Resources

The deeper argument at the heart of the federal budget debate (opens in a new tab)

Reports OCT 5, 2026

Interest rates on the national debt have recently crept up to levels that the U.S. government and the American people haven’t experienced in several decades. This is a potentially concerning…

By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)

Trump’s trade war with Canada grows increasingly costly as Section 338 tariffs harm both economies (opens in a new tab)

Essays SEP 22, 2026

President Donald Trump continues to escalate his administration’s perplexing trade spat with Canada through the expanded use of novel tariff powers in Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930.…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

What Work Does Generative AI Do? (opens in a new tab)

Essays SEP 8, 2026

Since August 2024, our Real-Time Population Survey (RPS), a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults ages 18 to 64, has tracked how many Americans use generative artificial intelligence (AI). The adoption…

By: Alexander Bick (opens in a new tab), Adam Blandin (opens in a new tab), David Deming (opens in a new tab), Tyler Schumacher (opens in a new tab)

What happens to U.S. workers without access to Unemployment Insurance amid economic downturns or disruptions related to AI? (opens in a new tab)

Essays SEP 2, 2026

The adoption of artificial intelligence in the workplace has led to predictions of U.S. labor market disruptions. In response, policymakers have increased attention on the fitness of the nation’s social…

By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab)

Economic research shows immigration is good for U.S. workers, the economy, and affordability (opens in a new tab)

Essays AUG 31, 2026

When President Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025, mass deportations and immigration restrictions were renewed as one of the political priorities of his second administration. Since then,…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

What can federal data collection tell policymakers and researchers about artificial intelligence in the U.S. labor market? (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs AUG 24, 2026

It is impossible to perfectly predict how artificial intelligence will affect the U.S. labor market. Policymakers and researchers are grappling with important questions around this topic, including what new opportunities…

By: Mary Beech (opens in a new tab)

Terms and conditions for generative AI users outline a new legal framework that puts U.S. consumers at risk (opens in a new tab)

Essays AUG 20, 2026

Generative AI, or genAI, is a form of artificial intelligence that produces content in response to prompts and includes large language model chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude.…

By: Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab)

New research shows how U.S. homeownership and the accumulation of housing wealth are linked to political participation (opens in a new tab)

Essays AUG 14, 2026

Persistent affordability pressures have driven up housing costs for millions of U.S. families in recent years. Home prices remain near record highs relative to incomes, mortgage rates and associated costs…

By: Carlos Fernando Avenancio-Leon (opens in a new tab)

Defining extreme wealth is more complicated than it looks (opens in a new tab)

Videos AUG 13, 2026

Facing high levels of income and wealth inequality and shrinking tax revenues, U.S. policymakers are showing increased interest in proposals to tax the richest households. Yet determining which households fall into that category is complex and changes based…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Estimating AI exposure is useful for research but cannot yet tell policymakers the whole story of AI’s impact on the labor market (opens in a new tab)

Essays AUG 7, 2026

Artificial intelligence has the potential to substantially change the nature and availability of work. To effectively manage the transitions this technology might bring to the U.S. economy, policymakers need information…

By: Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab)

Tracking new research on artificial intelligence and its impact on the U.S. labor market (opens in a new tab)

Essays AUG 5, 2026

Headlines often paint extreme and dissonant pictures of the future impact of AI on the U.S. economy and labor market, with workers themselves echoing the conflicting feelings of optimism and…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

The debt-to-wealth ratio: A missing lens on the U.S. government’s fiscal capacity (opens in a new tab)

Reports JUL 30, 2026

Few statistics shape the fiscal debate in the United States as powerfully as the ratio of federal debt-to-Gross Domestic Product. Debt held by the public recently surpassed 100 percent of…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab), David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

The costs of the Trump administration’s tariffs diverge for countries and industries so far in 2026 (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUL 14, 2026

The first 4 months of 2026 saw continued seismic changes in U.S. trade policy. In late February, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration’s use of the International…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

Why Unemployment Insurance Alone Is Not Enough in the AI Era (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUL 8, 2026

Since the large language model ChatGPT was rolled out in November 2022, artificial intelligence has captured the public’s attention and generated myriad debates over the emerging technology’s potential impacts on…

By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab)

Streamlining applications to social programs unlocks more support for the U.S. families who need it most (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUL 7, 2026

Millions of low-income families in the United States tap into multiple social programs to help them meet their needs. A single household, for example, might rely on the Supplemental Nutrition…

By: Neil Cholli (opens in a new tab), Derek Wu (opens in a new tab)

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, one year later: Parsing the evidence on the law’s consequences so far (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUN 30, 2026

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law one year ago on July 4, 2025, shifted trillions of dollars in income from working-class families to corporations and very wealthy…

By: Lily Roberts (opens in a new tab)

Personal Income in the United States nudges up in May but is down 0.76 percent in the past 6 months (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUN 25, 2026

According to today’s release of Personal Income estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. household incomes have fallen 0.76 percent in the past 6 months, with month-to-month declines…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

U.S. income data for 2024 shows the top 10 percent accrued the highest share of income since 2000 (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUN 25, 2026

Today, Equitable Growth updated the U.S. Inequality Tracker through 2024 following the release of new data last week by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The data show that the…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

U.S. workers will be hurt by immigration enforcement overreach (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUN 17, 2026

President Donald Trump last week signed the $70 billion Secure America Act, a budget reconciliation package that boosts funding for immigration and border enforcement agencies while imposing no limits on their authority.…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

The United States can simultaneously foster an equitable AI boom and a clean energy economy (opens in a new tab)

Videos JUN 12, 2026

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth recently hosted a timely discussion exploring how the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is colliding with—and reshaping—the clean energy transition. Bringing together researchers and…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

U.S. workers need sectoral bargaining now more than ever (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUN 4, 2026

U.S. union membership and coverage rates have declined for decades, fueled in part by legal barriers to new organizing, including the limiting of collective bargaining to specific workplaces or employers and misclassifying certain groups of workers so they…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation with Costa Samaras (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation JUN 2, 2026

Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…

By: Shayna Strom (opens in a new tab)

Factsheet: Defining top U.S. income and wealth thresholds for tax policy (opens in a new tab)

Factsheets MAY 27, 2026

Federal and state policymakers in the United States, responding to high levels of income and wealth inequality and shrinking tax revenues, are increasingly interested in proposals to tax households with…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

Defining top wealth and income thresholds for U.S. tax policy design and analysis (opens in a new tab)

Reports MAY 27, 2026

Wealth and income inequality are an ongoing area of interest for policymakers. In particular, the rise of the richest of the rich—not just the top 1 percent, but also the…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

Navigating the research on the impacts of AI on work, workers, and the labor market (opens in a new tab)

Research Databases MAY 21, 2026

Artificial intelligence will have a largely unpredictable but potentially profound effect on the labor market. Individuals have speculated how AI will affect the workforce since its earliest developments. But public…

By: Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab)

What is the relationship between inflation, interest rates, and economic growth, and what does it mean for the new Federal Reserve chair? (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs MAY 18, 2026

Since regaining the Oval Office in early 2025, President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for lower interest rates and severely criticized former Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell’s cautious approach…

By: Jacob Robbins (opens in a new tab)

The U.S. public is angry about economic conditions, and the middle class is losing ground. Are these trends connected? (opens in a new tab)

Essays MAY 14, 2026

A random sample of recent headlines likely would yield two fairly common stories about the U.S. economy. One is that the public is angry about the economy and the other…

By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)

Is Taxing Wealth Possible? Practical? Desirable? Yes, if we’re smart about it (opens in a new tab)

Essays MAY 7, 2026

While the American economy has outperformed much of the industrialized world in recent years, there are good reasons to be deeply concerned about its long-term prospects. It is dogged by…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

Research shows unions dampen support for right-wing populism and help workers navigate technological transitions (opens in a new tab)

Essays MAY 1, 2026

On May 1, much of the world—though not the United States—celebrates International Workers Day to honor the social and economic contributions of workers and labor unions. The May Day holiday began in large part to mark…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

Why the Iran war is bad for U.S. economic growth (opens in a new tab)

Essays APR 23, 2026

The growth trajectory of the U.S. economy is highly dependent on its connections to the outside world through trade and investments, as well as foreign policy and geopolitical developments. That…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

Research on climate change’s impact on U.S. workers underscores the benefits of workplace heat standards (opens in a new tab)

Essays APR 22, 2026

This year’s Earth Day follows a record-breaking heat wave across much of the East Coast, which followed a record-breaking heat wave that took hold in much of the West and…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Factsheet: What the research says about early care and education in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Factsheets APR 16, 2026

Research has long shown the importance and value of high-quality early childhood care and education. Child care offers working parents the ability to fully participate in the labor force and…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

How does early childhood care and education affect U.S. families and workers, and which policies support child participation and boost the quality of care? (opens in a new tab)

Reports APR 16, 2026

As states consider policy action in early childhood care and education, there is an existing—and growing—evidence base from which to draw lessons. This report summarizes the rigorous evidence on program…

By: Chloe Gibbs (opens in a new tab)

The other two-tiered U.S. tax system: How pass-through businesses let the ultra-wealthy dodge federal taxes (opens in a new tab)

Essays APR 15, 2026

Many Americans likely remember when the legendary value investor Warren Buffett drew attention to a glaring unfairness in the tax code by pointing out that he paid a lower effective…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

Federal policymakers can ensure Trump accounts do not exacerbate inequality in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs APR 14, 2026

In July 2025, Congress passed a federal budget bill (Public Law 119-21, also commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) that, among other things, established a new type…

By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab)

A review of the state of child care in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Reports APR 9, 2026

Affordable, available, high-quality child care is essential for sustained, broadly shared economic growth and equitable access to workforce opportunities. In most of the United States, however, child care fails this…

By: Sam Abbott (opens in a new tab), Shira Markoff (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth event covers tariffs, tariff uncertainties, and the limits of U.S. trade policy (opens in a new tab)

Videos APR 1, 2026

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth recently hosted a webinar examining the economic, fiscal, and labor‑market effects of evolving U.S. tariff laws and regulations, particularly in the wake of the…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

Tariff policies in 2025 increased input costs for key U.S. industries, threatening growth and investment (opens in a new tab)

Essays MAR 24, 2026

All tariffs are not created equal. Throughout U.S. history, policymakers have imposed import taxes for a variety of economic and ideological reasons, with varying impacts. Targeted tariffs have been effective…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

Research-based perspectives on the connection between economic policy and rising support for authoritarian populism (opens in a new tab)

Essays MAR 19, 2026

In 2025, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth began to explore the evidence behind a link between the effects of economic policies and global support for authoritarian populist candidates for…

By: Melissa Grober-Morrow (opens in a new tab)

The unintended macroeconomic effects of U.S. climate policy uncertainty (opens in a new tab)

Essays MAR 17, 2026

Recent policy developments in the United States highlight just how quickly climate policies can change. In January 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would stop considering lives…

By: Diego Känzig (opens in a new tab)

How union contracts are protecting U.S. workers from automated management and surveillance in the workplace (opens in a new tab)

Reports MAR 12, 2026

Employers are increasingly using electronic and automated tools to collect data on their workers on and off the job and then using that data to inform decisions about workers’ pay,…

By: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (opens in a new tab)

Lessons from past trade adjustment policies to support displaced workers in the era of artificial intelligence (opens in a new tab)

Reports MAR 11, 2026

More than 60 years ago, U.S. policymakers, economists, and labor leaders alike agreed that the potential for new economic forces to strengthen U.S. prosperity and security was just over the…

By: Jacob Leibenluft (opens in a new tab)

Factsheet: Using asset limits in public benefit programs (opens in a new tab)

Factsheets MAR 10, 2026

A household’s assets, or its overall wealth, are the resources required to ensure its family members can weather the financial disruption when unexpected expenses emerge. Yet many U.S. households do…

By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab)

New research examines the historical macroeconomic effects of tariffs and sheds light on current U.S. trade policies (opens in a new tab)

Essays MAR 4, 2026

U.S. policymakers have enacted tariffs for a variety of reasons over the course of the country’s history. Motivated by economic pressures to raise federal revenues or address balance-of-payment issues, or…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

The state of the U.S. economy one year into the second Trump administration (opens in a new tab)

Essays FEB 23, 2026

President Donald Trump will soon give his annual State of the Union speech before Congress, one year into his second term in the White House. Ahead of his remarks, now…

By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)

Can remote work attenuate mothers’ mobility constraints in the U.S. labor force? (opens in a new tab)

Essays FEB 12, 2026

Women’s labor force participation increased dramatically over the course of the 20th century in the United States. Indeed, the labor force participation rate of women between the ages of 25…

By: Ilaria D’Angelis (opens in a new tab), Keren Horn (opens in a new tab)

Why federal food assistance became politically polarizing—and what to do about it (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs FEB 2, 2026

On January 31, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson requested that Congress pass federal legislation to make the Food Stamp Program permanent. Up to that point, the program had operated as…

By: Carlos Fernando Avenancio-Leon (opens in a new tab)

Analyzing recent U.S. economic policies using Equitable Growth’s Inequality Tracker (opens in a new tab)

Essays JAN 22, 2026

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth’s Inequality Tracker is a data visualization tool designed to help policymakers and economic analysts examine and analyze U.S. income and wealth inequality in the…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

U.S. businesses report that tariff policies will likely lead to price increases and labor market impacts in 2026 (opens in a new tab)

Essays JAN 15, 2026

As 2026 begins, U.S. manufacturers are contending with a varied and uncertain economic environment. Many are weighing growth driven by domestic investments in data centers and artificial intelligence against the…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

ASSA 2026 Round-up: Day 3 (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 6, 2026

Yesterday was the third and final day of the 2026 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

ASSA 2026 Round-up: Day 2 (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 5, 2026

Yesterday was the second day of the 2026 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in Philadelphia…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

ASSA 2026 Round-up: Day 1 (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 4, 2026

Yesterday was the first day of the 2026 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in Philadelphia…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth event highlights the path forward to rebuild the U.S. administrative state (opens in a new tab)

Videos DEC 17, 2025

Microsoft Copilot helped draft this column. The Washington Center for Equitable Growth recently convened scholars, practitioners, and advocates for an Equitable Growth Presents event, titled “Reimagining the Federal Government: Building…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Expanding eligibility for Unemployment Insurance helps low-income U.S. workers find better jobs (opens in a new tab)

Essays DEC 9, 2025

Unemployment Insurance serves as a critical income support program for U.S. workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. It is also a valuable tool to stabilize…

By: Casey McQuillan (opens in a new tab), Brendan Moore (opens in a new tab)

U.S. social insurance programs support workers and economic growth (opens in a new tab)

Essays DEC 2, 2025

Since coming to power in early 2025, Republican majorities in Congress have shifted resources away from the nation’s social insurance programs, most notably to offset the cost of H.R. 1,…

By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth hosts Econ 101 virtual event on how U.S. social insurance programs boost economic mobility (opens in a new tab)

Essays DEC 1, 2025

Microsoft Copilot helped draft this event recap. The Washington Center for Equitable Growth recently hosted its latest Econ 101 briefing aimed at providing in-depth evidence for policymakers on how U.S.…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Uncertainty created by ever-changing tariff policies harms U.S. economic growth (opens in a new tab)

Essays NOV 20, 2025

The approaches to international trade taken by the first and now second Trump administrations have been an endless jumble of tariff negotiations and ever-changing policies. Since 2018, duties have been…

By: Nirupama Rao (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation with Sabeel Rahman (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation NOV 18, 2025

Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…

By: Shayna Strom (opens in a new tab)

What impact is artificial intelligence having on the U.S. labor market and the nation’s economy? (opens in a new tab)

Essays NOV 14, 2025

As new and groundbreaking technologies emerge, they can function as a blank canvas onto which people project both aspirations and anxieties. Artificial intelligence—despite its quick uptake in broader society and…

By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab)

Distributional weighting in benefit-cost analysis is practical and effective at assessing government rulemaking without bias against low-income individuals (opens in a new tab)

Reports NOV 13, 2025

Distributional weighting in benefit-cost analysis is a tool for overcoming bias against lower-income individuals in economists’ measurements of the net benefit of government policies that affect populations at different levels…

By: Daniel Acland (opens in a new tab)

Tariff costs impact industries with mostly White, male, and noncitizen workers (opens in a new tab)

Essays NOV 4, 2025

The U.S. economy is flying blind, with most economic-data publications paused indefinitely due to the shutdown of the federal government amid a general U.S. labor market slowdown and just as…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

Risks escalate for U.S. retirement plans due to unregulated private credit funds and new rules opening them up to retirement savings accounts (opens in a new tab)

Essays OCT 29, 2025

When the privately owned auto parts manufacturer First Brands Group earlier this month began to be unable to service its $6.1 billion debt load, the financial press began to pick…

By: Lenore Palladino (opens in a new tab)

Workplace exposure to artificial intelligence is higher among U.S. workers with higher wages, depending on how AI is used (opens in a new tab)

Essays OCT 23, 2025

Recent advances using artificial intelligence in workplaces, particularly large language models such as Claude.ai and ChatGPT, are increasingly disrupting the U.S. labor market. The cognitive power of AI has the…

By: Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab), Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth supports scholars studying the economics of the energy transition (opens in a new tab)

Essays OCT 22, 2025

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced a new cohort of grantees. These nine scholars will study how the design and implementation of federal policy influences how businesses and…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Payment for schedule changes under Fair Workweek laws in three U.S. cities (opens in a new tab)

Essays OCT 16, 2025

Fair Workweek laws set new standards for scheduling U.S. workers in jobs and industries characterized by fluctuating and unpredictable work hours, such as jobs in retail and food service. A…

By: Susan Lambert (opens in a new tab), Julia Henly (opens in a new tab)

Rethinking U.S. economic mobility to study change within a generation (opens in a new tab)

Essays OCT 9, 2025

When most people think about intergenerational mobility, they often assume it unfolds gradually over long periods of time. Historical patterns have reinforced this perception, shaping a widespread belief that meaningful…

By: Raven Shaw (opens in a new tab)

The status of U.S. labor market data amid the government shutdown (opens in a new tab)

Essays OCT 3, 2025

The federal government ground to a halt earlier this week as Congress was unable to reach a bipartisan agreement on continuing funding after annual appropriations ran out at the end…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab), Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)

U.S. workers’ and managers’ experiences with Fair Workweek laws can inform enforcement and education (opens in a new tab)

Essays OCT 2, 2025

Fair Workweek laws are intended to set new standards for scheduling workers in jobs and industries characterized by fluctuating and unpredictable work hours, such as jobs in retail and food…

By: Susan Lambert (opens in a new tab), Julia Henly (opens in a new tab)

How Are Workers Experiencing Fair Workweek Laws? Evidence for policymakers and advocates (opens in a new tab)

Essays OCT 2, 2025

This factsheet, “How Are Workers Experiencing Fair Workweek Laws? Evidence for policymakers and advocates,” originally appeared on WorkRise at https://www.workrisenetwork.org/sites/default/files/2025-08/howareworkersexperiencingfairworkweeklaws.pdf. New laws that regulate employer scheduling practic…

By: Susan Lambert (opens in a new tab), Julia Henly (opens in a new tab)

Federal data is under attack, but data users can work together to preserve and democratize it (opens in a new tab)

Essays OCT 1, 2025

Staffing shortages, political interference, and a federal government shutdown are all disrupting the routine operations of the nonpartisan federal statistical agencies that reliably gather facts and publish data about the…

By: Peter Norlander (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation with Omari Swinton (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation SEP 24, 2025

Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…

By: Sanjay Supan (opens in a new tab)

Emergency paid leave during the COVID-19 pandemic offered essential protections for U.S. workers (opens in a new tab)

Essays SEP 23, 2025

When the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the United States in early 2020, it didn’t just bring about a public health emergency. It also exposed a longstanding weakness in the U.S.…

By: Tanya Byker (opens in a new tab), Elena Patel (opens in a new tab), Kristin Smith (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth announces funding for research on the impact of AI on U.S. workers and competition (opens in a new tab)

Essays SEP 18, 2025

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced a new cohort of grantees studying how artificial intelligence and new technology can support workers and promote competition across the U.S. economy.…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Populist voters feel a sense of loss that is reshaping democracies around the world (opens in a new tab)

Essays SEP 11, 2025

Across Europe, populist parties—once relegated to the political fringe—are now mainstays of national politics. Some are even winning power in the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Austria, and beyond. Whether left-wing or…

By: Justin Gest (opens in a new tab)

Threats to social status and support for far-right political parties (opens in a new tab)

Essays SEP 11, 2025

Once on the political fringes, far-right parties have become established actors in many democracies. The European Parliament election in 2024, for example, resulted in far-right parties receiving more than 20…

By: Tarik Abou-Chadi (opens in a new tab)

A place-based economic development strategy to foster rural U.S. prosperity (opens in a new tab)

Essays SEP 11, 2025

Whether one lives in a city of 2 million people or a town of 2,000, we all want to live in healthy and thriving communities, to have the chance to…

By: Gbenga Ajilore (opens in a new tab)

How U.S. tax policies have fueled right-wing populism (opens in a new tab)

Essays SEP 11, 2025

Among the many factors fueling support for right-wing populism in the United States is federal tax policies. The nation’s tax system confuses, frustrates, and angers many citizens in ways that…

By: Andrea Louise Campbell (opens in a new tab)

To restore democracy, end shareholder primacy at U.S. corporations and on Wall Street (opens in a new tab)

Essays SEP 11, 2025

Workers in the United States have no say over business decisions made in their workplaces by corporate America. Unions, of course, are important for workers’ ability to exercise power over…

By: Lenore Palladino (opens in a new tab)

Even health care, the strongest sector of the U.S. jobs market, cannot deliver the wages its workers deserve without unionization (opens in a new tab)

Essays SEP 10, 2025

The growth of jobs in the U.S. health care industry is the linchpin to a strong U.S. labor market in 2025 and beyond. Health care is one of only a…

By: Adam Dean (opens in a new tab), Jamie McCallum (opens in a new tab)

The Federal Reserve must maintain its independence for the U.S. economy to thrive (opens in a new tab)

Essays AUG 28, 2025

President Donald Trump is attempting to fire Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to serve in that role. He probably lacks the legal authority to do…

By: Alan Blinder (opens in a new tab)

States can support children and their economies using direct cash assistance from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant program (opens in a new tab)

Reports AUG 28, 2025

Efficient, effective, and responsive income support programs can reduce economic inequality and support economic mobility. If targeted effectively, these programs can help children, families, and workers meet their needs and…

By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab), Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

How artificial intelligence uncouples hard work from fair wages through ‘surveillance pay’ practices—and how to fix it (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs AUG 21, 2025

Correction: Freddie Mac and Udemy contacted the Washington Center for Equitable Growth on March 18, 2026 and April 2, 2026, respectively, to say they no longer had business relationships with…

By: Veena Dubal (opens in a new tab), Wilneida Negrón (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth awards funding to early career scholars studying the effects of economic inequality (opens in a new tab)

Essays AUG 20, 2025

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth announced today that it has awarded funding to seven scholars seeking to better understand the effects of economic inequality in the United States and…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

What is austerity, and how does it affect the broader U.S. economy? (opens in a new tab)

Reports AUG 12, 2025

With the passage into law of the Republican budget reconciliation bill last month and the recent work of the Department of Government Efficiency under Elon Musk, austerity is once again…

By: Ernie Tedeschi (opens in a new tab), Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)

Tariffs impact U.S. industries differently, with manufacturing the most exposed (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs JUL 29, 2025

Estimates in this brief were generated July 21, before the announcement of trade deals with Japan and the European Union. All data and code used in the Equitable Growth tariff…

By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

Accounting for capital gains in income significantly increases U.S. inequality (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUL 15, 2025

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth’s recently launched U.S. Inequality Tracker uses data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to show how income and wealth inequality have evolved in…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

The 10 worst policies for equitable economic growth in the 2025 budget reconciliation law (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUL 14, 2025

The 2025 budget reconciliation law that was enacted earlier this month is a sprawling piece of legislation, touching almost every corner of the federal budget and the U.S. economy. It…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

Republican reconciliation bill’s cuts to social programs will damage some congressional districts’ local economies (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUL 11, 2025

In a recent working paper, Equitable Growth grantee Robert Manduca of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor demonstrates that government transfers make sizable contributions to local economies in much of…

By: Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab)

Adoption of generative AI will have different effects across jobs in the U.S. logistics workforce (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUL 10, 2025

Generative artificial intelligence promises to profoundly reshape labor markets, much like previous automation waves did, but with clear differences. Unlike earlier technologies, such as computerization, which primarily automated routine administrative…

By: Christophe Combemale (opens in a new tab), Dustin Ferrone (opens in a new tab), Andrew Barber (opens in a new tab), Laurence Ales (opens in a new tab)

Slow wage growth is the key to understanding U.S. inequality in the 21st century (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs JUL 8, 2025

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today launched the U.S. Inequality Tracker, which tracks income and wealth inequality in the United States and highlights how particular components of income and…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth responds to passage of the federal budget bill (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUL 7, 2025

On Friday, President Donald Trump signed the 2025 federal budget bill, cementing into law the most regressive piece of tax and budget legislation to be passed in the United States…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Americans informed about the distributional effects of Republicans’ tax and budget bill overwhelmingly oppose it (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUL 3, 2025

Republicans in the U.S. Senate recently passed a version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, championed by President Donald Trump. The House of Representatives passed an earlier version of…

By: Jacob Hacker (opens in a new tab), Patrick Sullivan (opens in a new tab)

Congressional Republicans’ budget bill is the most regressive in at least 40 years (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUN 25, 2025

The U.S. Congress is in the midst of debating a budget bill that would make massive changes to U.S. tax and spending policy over the course of the next decade…

By: Jacob Hacker (opens in a new tab), Patrick Sullivan (opens in a new tab)

Medicaid and SNAP cuts in congressional Republicans’ budget bill will negatively impact local economies (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUN 24, 2025

The budget reconciliation bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives proposes to make large cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and other social programs to pay…

By: Robert Manduca (opens in a new tab)

Testimony by Michael Linden on “The Big Beautiful Betrayal—Working Folks Pay While The Mega Rich Profit” (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUN 17, 2025

Senator Kaine, Senator Murphy, and members of the Forum, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I’m going to make three key points. First, the Republican budget bill…

By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)

Factsheet: U.S. economic mobility and policies to increase upward mobility (opens in a new tab)

Factsheets JUN 17, 2025

The United States often has been touted as a land of opportunity, where hard work leads to success and children do better than their parents. But increasingly, these notions of…

By: Shira Markoff (opens in a new tab), Melissa Grober-Morrow (opens in a new tab)

The ‘funny math’ of top U.S. tax rates (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUN 11, 2025

The current reconciliation bill now before Congress won’t correct for the low tax rates paid by the richest Americans Overview Calculating the effective tax rate of the richest Americans can…

By: Patrick Driessen (opens in a new tab), David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

The hidden trade-offs of nonwage job amenities for U.S. workers (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUN 10, 2025

When workers choose jobs with predictable schedules, safer conditions, or greater autonomy, they are often paying a price: lower wages. In some cases, these hidden trade-offs are considerable. Indeed, my…

By: Alex Bell (opens in a new tab)

U.S. labor market data reveal that different job characteristics contribute to the gender wage gap (opens in a new tab)

Essays JUN 5, 2025

In 2003, women in the United States earned on average approximately 80 percent as much as U.S. men did per hour. By 2024, the gender pay gap had grown to…

By: Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth event brings together scholars and the policy community to discuss the rise of right-wing populism and the future of economic policy (opens in a new tab)

Videos MAY 29, 2025

This article was drafted with assistance from Perplexity AI. The Washington Center for Equitable Growth in mid-May hosted an event on “The rise of populism and the future of economic…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Business owners often use their firms as tax shelters, reducing government revenue and reported income inequality (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 22, 2025

Picture this scene: After sharing a meal with friends, someone in the group grabs the check and says, “I’ll take this so I can expense it through my company.” It…

By: David Leite (opens in a new tab)

The political implications of bad jobs and the decline of unions (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 13, 2025

Bad jobs have become a distinctive feature of the U.S. economy over the past few decades. Globally, a lack of adequate demand, or what economists call “secular stagnation,” has meant…

By: Adam Dean (opens in a new tab), Jamie McCallum (opens in a new tab)

Federal and state governments can help solve the employment problems of people in distressed places to spur equitable growth (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 13, 2025

Places in the United States differ greatly in their residents’ access to jobs, including access to good jobs. In economically distressed places, these job problems can be addressed by creating…

By: Timothy Bartik (opens in a new tab)

More accurately measuring economic sentiment will help build a U.S. economy—and democracy—that works for all (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 13, 2025

When politicians and members of the media discuss the state of “the economy” in the United States, they often use a small handful of data points. Of all the indicators…

By: Jonathan Cohen (opens in a new tab), Katherine Cramer (opens in a new tab)

Understanding the role of immigration and economic factors in boosting support for far-right political parties (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 13, 2025

Far-right and right-wing populist political parties differ in many respects, but nearly all share one common thread: strong opposition to immigration. These parties often push for stricter border controls and,…

By: Sirus H. Dehdari (opens in a new tab)

America’s job-quality crisis and how to revive workers’ pay, dignity, job advancement, and economic well-being (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 13, 2025

The poor quality of jobs in the United States is a slow-burning crisis that has been underway for many decades and has eroded many workers’ quality of life. Too many…

By: Erin Kelly (opens in a new tab)

How the China trade shock impacted U.S. manufacturing workers and labor markets, and the consequences for U.S. politics (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 13, 2025

In the early 2000s, manufacturing-intensive communities in the United States entered a period of economic upheaval that would reshape their labor markets over the next two decades. China’s dramatic rise…

By: David Autor (opens in a new tab), David Dorn (opens in a new tab), Gordon Hanson (opens in a new tab)

Housing insecurity and U.S. economic policies: Lessons from tenant organizing (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 13, 2025

The destructive force of authoritarian power has become a prominent feature of U.S. political life. In just the first few months of 2025, we’ve seen unprecedented moves to use the…

By: Jamila Michener (opens in a new tab)

Countering right-wing populism: Identifying its cultural roots and charting a path forward (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 13, 2025

Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election set off an animated debate among Democrats over what went wrong with their policymaking, messaging, and campaigning. Specifically, Democrats puzzled over…

By: Yotam Margalit (opens in a new tab)

How the economic and political geography of the United States fuels right-wing populism—and what the Democratic Party can do about it (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 13, 2025

In wealthy nations around the world, the rise of the knowledge economy has increased political and economic divides that fuel right-wing populism. These divides generally have a strong geographic dimension,…

By: Jacob Hacker (opens in a new tab), Paul Pierson (opens in a new tab)

Tariffs pose real risks to the U.S. labor market (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 12, 2025

Uncertainty around trade policy makes it difficult to discuss the current state of the U.S. labor market. Businesses, workers, and policymakers at all levels make decisions based on both what…

By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)

Testimony by Michael Linden before the House Budget Committee (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 8, 2025

Chairman Arrington, Ranking Member Boyle, members of this committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here. Today, I’d like to make three main points. First, the main culprit responsible…

By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)

Why do some jobs pay better than others? Think about what workers do. (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs MAY 6, 2025

Most U.S. labor market data characterize jobs by describing the categories of industry and occupation to which the jobs belong. But to understand why some types of jobs tend to…

By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab), Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab), Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)

Advancing economic research on the Inflation Reduction Act: Q&A with Susan Helper (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 1, 2025

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is the most significant economic and clean energy jobs program the United States has ever initiated. To improve overall understanding of whether the new…

By: Susan Helper (opens in a new tab)

Designing economic policy that strengthens U.S. democracy and incorporates people’s lived experiences (opens in a new tab)

Videos APR 30, 2025

Around the globe, people are increasingly dissatisfied with the state of democratic capitalism. In the United States and other rich democracies, economic policy has too often in recent decades produced…

By: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (opens in a new tab), Shayna Strom (opens in a new tab)

Advancing economic research on the Inflation Reduction Act: Q&A with Heather Boushey (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs APR 23, 2025

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is the most significant economic and clean energy jobs program the United States has ever initiated. To improve overall understanding of whether the new…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Factsheet: What we know about the federal employer-provided child care credit and how can it be better used by businesses (opens in a new tab)

Factsheets APR 22, 2025

The employer-provided child care credit, also referred to as Section 45F in the Internal Revenue Code, provides a limited subsidy to businesses in the United States that provide child care…

By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab)

Evaluating the Inflation Reduction Act: Job quality, spillovers, and place-based policymaking (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 16, 2025

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is the most significant economic and clean energy jobs program the United States has ever initiated. To improve overall understanding of whether the new…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Improving economic outcomes for single mothers and their children across the United States (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 16, 2025

Single-mother households are becoming more and more common in the United States. Over the past 50 years, the number of children raised by single mothers has more than doubled. It…

By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab)

“Econ 101” briefing on taxing multinationals brings Hill staffers up to speed on U.S. role in coordinating global crack-down on tax avoidance (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 3, 2025

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth last week hosted a briefing for Capitol Hill staffers on multinational corporate tax trends and policies—another in our “Econ 101” series for Hill staffers.…

By: Elena Patel (opens in a new tab)

The qualified small business stock exclusion overwhelmingly benefits the wealthy and should be reformed in 2025 (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs APR 1, 2025

This year’s debate over the expiring personal income and estate tax provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provides an opportunity for reforming the qualified small business stock…

By: Jean Ross (opens in a new tab)

Analogies for AI policymaking (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 27, 2025

As a suite of technologies under the label of artificial intelligence increasingly take center stage, policymakers recognize the need to develop deep technical expertise about the deployment of evolving technologies…

By: Sorelle Friedler (opens in a new tab), Marc Aidinoff (opens in a new tab)

What makes a job ‘good’? How U.S. labor market data can provide insight to improve workers’ economic conditions (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 26, 2025

Since the Great Recession of 2007–2009, a great deal of U.S. economic policymaking has been dedicated to creating jobs. The tools used to do so vary widely, from awarding grants…

By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab), Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab)

Do not abandon the care agenda (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 19, 2025

This column, co-authored by Equitable Growth President and CEO Shayna Strom and former Deputy Director of the White House Gender Policy Council Shilpa Phadke, first appeared in Democracy Journal in…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth hosts Hill briefing on proliferation and taxation of U.S. pass-through businesses (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 13, 2025

On March 7, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth hosted a briefing—part of a series we call “Econ 101”—for Hill staffers curious about the proliferation of pass-through businesses and how…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

The U.S. House of Representatives’ budget resolution threatens social infrastructure programs, putting families’ well-being at risk (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 10, 2025

In late February, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget resolution that calls for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in federal spending cuts. This resolution provides…

By: Priyanka Anand (opens in a new tab), Robert Moffitt (opens in a new tab)

Tackling AI, taxation, and the fair distribution of AI’s benefits (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 5, 2025

Artificial intelligence poses significant challenges to income growth, inequality, and meaningful work. At the same time, AI has geopolitical significance, with many national and supranational governments shying away from intervening…

By: Mona Sloane (opens in a new tab), Ekkehard Ernst (opens in a new tab)

New research finds capital gains are highly concentrated and hardly taxed, underscoring widespread U.S. inequality (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 26, 2025

For two decades, booming stock, housing, and private business markets have driven large capital gains in the United States. Real capital gains, which are the inflation-adjusted appreciation of a financial…

By: Jacob Robbins (opens in a new tab), Cole Campbell (opens in a new tab), Sam Wylde (opens in a new tab)

Boosting U.S. worker power and voice in the AI-enabled workplace (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 19, 2025

The deployment of Artificial Intelligence in the workplace has grown rapidly in the United States. Labor unions have been at the forefront of efforts to encourage more productive and sustainable…

By: Virginia Doellgast (opens in a new tab), Nell Geiser (opens in a new tab)

As the U.S. labor market stabilizes, is nominal wage growth now too hot? (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 13, 2025

After the tumultuous swings of the early COVID-19 pandemic period and years of normalization since then, economic data from the past several months suggest that the U.S. labor market may…

By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)

Tax avoidance among large, complex partnerships in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Reports FEB 12, 2025

Decades-old conventional wisdom held that businesses organized as partnerships in the United States were mostly small enterprises with a handful of active individuals sharing personal liability for the businesses they…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

Testimony by Michael Linden House Oversight Subcommittee on Healthcare and Financial Services (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 11, 2025

Chairman Grothman, Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi, and members of the Committee – thank you for the opportunity to be here. Today, I’d like to make three main points. First, federal investments…

By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)

Understanding market concentration in the AI supply chain (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 28, 2025

Artificial intelligence is more than just the applications we use, such as chatbots and predictive algorithms. Beneath the surface of AI lies a technology stack that is increasingly concentrated at…

By: Tejas Narechania (opens in a new tab)

Benchmarking the U.S. economy that President Donald Trump is set to inherit (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs JAN 16, 2025

When President Donald Trump takes the presidential oath of office again on January 20, he will be inheriting a very different economy, with a very different outlook, than the one…

By: Ernie Tedeschi (opens in a new tab)

Pro-growth tax reform in 2025 would boost the U.S. economy for years to come (opens in a new tab)

Videos JAN 15, 2025

In the aftermath of the presidential election in 2024, it’s clear that many Americans feel like the U.S. economy is not working for them. Even though policymakers on both sides…

By: Shayna Strom (opens in a new tab)

ASSA 2025 Round-up: Day 3 (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 6, 2025

Yesterday was the third and final day of the 2025 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

ASSA 2025 Round-up: Day 2 (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 5, 2025

Yesterday was the second day of the 2025 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in San…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

ASSA 2025 Round-up: Day 1 (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 4, 2025

Yesterday was the first day of the 2025 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in San…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Accelerating research can help fill the AI knowledge gaps for U.S. policymakers (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs DEC 17, 2024

It is hard for policymakers to ignore today’s “AI arms race” and the public debate on the economic and social significance of generative artificial intelligence. The discourse is fueled in…

By: Rohini Kosoglu (opens in a new tab), Christian Edlagan (opens in a new tab)

New U.S. Treasury Department research shows that it pays to be an S corporation (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 16, 2024

Businesses that are organized as so-called pass-through entities for tax purposes—meaning their profits show up on the owners’ personal tax returns rather than on an entity-based tax return—pay a lower…

By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)

Recent research shows how paid leave impacts women’s employment and financial security in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 13, 2024

During the first several months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government ensured that all U.S. workers had access to at least 2 weeks of paid sick leave and up…

By: Shira Markoff (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation with Fenaba Addo (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation DEC 12, 2024

Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…

By: Shira Markoff (opens in a new tab)

New research highlights the impact of COVID-era unconditional cash benefits for U.S. workers and families (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 10, 2024

The breadth of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in sweeping, albeit temporary, changes to income support programs and tax policies in the United States. These changes include…

By: Shira Markoff (opens in a new tab)

Addressing pervasive tax evasion by cryptocurrency users (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 21, 2024

The price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies reached record highs last week, buoyed by the U.S. election of Donald Trump, who is seen as friendly to this novel asset class,…

By: Magne Mogstad (opens in a new tab), Tom Meling (opens in a new tab), Arnstein Vestre (opens in a new tab)

The U.S. labor market keeps beating projections (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 5, 2024

No single economic indicator fully describes the state of the U.S. labor market. Yet a range of commonly used measures, from the unemployment rate and the prime-age employment-population ratio to…

By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)

Changing earnings requirements for Unemployment Insurance could improve access and better support U.S. workers (opens in a new tab)

Blog OCT 24, 2024

Temporary changes to the Unemployment Insurance program played an enormous role in the U.S. policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting sharp-but-short recession in 2020. Typically, Unemployment Insurance replaces…

By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth virtual event details how tax policies affect U.S. economic growth and could combat income and wealth inequality (opens in a new tab)

Blog OCT 23, 2024

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth recently held the second in a two-part event series on tax policies for congressional staffers interested in learning more about using persuasive, evidence-backed arguments…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

The promise of equitable and pro-growth tax reform (opens in a new tab)

Reports OCT 16, 2024

The impending expiration of large portions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act at the end of 2025 presents federal policymakers with a significant opportunity to reform the federal…

By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab), David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab), Shayna Strom (opens in a new tab)

Allowing the 2017 estate tax changes to expire will reduce U.S. inequality and promote economic growth and opportunity (opens in a new tab)

Reports OCT 9, 2024

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made deep cuts to the personal income, estate, and corporate income taxes that were costly and heavily skewed toward the very wealthy. The…

By: Jean Ross (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth renews collective bargaining agreement with Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (opens in a new tab)

Blog OCT 7, 2024

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth has renewed its 3-year collective bargaining agreement with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union IFPTE Local 70. The agreement, which was signed on August 23,…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

End Ineffective Business Tax Breaks Before Creating New Ones (opens in a new tab)

Blog OCT 7, 2024

(This opinion piece first appeared in Tax Notes Federal on September 23, 2024.) Vice President Kamala Harris recently proposed an expanded tax benefit for start-up businesses, aimed at helping fledgling…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth’s ‘Econ 101’ offered congressional staffers a rundown of the contours of U.S. tax policy (opens in a new tab)

Blog OCT 2, 2024

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth recently hosted a congressional briefing—part of a series we call “Econ 101”—for Hill staffers interested in learning more about the ins and outs of…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Estimating the prevalence of automated management and surveillance technologies at work and their impact on workers’ well-being (opens in a new tab)

Reports OCT 1, 2024

Evidence from a new national survey and implications for U.S. federal policy U.S. employers are deploying artificial-intelligence-powered and automated tools to monitor and manage workers, including tracking workers’ locations, activities,…

By: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (opens in a new tab)

New data show significant changes in racial and class mobility gaps in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Blog SEP 19, 2024

Past research shows that differences in intergenerational mobility between Black and White Americans have persisted since the 1880s. Current racial economic mobility gaps are rooted in historical discriminatory policies, such…

By: Shira Markoff (opens in a new tab)

The unequal impact of the Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening and easing on firms in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Blog SEP 16, 2024

The easing of inflation in the U.S. economy beginning in 2022 and recent signs of weakness in the U.S. labor market over the past several quarters have led households and…

By: Ezgi Kurt (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation with Mishaela Durán (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation SEP 12, 2024

Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…

By: Shira Markoff (opens in a new tab)

The upcoming U.S. election’s most important policy effects are under the radar (opens in a new tab)

Blog SEP 3, 2024

Although the old maxim that Labor Day marks the true beginning of U.S. presidential campaigns may no longer hold, the end of summer and beginning of fall remain a period…

By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)

Will labor’s surging popularity result in new union members in the United States? (opens in a new tab)

Blog AUG 29, 2024

Mass strikes across U.S. industries, successful organizing drives in multiple sectors of the economy, and a U.S. president who declares himself proud to be labeled “the most pro-union president in…

By: Jake Rosenfeld (opens in a new tab)

Early career scholars to receive Equitable Growth funding to study economic inequality (opens in a new tab)

Blog AUG 28, 2024

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced a new slate of grantees. These 10 scholars responded to a Request for Proposals specifically targeted at those early in their careers…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth invests in new research to better understand the effects of the fiscal response to the COVID-19 recession (opens in a new tab)

Blog AUG 28, 2024

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced a new cohort of grantees in response to a Request for Proposals on the effectiveness of the fiscal response to the COVID-19…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

New economic analyses of the 2017 Trump tax cuts find mixed effects that policymakers should consider when those tax cuts expire in 2025 (opens in a new tab)

Blog AUG 22, 2024

Former President Donald Trump’s hallmark economic policy was a swathe of tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations in 2017. His Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA, supercharged…

By: Rakeen Mabud (opens in a new tab), Janelle Jones (opens in a new tab), Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)

New labor market data suggest that U.S. wage growth may be cooling too much (opens in a new tab)

Blog AUG 6, 2024

After increasing rapidly over the course of 2021, nominal wage growth (before accounting for inflation) in the United States has been trending down consistently across measures since early- to mid-2022.…

By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)

New federal heat standard will protect U.S. workers from the ill effects of high temperatures amid intensifying climate change (opens in a new tab)

Blog AUG 1, 2024

U.S. workers are more vulnerable than ever to the ill effects of high and rising temperatures as the world continues to shatter heat records this year. Climate-related deaths and injuries…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Hospital consolidation and rising health care prices lead to job losses for U.S. workers (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs JUL 25, 2024

The majority of working-age adults in the United States have health insurance via their employers. Theory and a growing body of research suggest that when the cost of workers’ benefits…

By: Zarek Brot-Goldberg (opens in a new tab), Zack Cooper (opens in a new tab), Stuart Craig (opens in a new tab), Lev Klarnet (opens in a new tab)

New federal heat standard offers novel distributional analysis to determine which workers benefit and how (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUL 16, 2024

The U.S. Department of Labor recently released a much-anticipated proposed rule that promises to protect workers from on-the-job injuries and deaths that result from toiling in the heat. The timing…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

The new Labor Department overtime rule is a win for workers—and good policy, too (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUL 8, 2024

On July 1, the first step of the U.S. Department of Labor’s new overtime rule went into effect, meaning about 1 million salaried, white-collar workers currently exempt from overtime began…

By: Janelle Jones (opens in a new tab), Rajesh Nayak (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation with Natalie Foster (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation JUL 2, 2024

Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…

By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth hosts event featuring Sen. Elizabeth Warren on pro-growth tax reform in 2025 (opens in a new tab)

Videos JUN 20, 2024

Several provisions of former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts are set to expire next year, providing an opportunity to reimagine how federal taxes can both raise additional revenue for…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

On Juneteenth: New research demonstrates how economic mobility is restricted for Black Americans (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUN 18, 2024

On June 19, 1865, emancipation was officially declared in the state of Texas, more than two full years after the Emancipation Proclamation and more than two full months after the…

By: Shaun Harrison (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth’s new Nonresident Scholars have a long history of rigorous economic research (opens in a new tab)

Videos JUN 11, 2024

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today launched our new Nonresident Scholars program. This is our latest way of connecting academics to policymakers to ensure public policy debates are grounded…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation with Miles Corak (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation JUN 6, 2024

Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

A researcher’s guide to identifying policy-relevant research questions for the federal government (opens in a new tab)

Essays MAY 30, 2024

Social science researchers play an important role in the policymaking process. Researchers help policymakers at all levels of government to understand key trends and issues in the U.S. economy and…

By: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth receives funding to advance women’s power, gender equality, and care economy (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 28, 2024

Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal funds organization as part of $1 billion global commitment The Washington Center for Equitable Growth announced today that it has received funding from Pivotal as part…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Research on Tap event highlights the impact of AI, climate change, and racial inequality on the U.S. economy (opens in a new tab)

Videos MAY 23, 2024

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth on May 21 hosted its marquee event, “Research on Tap: Three Forces Shaping the 2024 Economy,” at the National Union Building in Washington, DC.…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

What is going on with wage growth in the United States? (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 16, 2024

Fast wage growth is a key feature of a strong labor market. U.S. workers, and low-wage workers in particular, experienced exceptional wage growth over the past couple of years, which…

By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth Insights: Synthesizing economic mobility research (opens in a new tab)

Research Databases MAY 15, 2024

Equitable Growth’s Insights newsletter on U.S. economic mobility is a quarterly newsletter that synthesizes research from academia, journalism, and the nonprofit sector. Each edition seeks to distill insights from research…

Equitable Growth delivers letter on proposed IRS rule to expand data sharing with the U.S. Department of Commerce (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 15, 2024

On April 29, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth delivered a comment letter responding to a proposed rule from the Internal Revenue Service that would expand the amount of administrative…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

U.S. workers, generative AI, and the future of work (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 9, 2024

The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 captured the world’s attention and illustrated the potential of generative Artificial Intelligence to instantly perform tasks long considered quintessentially “human.” Already, the technology…

By: Molly Kinder (opens in a new tab)

Structural changes in the U.S. economy highlight anew the gray areas of continued racial bias and discrimination in American workplaces (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 8, 2024

Four years after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis by three city police officers and the Black Lives Matter movement led large-scale protests across the country, workplaces across the U.S.…

By: Adia Harvey Wingfield (opens in a new tab)

Measuring psychological burdens in access to U.S. social programs (opens in a new tab)

Reports MAY 6, 2024

Lessons from new research on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Policymakers are increasingly paying attention to administrative burdens—those “frictions that people face in their encounters with public services.” In 2022,…

By: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (opens in a new tab)

New workplace surveillance bill would protect U.S. workers and address new technological risks (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 2, 2024

Across the U.S. economy, the risks posed by unchecked automated surveillance and management technologies are widespread—and growing. These technologies can sometimes be beneficial for workers, customers, and businesses alike. For…

By: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (opens in a new tab)

2017 tax cut for pass-through business owners exacerbated inequality and failed to deliver economic benefits (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs MAY 1, 2024

Among the many regressive and ineffective elements of the Trump administration’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, one provision stands out as the most convoluted, unfair, and ripe for…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

Factsheet: What the research says about taxing pass-through businesses (opens in a new tab)

Factsheets APR 30, 2024

In recent years, so-called pass-through businesses have taken center stage in a number of crucial tax policy debates. This large and growing category of U.S. business—which includes sole proprietorships, partnerships…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

New recommendations for an integrated system of U.S. inequality statistics chart a bold path forward (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 23, 2024

A new report from the National Academy of Science’s Committee on National Statistics is packed with recommendations for building an integrated system of national statistics that can provide accurate and…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

Combating market power through a graduated U.S. corporate income tax (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs APR 15, 2024

Editor’s note: This version has been updated from the original publication on April 15, 2024. The update corrects a prior underestimate of the revenue potential from graduated corporate tax rates…

By: Kimberly Clausing (opens in a new tab)

An Unemployment Insurance modernization bill now before the U.S. Senate is a much-needed step in the right direction (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 9, 2024

The nearly 90-year-old federal-state Unemployment Insurance program provides much-needed relief to unemployed workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own and helps to stabilize the U.S. economy…

By: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (opens in a new tab)

Hospital consolidation matters (opens in a new tab)

Reports APR 4, 2024

The U.S. policy landscape is replete with reports from organizations across the political spectrum decrying the lack of competition in hospital markets around the nation and the resulting high prices,…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Enhanced Child Tax Credit helped U.S. families afford life-enhancing necessities and cope with inflation (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 2, 2024

Amid ongoing congressional debate over expanding the Child Tax Credit for U.S. families, it’s important to understand why the fears about the expansion of that tax credit in 2021 were…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

U.S. economic mobility trends and outcomes (opens in a new tab)

Reports MAR 29, 2024

A research update Fast facts Critical to the promise of the American dream is the expectation of intergenerational mobility. Invoked in ubiquitous phrases such as “pulling oneself up by the…

By: Hiba Haroon (opens in a new tab), Shaun Harrison (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation with Sasha Killewald (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation MAR 27, 2024

Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

Matching competition policy in the U.S. healthcare industry to address a new generation of challenges in provider markets (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs MAR 20, 2024

Antitrust policy in the U.S. healthcare sector is perennially 10 years behind the industry. But at the start of the Biden administration in early 2021, there was hope for a…

By: Barak D. Richman (opens in a new tab)

Testimony by Michael Linden before the Joint Economic Committee (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 12, 2024

Chair Heinrich, Vice Chair Schweikert, Members of the Committee, thank you so much for extending me the opportunity to testify before you today. My testimony will broadly cover three important…

By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth hosts State of the Union press briefing with leading U.S. economists (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 7, 2024

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth last week hosted an online press briefing in prelude to tonight’s State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress by President Joe Biden.…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

The state of the U.S. labor market 4 years after the start of the COVID-19 recession (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 5, 2024

Over the past 4 years, the U.S. economy—in particular the U.S. labor market—weathered some incredible shocks and fluctuations. From the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain breakdowns to global energy shocks…

By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)

Ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union address, the U.S. economy is strong (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 21, 2024

On March 7, President Joe Biden will deliver the 2024 State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress and the American public, in which he will tout his economic…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth’s recent ‘Econ 101’ assessed the state of the U.S. economy and recovery for Capitol Hill staff (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 13, 2024

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth hosted a briefing last week—part of a series we call “Econ 101”—presenting insight on the state of the U.S. economy and how the current…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Closing the billionaire borrowing loophole would strengthen the progressivity of the U.S. tax code (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs FEB 5, 2024

The vast majority of Americans are concerned that some wealthy people don’t pay their “fair share” of federal taxes. They’re right to be bothered: Loopholes in the U.S. tax code…

By: Edward Fox (opens in a new tab), Zachary Liscow (opens in a new tab)

New Circular A-4 offers opportunities for researchers interested in disaggregating the costs and benefits of U.S. regulations (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 1, 2024

This column is adapted from remarks I made at the Allied Social Sciences Associations 2024 annual meeting, held earlier this year in San Antonio, Texas, as part of a panel…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

The impacts of increasing U.S. hospital consolidation on Medicaid recipients (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 25, 2024

The U.S. healthcare sector is a consequential part of the overall economy. As of 2021, U.S. healthcare expenditures alone would rank third among the world’s largest economies in terms of…

By: Sunita Desai (opens in a new tab), Kyle Smith (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation with Timothy Smeeding (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation JAN 16, 2024

Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…

By: Jonathan Fisher (opens in a new tab)

Statement on the passing of Nobel laureate Robert Solow (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 11, 2024

A founding member of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth’s Steering Committee, Solow was also a longtime partner and advisor to the organization Robert Solow, the Nobel laureate and longtime…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

New research doesn’t overturn consensus on rising U.S. income inequality (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs JAN 10, 2024

New research from Gerald Auten at the U.S. Treasury Department and David Splinter at the U.S. Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation makes the counter-to-conventional-wisdom claim that U.S. income inequality has…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

Doubling down on cuts to the IRS is bad for the federal budget and for tax fairness in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 9, 2024

The U.S. Congress recently announced a bipartisan budget deal for fiscal year 2024 appropriations for the U.S. federal government. The budget is largely consistent with the framework agreed to in…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

ASSA 2024 Round-up: Day 3 (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 8, 2024

Yesterday was the third and final day of the 2024 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

ASSA 2024 Round-up: Day 2 (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 7, 2024

Yesterday was the second day of the 2024 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in person…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

ASSA 2024 Round-up: Day 1 (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 6, 2024

Yesterday was the first day of the 2024 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in person…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Six years later, more evidence shows the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act benefits U.S. business owners and executives, not average workers (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 20, 2023

When policymakers were debating the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, many proponents claimed that average U.S. workers would benefit via wage increases. These adherents of trickle-down economic theory…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth announces new Steering Committee members to guide grantmaking and shape research priorities (opens in a new tab)

Videos DEC 7, 2023

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced five new members of its Steering Committee. Daron Acemoglu of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Trevon Logan of The Ohio State University,…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

What the research says about the impacts of hospital consolidation across the United States (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 6, 2023

When patients in the United States rely on hospitals for care, they are often at their most vulnerable, such as during acute illnesses, when suffering major injuries, or while giving…

By: Amy Phillips (opens in a new tab)

New evidence shows that limiting a tax break for highly leveraged firms doesn’t hurt the U.S. economy (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 21, 2023

Does increasing taxes on businesses reduce private-sector investment? Most economists agree that investment in new projects and technologies is a key driver of economic growth. While the tax code plays…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

Sameera Fazili and Mary Beth Maxwell join Equitable Growth’s Board of Directors (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 15, 2023

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced the addition of two new members to its board of directors: Sameera Fazili, former deputy assistant to the president and deputy director…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

The consequences of U.S. hospital consolidation on local economies, healthcare providers, and patients (opens in a new tab)

Reports NOV 15, 2023

Policymakers, regulators, stakeholders, and academics have yet to grapple with the full cross-sectional impacts of hospital mergers. While the evidence is clear that consolidation leads to higher prices in concentrated…

By: Amy Phillips (opens in a new tab)

New evidence suggests that receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program facilitates work in the long run (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 13, 2023

One of today’s most heated debates around U.S. income support programs is about work requirements. From the removal of work requirements through the 2021 enhancements to the Child Tax Credit…

By: Alix Gould-Werth (opens in a new tab)

What the minimum wage can tell us about the future of the U.S. child care system (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 1, 2023

The U.S. child care market is plagued by a math problem. Families in the United States are stretched thin, dedicating substantial portions of their household budgets to child care expenses.…

By: Sam Abbott (opens in a new tab)

What recent research says about the benefits of labor strikes and growing worker power for broader U.S. economic growth (opens in a new tab)

Blog OCT 25, 2023

Labor organizing and strikes are experiencing a resurgence in the United States. Before this year’s bevy of labor actions—including Hollywood strikes, autoworker walk-outs, healthcare labor stoppages, and more—2022 and 2021…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Employment scarring research suggests benefits for aggressive U.S. fiscal policy in response to recessions (opens in a new tab)

Blog OCT 19, 2023

It can be difficult for the federal government to get its fiscal response to an economic downturn just right. Too much fiscal stimulus can create excess fiscal demand and inflation,…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

New research finds $15 minimum wages raise pay and increase employment for low-wage workers (opens in a new tab)

Blog OCT 16, 2023

Increasing the minimum wage has repeatedly been shown to raise the pay of low-wage workers and improve the overall economy. While the federal minimum wage remains at its 2009 level…

By: Michael Reich (opens in a new tab), Justin Wiltshire (opens in a new tab), Carl McPherson (opens in a new tab)

Strong unions push firms to reduce riskier debt, lowering risks of unemployment for U.S. workers (opens in a new tab)

Blog SEP 27, 2023

Unionization efforts and labor organizing are increasingly ubiquitous in the United States. Indeed, July 2023 was one of the busiest months for strikes in 30 years, following two years of…

By: Carlos Fernando Avenancio-Leon (opens in a new tab), Alessio Piccolo (opens in a new tab), Roberto Pinto (opens in a new tab)

Testimony by Shayna Strom before the Senate Budget Committee (opens in a new tab)

Blog SEP 20, 2023

Chairman Whitehouse, Ranking Member Grassley, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am the President and CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable…

By: Shayna Strom (opens in a new tab)

The role of private equity in the U.S. economy, and whether and how favorable tax policies for the sector need to be reformed (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs SEP 14, 2023

The increasing impact of private equity firms upon large swaths of the U.S. economy in recent decades is drawing more attention to the tax treatment of these firms as they…

By: Arpit Gupta (opens in a new tab), Sabrina Howell (opens in a new tab)

U.S. labor market concentration, competition, and worker bargaining power as employment trends shift from manufacturing to services (opens in a new tab)

Blog SEP 6, 2023

Labor market concentration and competition in the United States has received renewed and well-deserved attention over the past several years. Competitive labor markets are critical engines of economic growth, worker…

By: Laura Alexander (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth announces new round of grantmaking exploring the connection between policy and economic growth (opens in a new tab)

Blog AUG 31, 2023

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced its 2023 cohort of grantees, an impressive group of researchers from across academic disciplines who are studying how inequality affects economic growth…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Latino homeownership: Confronting home appraisal bias to create a more equitable and more sustainable U.S. economic trajectory (opens in a new tab)

Blog AUG 10, 2023

Homeownership is part of the American Dream and a pathway to build wealth for many people in the United States. Homeownership allows families to plant roots, build equity, and secure…

By: Sam Kenney (opens in a new tab)

The effects of the expanded Child Tax Credit on low-income families in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Blog AUG 2, 2023

Childhood poverty is a stubborn problem in the United States. About 11 million U.S. children lived in poverty prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, accounting for nearly one-third of the impoverished…

By: Jesus Torres (opens in a new tab)

Short-term effects of the expanded Child Tax Credit on U.S. labor force participation amid the COVID-19 pandemic (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUL 26, 2023

There is a common politicized thread to arguments against expanding the federal antipoverty Child Tax Credit program permanently and to the justifications that a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court…

By: Sullivan Anderson (opens in a new tab)

New research shows that differences in state Unemployment Insurance rules cause inequity and inefficiency (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUL 19, 2023

The Unemployment Insurance system in the United States aims to provide temporary and partial wage replacement for workers who become unemployed through no fault of their own. In helping unemployed…

By: Daphné Skandalis (opens in a new tab), Ioana Marinescu (opens in a new tab), Maxim Massenkoff (opens in a new tab)

The economic costs of gun violence in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs JUL 18, 2023

When it comes to understanding the costs of gun violence in the United States, many people rightfully focus on the human cost. People who are slain or take their own…

By: Andre Gobbo (opens in a new tab)

Algorithmic wage discrimination requires policy solutions that enforce predictability and the U.S. spirit of equal pay for equal work (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUL 12, 2023

U.S. consumers generally believe that gig workers who labor for companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. are free to set their own hours and thus able to…

By: Veena Dubal (opens in a new tab)

GDP 2.0: Measuring who prospers when the U.S. economy grows (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUL 11, 2023

This post was updated on July 11, 2023. Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, is the constant go-to economic indicator that news anchors and U.S. Members of Congress alike love to…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

New data and analysis suggest private equity takeovers of U.S. medical practices cause anticompetitive harms to patients, insurers, and employers in local markets (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUL 10, 2023

The linked resources and the PDF for this piece were updated on February 20, 2024. Private equity firms are deeply engaged in buying up and consolidating medical practices across the…

By: Laura Alexander (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth’s Jobs Day Graphs: June 2023 Report Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUL 7, 2023

On July 7th, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on the U.S. labor market during the month of June. Below are five graphs compiled by Equitable Growth…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab), Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab)

JOLTS Day Graphs: May 2023 Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUL 6, 2023

Every month the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases data on hiring, firing, and other labor market flows from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, better known as JOLTS.…

By: Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab), Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

Ahead of the June Jobs Day report, here is what the past three months of employment data say about the health of the U.S. labor market (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUL 6, 2023

The U.S. economy is now flush with many more jobs than prior to the onset of the COVID-19 recession in early 2020, and employment growth in the country continues to…

By: Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab)

Industrial policies will be more effective at supporting good jobs and a stronger U.S. economy where there is institutional support for worker power (opens in a new tab)

Reports JUL 6, 2023

Fast facts Interest in industrial policies as tools to address the climate crisis, reach national security goals, and boost domestic economic growth and innovation is surging, with more and more…

By: Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab)

The historical lessons from the U.S. General Property Tax (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUL 5, 2023

In the early 19th century, a new type of property tax system emerged in the United States, distinguishing itself from its European counterparts by encompassing all forms of property. This…

By: Sacha Dray (opens in a new tab), Camille Landais (opens in a new tab), Stefanie Stantcheva (opens in a new tab)

LGBTQ+ Black Pride: More than a celebration (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUN 22, 2023

This column is the fifth in our series of pieces by guest authors examining systemic racial, ethnic, and gender inequities in the U.S. economy and in access to government social…

By: Earl D. Fowlkes. Jr. (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth delivers economist sign-on letter and comment letter to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on its Proposed Revisions to Circular A-4, Regulatory Analysis (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs JUN 20, 2023

This post has been updated to reflect that Equitable Growth’s economist sign-on letter, not our comment letter, was submitted to regulations.gov due to an administrative submission error. The Washington Center…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Paid sick leave means dads can spend more time caring for loved ones and less time worrying about missing work (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUN 15, 2023

The economic story of the United States in the post-WWII era is arguably the dramatic surge in women’s labor force participation. The increases in hours worked and income generated by…

By: Sam Abbott (opens in a new tab)

What monetary and fiscal policy can tell us about the U.S. recovery from the COVID-19 recession (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUN 14, 2023

The Federal Reserve is at the center of the main story in the U.S. economy, and not just because there’s actual ambiguity around this week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting.…

By: Michael Madowitz (opens in a new tab)

Money for nothing: The Qualified Small Business Stock capital gains exclusion is a giveaway to wealthy investors, startup founders, and their employees (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs JUN 8, 2023

The Qualified Small Business Stock exclusion, enshrined in Section 1202 of the Internal Revenue Code, permits early-stage venture capital firms and angel investors in high-tech startups, those startups’ founders, and…

By: Manoj Viswanathan (opens in a new tab)

Wealth as a driver of income and consumption mobility in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUN 7, 2023

When most Americans think about how economic well-being transfers from parents to children, they will likely think about income, consumption, and wealth. After all, parents’ ability to provide for and…

By: Jonathan Fisher (opens in a new tab), David Johnson (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth’s Jobs Day Graphs: May 2023 Report Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog JUN 2, 2023

On June 2nd, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on the U.S. labor market during the month of May. Below are five graphs compiled by Equitable Growth…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab), Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab)

New IRS report examines free tax filing option to reduce the cost and complexity for U.S. taxpayers (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs JUN 1, 2023

Filing a tax return with the Internal Revenue Service is one of the most common interactions Americans have with the federal government. Unfortunately, this process is often time-consuming and complex.…

By: Andre Gobbo (opens in a new tab)

JOLTS Day Graphs: April 2023 Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 31, 2023

Every month the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases data on hiring, firing, and other labor market flows from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, better known as JOLTS.…

By: Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab), Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

Food assistance can disrupt intergenerational poverty in the United States, promoting racial economic equity (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 30, 2023

The post-COVID-19 economy is a strange beast. Unemployment rates are at historic lows, but inflation—despite some cooling—remains high. Many parents continue to struggle with child care and their children’s schooling,…

By: Christopher Wimer (opens in a new tab), Zachary Parolin (opens in a new tab), Ronald Mincy (opens in a new tab), Benjamin Glasner (opens in a new tab)

Proposed update to federal cost-benefit analysis guidelines correctly focuses on accounting for inequality in regulations (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs MAY 23, 2023

The White House last month unveiled a proposed update to an obscure but highly influential government document called the Circular A-4, which governs how the federal government conducts regulatory cost-benefit…

By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)

The rise of industrial policy means data synchronization is more critical than ever (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 12, 2023

Industrial policy is the hot new trend in D.C. policymaking circles, a Biden administration promise to radically transform the economy that is pouring federal dollars into green energy, infrastructure, and…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth grantee Gabriel Zucman awarded the 2023 John Bates Clark Medal (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 9, 2023

Earlier this month, associate professor of public policy and economics Gabriel Zucman at the University of California, Berkeley—and a Washington Center for Equitable Growth 2018 grantee—won the 2023 John Bates…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation with Daron Acemoglu (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation MAY 8, 2023

Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…

By: Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab)

Child care prices, inflation, and the end of federal pandemic-era aid in five charts (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 8, 2023

For much of the COVID-19 recession of 2020 and subsequent economic recovery, the child care sector was spared the accelerating inflation that impacted other areas of the U.S. economy. As…

By: Sam Abbott (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth’s Jobs Day Graphs: April 2023 Report Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 5, 2023

On May 5, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on the U.S. labor market during the month of April. Below are five graphs compiled by Equitable Growth…

By: Raksha Kopparam (opens in a new tab), Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab)

JOLTS Day Graphs: March 2023 Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAY 2, 2023

Every month the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases data on hiring, firing, and other labor market flows from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, better known as JOLTS.…

By: Raksha Kopparam (opens in a new tab), Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab)

How government reliance on fines and fees harms communities across the United States (opens in a new tab)

Videos APR 25, 2023

This column is the fourth in a series by guest authors examining systemic racial, ethnic, and gender inequities in the U.S. economy and in access to government social infrastructure and…

By: Antonya Jeffrey (opens in a new tab)

Maybe some Earth Day soon, we’ll know what nature is worth (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs APR 24, 2023

This past January, the Biden administration unveiled its “National Strategy to Develop Statistics for Environmental-Economic Decisions,” an effort to bring the health and sustainability of natural resources in the United…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth delivers comment letter responding to the Federal Trade Commission’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Non-Compete Clauses (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 20, 2023

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth this week delivered a comment letter responding to the Federal Trade Commission’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Non-Compete Clauses. In our comment letter,…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Police in public schools harm students, leading to far-reaching socioeconomic inequalities alongside less safe schools (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 19, 2023

This column is the third in a series by guest authors examining systemic racial, ethnic, and gender inequities in the U.S. economy and in access to government social infrastructure and…

By: Tyler Whittenberg (opens in a new tab), Jessica Alcantara (opens in a new tab)

Employers can alleviate the U.S. child care crisis, but they cannot be the primary solution (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 13, 2023

The U.S. Department of Commerce last month announced new requirements for semiconductor manufacturers seeking funding under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022—a key component of the Biden Administration’s industrial…

By: Sam Abbott (opens in a new tab)

Seven ways the inflation debate in the United States has changed since last year and how the Fed can now recalibrate its monetary policy (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 12, 2023

Inflation in the United States today is considerably cooler than at its peak in the first half of 2022, but it will remain at the center of the economic policy…

By: Michael Madowitz (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth’s Jobs Day Graphs: March 2023 Report Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 7, 2023

On April 7, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on the U.S. labor market during the month of March. Below are five graphs compiled by Equitable Growth…

By: Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab), Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab)

Why measuring inflation is surprisingly challenging (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 5, 2023

In spite of recent bank turmoil in the United States and abroad, reining in inflation remains very much at the top of the macroeconomic agenda for policymakers in advanced economies…

By: Michael Madowitz (opens in a new tab)

JOLTS Day Graphs: February 2023 Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 4, 2023

Every month the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases data on hiring, firing, and other labor market flows from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, better known as JOLTS.…

By: Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab), Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab)

Executive actions to strengthen unions and increase worker power in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Blog APR 3, 2023

Relevant federal agencies: U.S. Department of Labor White House Relevant federal laws: The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. § 203) National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (Public…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Summary of Equitable Growth’s March ‘Econ 101’ briefing on inflation for Capitol Hill staffers (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 23, 2023

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth hosted a briefing earlier this month—part of a series we call “Econ 101”—presenting the key points on inflation to congressional staffers in both the…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Executive actions to modernize federal data collection and improve measurements of U.S. economic inequality (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 22, 2023

Relevant federal agencies U.S. Census Bureau U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor Relevant federal laws Internal Revenue Code…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Executive actions to reduce inequality and improve job quality for U.S. workers (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 16, 2023

Relevant federal agencies: Federal Trade Commission Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Office of Personnel Management Relevant laws: Federal Trade Commission’s Trade Regulation Rule on Commercial Surveillance and Data Security, Commercial Surveillance…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Inflation, Federal Reserve policymaking, and liquidity traps (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 14, 2023

The Federal Reserve is fighting inflation, but more importantly, the Fed wants everyone to know that it is fighting inflationary expectations. This means, in the short term, that with inflation…

By: Michael Madowitz (opens in a new tab)

Major federal ‘Big Tech’ antitrust case against Google will test the strength of current U.S. antitrust laws in new digital markets (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 13, 2023

A high-profile antitrust enforcement action taken in January by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice against Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit—one of the largest technology companies in the…

By: Laura Alexander (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth’s Jobs Day Graphs: February 2023 Report Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 10, 2023

On March 10, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on the U.S. labor market during the month of February. Below are five graphs compiled by Equitable Growth…

By: Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab), Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab)

The importance of the American Rescue Plan for U.S. workers and families on the law’s second anniversary, in 8 charts (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 10, 2023

Tomorrow marks 2 years since the American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law. One year after the COVID-19 pandemic that began in early 2020 triggered enormous employment losses and…

By: Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab), Raksha Kopparam (opens in a new tab)

JOLTS Day Graphs: January 2023 Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 8, 2023

Every month the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases data on hiring, firing, and other labor market flows from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, better known as JOLTS.…

By: Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab), Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab)

Ahead of new U.S. jobs data releases, here’s what employment growth and job switching mean for wage disparities in the U.S. labor market (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs MAR 7, 2023

Later this week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release data on February 2023 job growth through its Employment Situation Summary. It will also release information on job openings,…

By: Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth delivers letter responding to the NTIA’s Privacy, Equity, and Civil Rights Request for Comment (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 6, 2023

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth this week delivered a comment letter responding to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Privacy, Equity, and Civil Rights Request for Comment. Our comment…

By: Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab)

Access to paid family leave improves U.S. women’s labor market outcomes following a spouse’s health shock (opens in a new tab)

Blog MAR 6, 2023

Women now make up almost half of the U.S. labor force, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, and families are increasingly reliant on women’s earnings. Despite their growing labor…

By: Courtney C. Coile (opens in a new tab), Maya Rossin-Slater (opens in a new tab), Amanda Su (opens in a new tab)

Data infrastructure and tribal sovereignty can help break down barriers for Native Americans to build wealth (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs MAR 2, 2023

For centuries, Indigenous communities in the United States have faced devastating poverty. American Indians and Alaska Natives today experience the highest rate of poverty, at 25 percent, of any major…

By: Raksha Kopparam (opens in a new tab)

Examining the history of the U.S. racial wealth divide shows stagnating progress on closing these disparities (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 24, 2023

A central part of Black History Month is highlighting the accomplishments and contributions of Black Americans to U.S. society, culture, and the economy, often in the face of incredible barriers.…

By: Kreg Steven Brown (opens in a new tab)

Fair competition in the U.S. labor market is threatened by more than the noncompete clauses targeted by new Federal Trade Commission rule (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 23, 2023

When a worker gets a new job, it is normally a cause for celebration and not litigation. Yet noncompetition clauses in employment agreements, and a veil of other threats buried…

By: Peter Norlander (opens in a new tab)

Executive actions to strengthen U.S. income support programs and support research about them (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 22, 2023

Relevant federal agencies: U.S. Department of Labor U.S. Department of Agriculture Relevant federal laws: The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-334) Social Security Act of 1935 (P.L. 74-271) Advisory…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Beauty products for women of color and femme-identifying people of color perpetuate U.S. health and other socioeconomic inequalities (opens in a new tab)

Videos FEB 16, 2023

This column is the second in a series by guest authors examining systemic racial, ethnic, and gender inequities in the U.S. economy and in access to government social infrastructure and…

By: Beaumont Taylor Morton (opens in a new tab)

Climate policy has potential to spur economic growth and ensure a competitive U.S. economy (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 9, 2023

Addressing climate change is a crucial—and sizeable—economic task. Ensuring equity in every dimension of climate mitigation and adaptation is critical to redressing ongoing harms and environmental injustices. Tracking the implementation…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Executive actions to leverage federal agencies to improve child care in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 8, 2023

Relevant federal agencies: U.S. Census Bureau U.S. Department of Health and Human Services The White House White House Council of Economic Advisers Relevant federal laws: Child Care Development Block Grant…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth’s Jobs Day Graphs: January 2023 Report Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 3, 2023

On February 3, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on the U.S. labor market during the month of January. Below are five graphs compiled by Equitable Growth…

By: Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab), Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

JOLTS Day Graphs: December 2022 Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog FEB 1, 2023

Every month the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases data on hiring, firing, and other labor market flows from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, better known as JOLTS.…

By: Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab), Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab)

What is social infrastructure, and how does it support economic growth in the United States? (opens in a new tab)

Videos JAN 26, 2023

The word “infrastructure” brings to mind the big physical systems that underpin the U.S. economy, such as highways, bridges, tunnels, and water and sewage systems. Indeed, infrastructure is composed of…

By: Alix Gould-Werth (opens in a new tab), Sam Abbott (opens in a new tab), Emilie Openchowski (opens in a new tab)

Automated and algorithmic management is already here, invisibly shaping job quality for U.S. workers (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 24, 2023

Predictions about which jobs may be “lost” in the United States as employers implement new automation and algorithmic technologies often consider management tasks and roles as the least vulnerable to…

By: Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab)

A future-oriented approach to wealth offers new possibilities for wealth creation in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 19, 2023

Wealth inequality in the United States has grown significantly over the past five decades, with the overall share of wealth becoming more concentrated among the highest-income families. A lot of…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

U.S. income and wealth inequality are no longer increasing, but a return to the equitable levels of the mid-20th century isn’t likely anytime soon (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 17, 2023

Five or 6 years ago, economists and pundits frequently debated whether the incomes of low- and middle-class households in the United States were stagnating. I wrote about it, and I…

By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

New research suggests connections between market concentration and the exercise of political power in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 12, 2023

Consolidation of markets at the hands of U.S. companies that are actively engaged in mergers and acquisitions raises an important question about the political ramifications of market concentration. Do mergers…

By: Laura Alexander (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth announces Shayna Strom as new president and CEO (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 10, 2023

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth Board of Directors today announced that Shayna Strom has been named its new president and CEO. Strom had been serving as the organization’s interim…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

ASSA 2023 Round-up: Day 3 (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 9, 2023

Yesterday was the third and final day of the 2023 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

ASSA 2023 Round-up: Day 2 (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 8, 2023

Yesterday was the second day of the 2023 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in person…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

ASSA 2023 Round-up: Day 1 (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 7, 2023

Yesterday was the first day of the 2023 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in person…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth’s Jobs Day Graphs: December 2022 Report Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 6, 2023

On January 6 the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on the U.S. labor market during the month of December. Below are five graphs compiled by Equitable Growth…

By: Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab), Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)

Diversity in Economics: I can be a force for good in my world (opens in a new tab)

Videos JAN 5, 2023

Assistant professor of economics at Howard University

By: Andria Smythe (opens in a new tab)

Diversity in Economics: Toward a friendlier discipline (opens in a new tab)

Videos JAN 5, 2023

Assistant professor of economics at at the University of Utah

By: Sarah Small

Diversity in Economics: I’m always attuned to how people are experiencing the economy (opens in a new tab)

Videos JAN 5, 2023

Assistant professor of sociology and organizational science at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte

By: Candace Miller (opens in a new tab)

Diversity in Economics: Creating inclusive, integrated spaces in economics (opens in a new tab)

Videos JAN 5, 2023

Assistant professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of California, Riverside

By: Robynn Cox (opens in a new tab)

Diversity in Economics: I never thought about becoming an economist (opens in a new tab)

Videos JAN 5, 2023

Assistant professor of finance at the University of California, San Diego

By: Carlos Fernando Avenancio-León (opens in a new tab)

Diversity in Economics video series uplifts diverse voices and research in economics and social sciences (opens in a new tab)

Videos JAN 5, 2023

A key priority of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth is supporting researchers from underrepresented backgrounds and at various points along their career ladders, contributing to the broader effort to…

By: Maria Monroe (opens in a new tab)

JOLTS Day Graphs: November 2022 Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog JAN 4, 2023

Every month the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases data on hiring, firing, and other labor market flows from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, better known as JOLTS.…

By: Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab), Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab)

The importance of understanding how job quality affects U.S. workers and the entire economy, and how to boost access to good jobs (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 22, 2022

Even during economic expansions and periods of robust employment growth, millions of workers in the United States face economic insecurity and precarious working conditions. Low pay, safety hazards, lack of…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

A missed opportunity to expand the Child Tax Credit will affect U.S. families and the broader economy now and for years to come (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 21, 2022

Earlier this week, the U.S. Congress released its proposed omnibus bill that funds the federal government through September 2023 and makes various other reforms to the nation’s retirement system, antitrust…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

New digital tools demonstrate the promise of measuring well-being in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 21, 2022

This summer, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth partnered with New America, the Justice, Health & Democracy Impact Initiative at Harvard University, and the U.S. Departments of Commerce and the…

By: Elizabeth Garlow (opens in a new tab), Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab), Anthony Guidotti (opens in a new tab)

Fighting tax evasion by the wealthy can raise revenue and restore the integrity of the U.S. tax system (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 20, 2022

Recent estimates suggest that as much as $36 billion a year in taxes are unpaid by Americans hiding wealth abroad, and more than $50 billion more is lost due to…

By: Jeanne Bomare (opens in a new tab), Daniel Reck (opens in a new tab)

How the new Global Repository of Income Dynamics database sheds light on income inequality and economic mobility (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 15, 2022

Economists have long known that a rigorous understanding of inequality is only possible with high-quality data. To this end, developments in economic models since the 1970s have helped advance our…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Why workplace dignity is valuable to U.S. workers, employers, and the broader economy (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 14, 2022

The role of employment in the lives of many U.S. workers and their families is more than just a way to provide for oneself and one’s loved ones. Jobs are…

By: Kate Bahn (opens in a new tab)

U.S. inflationary trends amid the COVID-19 pandemic (opens in a new tab)

Reports DEC 13, 2022

Fast facts The chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, and other members of the U.S. central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee, which sets monetary policies, are keenly aware of…

By: Michael Weber (opens in a new tab)

A review of federal lending to small business owners of color during the COVID-19 pandemic (opens in a new tab)

Reports DEC 13, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic that began in early 2020 hammered small businesses across the globe. The number of active businesses declined precipitously, supply chain interruptions reduced business operations, and global trade…

By: Rachel Marie Brooks Atkins (opens in a new tab)

Unions in the United States improve worker safety and lower health inequality (opens in a new tab)

Reports DEC 13, 2022

Ros Reggans was overjoyed when she learned that her employer, a Chicago-area nursing home chain, had received more than $12 million in COVID-19 relief funds through the 2020 Coronavirus Aid,…

By: Adam Dean (opens in a new tab), Jamie McCallum (opens in a new tab), Atheendar Venkataramani (opens in a new tab)

Early evidence on federal government income supports for U.S. individuals, workers, and families during the COVID-19 pandemic (opens in a new tab)

Reports DEC 13, 2022

This report focuses on preliminary research surrounding the three largest income support programs totaling $1.6 trillion that were paid directly to U.S. individuals, workers, and families amid the first two…

By: Alex Bell (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth delivers comment letter responding to U.S. Department of Labor’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on classifying employees and independent contractors (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 13, 2022

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth this week delivered a comment letter responding to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division’s proposed rulemaking on how to determine who…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

The economic impact of housing insecurity in the United States (opens in a new tab)

Videos DEC 8, 2022

This column is the first in a series by guest authors examining systemic racial, ethnic, and gender inequities in the U.S. economy and in access to government social infrastructure and…

By: Shailly Gupta Barnes (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth delivers comment letter responding to the National Labor Relations Board’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Joint-Employer Standard (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 7, 2022

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth this week delivered a comment letter responding to the National Labor Relations Board Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Joint-Employer Standard. The comment letter…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth works to expand its network of scholars researching inequality and growth at two fall academic conferences (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 6, 2022

Since its founding in 2013, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth has supported scholars across disciplines and along the career ladder who are studying the effects of inequality on economic…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth’s Jobs Day Graphs: November 2022 Report Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog DEC 2, 2022

On December 2 the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on the U.S. labor market during the month of November. Below are five graphs compiled by Equitable Growth…

By: Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab), Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab)

Judging Big Tech (opens in a new tab)

Books DEC 1, 2022

The importance of digital information technology and communications giants to the U.S. economy and society today is undeniable. The business strategies of these companies are increasingly capturing the attention of…

Frequently asked questions about paid sick time for U.S. workers and their families and the broader U.S. economy (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 30, 2022

Sometimes people in the United States experience health conditions that affect their ability to work, whether it’s a cold, flu, or cancer. This may lead to questions about whether they…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Railway negotiations highlight the importance of paid sick time for U.S. workers and the broader economy (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 30, 2022

The U.S. Congress this week is considering legislation imposing a new contract on U.S. railroad workers to avert a potential strike following a breakdown in negotiations between several of the…

By: Alix Gould-Werth (opens in a new tab), Sam Abbott (opens in a new tab)

Ahead of the November jobs report, here’s what recent disaggregated data say about the state of the U.S. labor market and economic growth (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 30, 2022

Ahead of the release of November’s Employment Situation Summary on December 2, an examination of the past few months of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data shows some signs…

By: Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab), Kate Bahn (opens in a new tab), Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab)

JOLTS Day Graphs: October 2022 Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 30, 2022

Every month the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases data on hiring, firing, and other labor market flows from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, better known as JOLTS.…

By: Kathryn Zickuhr (opens in a new tab), Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab)

Factsheet: What the research says about the economics of the 2021 enhanced Child Tax Credit (opens in a new tab)

Factsheets NOV 29, 2022

The Child Tax Credit has historically provided income support to middle- and high-income taxpayers with children. In 2021, however, the U.S. Congress enacted a temporary enhanced Child Tax Credit with…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth delivers comment letter responding to FTC’s Advanced Notice of Proposing Rulemaking on Commercial Surveillance and Data Security (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 21, 2022

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth this week delivered a comment letter responding to the Federal Trade Commission’s Advanced Notice of Proposing Rulemaking on Commercial Surveillance and Data Security. The…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

How the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 is promoting sustainable U.S. economic growth and mitigating climate change (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs NOV 18, 2022

In an issue brief earlier this year, Equitable Growth discussed how the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 rests on sound economic principles and analyzed the ways that its…

By: Michael Madowitz (opens in a new tab), Shaun Harrison (opens in a new tab)

What are the distributional effects of monetary policy? (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 17, 2022

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth recently announced our 2023 Request for Proposals to support research investigating the various channels through which economic inequality, in all its forms, may or…

By: Shaun Harrison (opens in a new tab)

Supermarket chain Kroger’s takeover of rival Albertsons is a test for U.S. antitrust law on pre-closing dividends (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 16, 2022

The recently proposed $24.6 billion takeover of the nation’s fourth-largest supermarket chain, Albertsons Companies Inc., by the second-largest chain, Kroger Co., poses an array of serious and apparent antitrust concerns…

By: Laura Alexander (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation with Lenore Palladino (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation NOV 16, 2022

Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…

By: Kate Bahn (opens in a new tab)

Advancing research and evidence on child care and U.S. economic growth (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 10, 2022

Research shows that accessible and affordable child care is both a lifeline for working families and a driver of growth across the entire U.S. economy. A functioning child care market…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Including immigrants in the U.S. tax system is fiscally responsible and can boost economic growth by lifting the well-being of their families (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 10, 2022

The recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act boasts the potential for more noncitizen immigrant workers and entrepreneurs to pay into the U.S. tax system, improving the federal government’s tax collection. What’s…

By: Shayak Sarkar (opens in a new tab)

Green jobs are good for U.S. workers and the U.S. economy (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 8, 2022

Earlier this year, the U.S. Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law one of the most consequential climate bills in U.S. history. The Inflation Reduction Act allocates $369…

By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)

Enacting a minimum wage for tipped workers is on the ballot in two U.S. cities. Here’s what the research says (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 4, 2022

In most cities and states across the United States, servers and other so-called front-of-house staff in the restaurant industry earn a subminimum wage for tipped workers. Whether and how this…

By: Kate Bahn (opens in a new tab)

Equitable Growth’s Jobs Day Graphs: October 2022 Report Edition (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 4, 2022

On November 4, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on the U.S. labor market during the month of October. Below are five graphs compiled by Equitable Growth…

By: Carmen Sanchez Cumming (opens in a new tab), Kate Bahn (opens in a new tab)

The Fed is aggressively but perhaps deliberately playing catch-up on inflation (opens in a new tab)

Blog NOV 2, 2022

The members of the Federal Reserve Board’s interest-rate-setting committee are almost universally expected to raise interest rates by 0.75 percentage points this week, as they have at each of their…

By: Michael Madowitz (opens in a new tab)