness but concludes, "You can argue for or against these policies on their merits, but ultimately these policies do not grow the proverbial pie. What the United States economy needs to be competitive in the globalized 21<sup>st</sup> century economy cannot be addressed through intermittent productivity benefits that accrue as an afterthought of redistributionist policies, but the reverse: policy that holds innovation and productivity at its core."

---
*Source: Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF)*
*URL: https://itif.org/publications/2011/12/09/potshot-progressive-economics-misses-mark/*