More Than a Hundred Economists, Labor Leaders to Call for Nearly $1 Trillion Boost to the Economy on Tuesday

Longest Downturn Since Great Depression Reinforces Need For Bold Economic Recovery Package

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — With payrolls plunging, retail sales dropping and manufacturing contracting, economists and labor leaders will raise the stakes for how much the government should invest in an economic recovery package on a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.

Participants on the call will launch a campaign to pass a substantial, strategic and sustained economic recovery bill for President-elect Barack Obama to sign when he takes office. They will also release a statement signed by more than a hundred economists and dozens of labor and progressive leaders calling for a boost to the economy of at least $900 billion over the next two years and outlining a specific breakdown of where those investments can be made most effectively.

NEWS TELECONFERENCE TO KICK OFF BOLD ECONOMIC RECOVERY CAMPAIGN

DATE: Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008

TIME: 2:30 p.m. EST

CALL-IN: 866-550-6338, code 3682422

PARTICIPANTS: Robert Borosage, co-dir., Campaign for America’s Future

James Galbraith, economist and Univ. of Texas professor

Andy Stern, president, SEIU (invited)

Leo Gerard, president, USW

SOURCE Campaign for America’s Future