The Roosevelt Institute was created in 1987 through the merger of the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Foundation.[3] In 2007, the Roosevelt Institute merged with the Roosevelt Institution, now known as the
Roosevelt Institute Campus Network.[4] It remains the non-profit partner to the government-run
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, the nation's first presidential library. In 2009, it expanded its mission with the launch of the Four Freedoms Center, a progressive policy
think tank, and an economic policy blog.
Joseph Stiglitz is the Roosevelt Institute's chief
economist. In 2015, a report authored by Stiglitz offered an indictment of 35 years of
U.S. economic policies.[2][8]Elizabeth Warren and
Bill de Blasio joined Stiglitz at the press conference to announce the report.[9][10] The 37 policy recommendations in the Stiglitz report include progressive taxation and an expansion of government programs.[11]
Time called the Stiglitz report "a roadmap for what many progressives would like to see happen policy wise over the next four years."[12] According to The Washington Post, the institute's plan is "firmly rooted in the conviction that more government can solve most of America's economic challenges. It is a plan seemingly designed to rally liberals, enrage free-market economists and push a certain presumptive presidential nominee to the left."[10]