Gene Sperling has a useful essay in the latest issue of Democracy (registration required), teasing out some of the "pro-growth, progressive" ideas he laid out in his recent book by the same name. As in his book, Sperling is especially good here on adjustment assistance and what he calls "progressive wealth creation." On the former, Sperling argues persuasively for a "pre-emptive" approach, so that, say, a textile worker could start re-training before his mill actually closes and he loses his job. Sperling also has a good idea for a wage-insurance program that doesn't discourage people from finding a new job: Refund displaced workers half the difference between their old wage and their new wage. So, for example, if you were a mill worker who once made $20 an hour, but you now work at The Gap for $10, Sperling's program would pay you an extra $5 an hour for several years. On wealth-creation, Sperling's big idea is to give poor and working-class people the same incentives to save that rich people enjoy. If you're rich, you get a 35-cent tax incentive for every dollar you save (since you're not paying the 35 percent income tax on money you stash in, say, your 401(k)). But if you're in the 10 percent income-tax bracket, your incentive to save drops to 10 cents on the dollar. Sperling thinks there should be a flat 30-percent incentive for saving, which would be refundable for low-income workers. So, if you only qualify for that 10-cent tax incentive, the government would kick in an additional 20 cents for every dollar you save. I think it's a terrific idea--and it wouldn't shock me if we saw something like it from Hillary Clinton at some point, given that Sperling is a top Clinton economic advisor. (I didn't see anything like it on her web site, but please correct me if I'm wrong.) --Noam Scheiber