Commentary

Policymakers across the political spectrum – and at the federal, state, and local levels – are increasingly focused on improving “affordability” for Americans. The Aspen Economic Strategy Group has released a series of reports that speak directly to this challenge....

Happy holidays from the Aspen Economic Strategy Group! Thank you for your continued interest and support of our work. As a group devoted to advancing evidence-based economic policy, we appreciate the powerful role that charts play in telling the story...

On November 5, 2025, AESG Policy Director Luke Pardue provided remarks during a panel discussion hosted by the American Enterprise Institute: Can We Get Through the Demographic Crunch? The Implications of the 2025 OECD Employment Report. A recording of the...

On July 9th, 2025, the Aspen Economic Strategy Group hosted economists Michael Geruso and Dean Spears for a conversation on their new book, After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for People. In After the Spike, Geruso and Spears...

THE ECONOMICS OF DECLINING US FERTILITY Recent proposals such as “baby bonuses” and expansions to the Child Tax Credit have cast increased attention on the issue of declining birth rates in the US. The AESG and its director Melissa S....

As a group devoted to advancing evidence-based economic policy, the AESG appreciates the powerful role that charts play in telling the story of our economy. Enjoy twelve figures that showcase our work in 2024! Figure 1: Manufacturing’s share of employment...

The past year has been one marked by several significant swings in the labor market. It featured strong (possibly, immigration-fueled) growth in the labor market at the start, a sharp rise in the unemployment rate that fueled speculation of an...

This week the AESG published our seventh annual policy volume, Strengthening America’s Economic Dynamism. This year’s volume features six papers covering topics including US trade and industrial policy, America’s fiscal and state capacity, the impact of advances in artificial intelligence...

Recent social and economic data has revealed a troubling trend: young men in the US are increasingly falling behind their female peers, a long-widening gap that has accelerated in the wake of COVID-19. Many young men have struggled to navigate...

The BLS estimated that the US economy added 142,000 jobs in August, and the unemployment rate ticked down slightly from 4.3% to 4.2%. This report is far from a worst-case-scenario many had feared, but does tell a consistent story of...