The brand new and rapidly growing group, Economists for John Edwards, includes such notable scholars as James K. Galbraith from the University of Texas at Austin; Deirdre McCloskey from the University of Illinois at Chicago; Thomas Palley, founder of the Economics for Democratic & Open Societies Project; Clyde Prestowitz, president of the Economic Strategies Institute; Harley Shaiken from the University of California, Berkeley; and Edward Wolff from New York University.

These economists released a joint statement saying they were endorsing Mr. Edwards because his campaign was "the single best expression of progressive political values in American politics today."

The growing group is comprised of leading economists that have signed the following statement:

"As professional economists, we support John Edwards for President of the United States in 2008 because we believe that John Edwards has best demonstrated the capacity and the policies to be the next president of the United States.

"We support John Edwards because we believe his campaign is the single best expression of progressive political values in American politics today.

"We support John Edwards because we believe that as president he will best wage the hard fight that lies ahead for the principles and programs we endorse.

"We support John Edwards because as economists, we seek effective public policy aimed at sustained growth, full employment, an end to poverty, and progress toward solving the major social and environmental problems associated with health care, education, trade, taxation and climate change.

"John Edwards' approach to these issues has been uniquely serious, honest, and far-reaching. We urge all Americans - and particularly the Democratic voters of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina - to join us in supporting John Edwards for president."

With inequality now greater than it has been since the 1920's, Mr. Edwards had a stronger commitment to making sure wages rose and poverty fell, Mr. Galbraith said.

Mr. Edwards was the first Democrat to release a detailed health-care plan, and the plan Mrs. Clinton later released was very similar to the Edwards plan. Mr. Edwards also favors letting the Bush tax cuts expire for families making more than $200,000, while Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama have a $250,000 cutoff.

"This would be a more activist presidency," Mr. Galbraith said. "The focus would be on what the major goals are - climate change, infrastructure, employment - and not on what the constraints are."

He added: "One of the things the country desperately needs is a government that's willing to face those questions and not duck them. And, broadly speaking, that's the feeling I have about Edwards."

From our President, we need guts, plans and actions. Building one America will take strong, bold steps, not incremental steps and half measures. John Edwards has proposed detailed plans for eliminating poverty, making sure all Americans have health care, providing fair tax reform and simplification, stopping unfair trade practices and strengthening fair trade, and most importantly, returning government to the people of America - people like you and me. That's the kind of change you can sink your teeth into.

The list of economists that have recently come out in support of Edward includes, but is not limited to, these respected individuals:

Gar Alperovitz
Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy
University of Maryland-College Park

Lourdes Beneria
Professor of City and Regional Planning
Cornell University

Michael A. Bernstein
Provost
Tulane University

Martha Campbell
Associate Professor, Economics
SUNY Potsdam

Manuel Castells
Chair Professor of Communication Technology and Society
University of Southern California, and
Distinguished Visiting Professor of Science and Technology
MIT

Jane D'Arista
Former staff economist
U.S. House of Representatives

William Darity, Jr.
Arts & Sciences Professor of Public Policy Studies
Professor of African and Africa-American Studies and Economics
Duke University

Paul Davidson
Editor, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics
Bernard Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis
The New School University

Gerald Epstein
Professor of Economics
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Susan F. Feiner
Director of Women's Studies
Professor of Economics
University of Southern Maine

James K. Galbraith
Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations
LBJ School of Public Affairs
The University of Texas at Austin, and
Senior Scholar, Levy Economics Institute

Richard Garrett
Associate Professor of Economics
Division of Accounting and Business Management
Marymount Manhattan College

Mary King
Professor of Economics
Portland State University

Jan Kregel
Visiting Distinguished Research Professor of Economics
The University of Missouri - Kansas City

Peter Hans Matthews
Department of Economics
Middlebury College
Middlebury, Vermont 05753

Deirdre McCloskey
Professor of Economics
University of Illinois at Chicago

Richard McIntyre
Honors Program Director and Professor of Economics
University of Rhode Island.

Thomas Michl
Professor of Economics
Colgate University

David Miller
Assistant Professor of Economics
University of California, San Diego (UCSD)

John Miller
Professor of Economics
Wheaton College

Tracy Mott
Professor of Economics
University of Colorado at Boulder

Thomas Palley
Founder
Economics for Democratic & Open Societies Project

Dimitri Papadimitriou
President
Levy Economics Institute
Bard College

Chip Poirot
Associate Professor of Economics
Department of Social Sciences
Shawnee State University

Robert Pollin
Professor of Economics and Director,
Political Economy Research Institute (PERI)
University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Robert Prasch
Associate Professor of Economics
Middlebury College

Clyde Prestowitz
President
Economic Strategies Institute

Bruce Roberts
Professor of Economics
University of Southern Maine

J. Barkley Rosser
Professor of Economics
James Madison University

Harley Shaiken
Class of 1930 Professor
Graduate School of Education and Department of Geography
University of California, Berkeley

Nina Shapiro
Professor and Chair
Department of Economics and Finance,
Saint Peter's College

Edward Wolff
Professor of Economics
New York University

Martin Wolfson
Professor of Economics and Policy Studies
University of Notre Dame

L. Randall Wray
Research Director
Center for Full Employment and Price Stability
Department of Economics
University of Missouri-Kansas City, and
Senior Scholar, Levy Economics Institute