# Progressive Policy Institute Centrist think tank affiliated with the Democratic Leadership Council that provided the intellectual framework for [[Bill Clinton]]'s "New Democrat" agenda in the 1990s. PPI championed welfare reform, free trade, and market-oriented policy solutions that moved the [[Democratic Party]] rightward on economic issues — a shift that critics argue created the ideological vacuum later filled by right-wing populism. Its embrace of [[Deregulation]], particularly in telecommunications and financial services, contributed to the conditions underlying the 2008 financial crisis.