SEARCH • The Aspen Institute Economic Strategy Group

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Memo
Bringing Jobs to People: Improving Local Economic Development Policies

DOWNLOAD SUMMARY Even before the current recession, local labor markets across the U.S. had large and persistent disparities in employment among prime-working age adults. Roughly 15 percent of…

August 05 2020• Timothy J. Bartik
Memo
The Faltering Escalator of Urban Opportunity

David Autor is the Ford Professor of Economics and Co-Chair of the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future. This report was produced in collaboration with the…

July 08 2020• David Autor
Commentary
Taskforce Report: Promoting Economic Recovery After COVID-19

DOWNLOAD The federal government’s fiscal and monetary responses to the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have been unprecedented. However, we argue that as many of the enacted…

June 16 2020
Glenn Hubbard, Jason Furman, Melissa S. Kearney, Timothy Geithner
Commentary
Economic Strategy Group Statement on COVID-19 Pandemic and Economic Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic is at once threatening American lives, the sustainability of our nation’s health care system, and our economic prosperity. Our paramount concern at this moment should be to slow…

March 25 2020• Economic Strategy Group
Commentary
Economic Strategy Group Member Statement, December 2019

Aspen Economic Strategy Group (AESG) Member Statement December 2019 We, the undersigned members of the AESG, have collectively worked at the highest levels of the policy, business, government, academic, and…

January 03 2020
ECONOMIC STRATEGY GROUP
Commentary
New York Times: How to Get Americans to Love Capitalism Again

Originally published in New York Times. American capitalism is at a serious inflection point. Many Americans, including the two of us, are alarmed by…

December 11 2019
Erskine Bowles, Hank Paulson
Commentary
Business Insider: The Math Is Clear: Universal Basic Income Is A Terrible Idea

Originally published on Business Insider. It’s not a new idea, but few could have predicted that talk about universal basic income (UBI) would be receiving as much attention as…

November 25 2019
Magne Mogstad, Melissa S. Kearney
Memo
Policy Options for Taxing the Rich

Overview: Batchelder and Kamin argue the United States must raise new revenue in order to reduce high levels of economic disparity, finance much-needed new services and investments, and address…

November 21 2019
David Kamin, Lily Batchelder
Memo
Wealth Taxation: An Overview of the Issues

Overview: Recent wealth tax proposals put forward by Democratic presidential candidates Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders would impose an annual tax on the net worth of the…

November 21 2019• Alan D. Viard
Memo
Universal Basic Income (UBI) as a Policy Response to Current Challenges

Overview: There is growing concern that current US transfer and social welfare programs are ill-equipped to address widening income inequality, stagnant income growth, declining economic mobility, and the negative…

November 21 2019
Magne Mogstad, Melissa S. Kearney
Memo
The Economics of Medicare for All

Overview: Policymakers and political candidates are expressing renewed interest in expanding the role of government in increasing access to and affordability of health care for all Americans. The most…

November 21 2019• Craig Garthwaite
Memo
Can Innovation Policy Restore Inclusive Prosperity in America?

Overview: US productivity growth¬—the engine of long-run wage growth—has been lackluster for the past decade. Meanwhile, US public investment in research and development (R&D), is near historic lows. Although…

November 21 2019• John Van Reenen
Memo
Fiscal Policy With High Debt and Low Interest Rates

Overview: The U.S. budget trajectory is in uncharted territory. The country faces a structural deficit, accrued the largest increase in debt on record during the current economic recovery, and…

November 21 2019• William Gale
Memo
Concerns About Concentration

Overview: A number of studies in recent years have fueled policymakers’ concerns over rising market concentration and the state of competition in US industry. However, determining the relationship between…

November 21 2019• Nancy L. Rose
Memo
Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses to Market Concentration

Overview: Measures of market concentration in many U.S. industries have been rising for nearly four decades. Since the early 2000s, these trends have coincided with a falling labor share…

November 21 2019• Thomas Philippon
Book
Maintaining The Strength of American Capitalism

The American economic system has always been the foundation of our national strength. But this foundation is showing cracks—from high levels of income inequality, declining economic mobility, and persistent...

November 21 2019• Economic Strategy Group
Memo
Introduction

DOWNLOAD A national debate about the strength and fairness of American capitalism is taking place against a backdrop of vast levels of income and wealth inequality, growing pessimism about…

November 21 2019
Amy Ganz, Melissa S. Kearney
Memo
Foreword

DOWNLOAD The American economic system has always been the foundation of our national strength. But this foundation is showing cracks—from high levels of income inequality, declining economic mobility, and…

November 21 2019
Erskine Bowles, Henry M. Paulson Jr.
Memo
Policies to Reintegrate Former Inmates Into the Labor Force

DOWNLOAD Incarceration rates in the United States have more than tripled in recent decades as rehabilitation has gradually taken a back seat to a policy agenda…

February 04 2019
Gordon B. Dahl, Katrine Løken, Manudeep Bhuller
Memo
What Works in Career and Technical Education (CTE)? A Review of Evidence and Suggested Policy Directions

DOWNLOAD Career and technical education (CTE) is widely viewed as an important alternative to traditional four-year colleges, a means of increasing the earnings of U.S.workers, and…

February 04 2019• Ann Huff Stevens
Memo
A Policymaker’s Guide to Labor Force Participation

DOWNLOAD Labor force participation among prime-age workers has been declining for many decades. This memo aims to provide policy makers with a useful framework for thinking…

February 04 2019
Bruce Reed, Keith Hennessy
Memo
The Challenges of Leveraging Online Education for Economically Vulnerable Mid-Career Americans

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MEMO Economic and technological change has made lifelong learning more important than ever and partly explains the rise of online education,…

February 04 2019• Joshua Goodman
Memo
The Higher Wages Tax Credit

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MEMO In the face of continued low employment, stagnant wages, persistent poverty, and rising inequality, minimum wage increases will likely continue…

February 04 2019• David Neumark
Memo
A Policy Agenda to Develop Human Capital for the Modern Economy

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MEMO Globalization and technological innovation have intensified the demand for college- educated workers. In 2017, college graduates earned 65% more than…

February 04 2019
Amy Ganz, Austan Goolsbee, Glenn Hubbard
Memo
The Link Between Wages and Productivity Is Strong

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MEMO Much of the public debate in recent years suggests that wages are not primarily determined by productivity. Indeed, the argument…

February 04 2019• Michael R. Strain
Memo
The Need to Expand Economic Opportunity

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MEMO The pursuit of economic opportunity for all Americans is as important to the health of the country’s economy as it is…

February 04 2019
Amy Ganz, Melissa S. Kearney
Memo
Creating Economic Opportunity for More Americans Through Productivity Growth

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MEMO The U.S. economy in recent years has been characterized by slow average productivity growth and increasing productivity dispersion within industries….

February 04 2019• Chad Syverson
Memo
Restoring Economic Opportunity for “The People Left Behind”: Employment Strategies for Rural America

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MEMO Based on several leading economic indicators, most notably rates of employment in the labor force among less skilled men, residents…

February 04 2019• James P. Ziliak, Ph.D.
Memo
Scaling Apprenticeship to Increase Human Capital

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MEMO The 2016 election heightened an ongoing debate in the United States about how best to respond to two of the…

February 04 2019• Robert I. Lerman
Book
Expanding Economic Opportunity for More Americans

Over the course of the past year, the Aspen Economic Strategy Group collected policy ideas to address the barriers to broad-based economic opportunity and identified concrete proposals with bipartisan...

February 04 2019• Economic Strategy Group
Memo
Economic Strategy for Higher Wages and Expanded Labor Participation

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MEMO We propose two alternative policy options for promoting increased earnings and employment of low-income households: expanding the Earned Income Tax…

February 04 2019
Jason Furman, Phillip Swagel
Memo
How Minimum Zoning Mandates Can Improve Housing Markets and Expand Opportunity

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MEMO Dramatic differences in income, productivity, and housing costs within the United States make geographic mobility important for spreading prosperity. But…

February 04 2019• Joshua D. Gottlieb
Commentary
Washington Post: Americans are being left behind. Here’s how we fix it.

Originally published on Washington Post. Many Americans are being left behind by today’s modern, global economy, and they are justifiably angry about it. Growing numbers of people feel our…

January 27 2019
Erskine Bowles, Hank Paulson, Melissa S. Kearney

Start your search above or find recent resources below.

Bringing Jobs to People: Improving Local Economic Development Policies

The Faltering Escalator of Urban Opportunity

Taskforce Report: Promoting Economic Recovery After COVID-19

Economic Strategy Group Statement on COVID-19 Pandemic and Economic Crisis

Economic Strategy Group Member Statement, December 2019

New York Times: How to Get Americans to Love Capitalism Again

Business Insider: The Math Is Clear: Universal Basic Income Is A Terrible Idea

Policy Options for Taxing the Rich

Wealth Taxation: An Overview of the Issues

Universal Basic Income (UBI) as a Policy Response to Current Challenges

The Economics of Medicare for All

Can Innovation Policy Restore Inclusive Prosperity in America?

Fiscal Policy With High Debt and Low Interest Rates

Concerns About Concentration

Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses to Market Concentration

Maintaining The Strength of American Capitalism

Introduction

Foreword

Policies to Reintegrate Former Inmates Into the Labor Force

What Works in Career and Technical Education (CTE)? A Review of Evidence and Suggested Policy Directions

A Policymaker’s Guide to Labor Force Participation

The Challenges of Leveraging Online Education for Economically Vulnerable Mid-Career Americans

The Higher Wages Tax Credit

A Policy Agenda to Develop Human Capital for the Modern Economy

The Link Between Wages and Productivity Is Strong

The Need to Expand Economic Opportunity

Creating Economic Opportunity for More Americans Through Productivity Growth

Restoring Economic Opportunity for “The People Left Behind”: Employment Strategies for Rural America

Scaling Apprenticeship to Increase Human Capital

Expanding Economic Opportunity for More Americans

Economic Strategy for Higher Wages and Expanded Labor Participation

How Minimum Zoning Mandates Can Improve Housing Markets and Expand Opportunity

Washington Post: Americans are being left behind. Here’s how we fix it.