Introduction: Economic Policy in a More Uncertain World
Economic policymakers are confronting the highest inflation in a generation, energy supply shortages, and shifting geopolitical alliances. These challenges rightfully occupy news headlines and policy debates, but longer-run headwinds in the American economy also warrant focused attention. This volume aims to highlight three such challenges and provide constructive policy options for addressing them: the need ...
Foreword: Economic Policy in a More Uncertain World
The Aspen Economic Strategy Group releases its fifth annual policy volume against a backdrop of historic economic and strategic uncertainty. Supply shocks resulting from a senseless Russian war in Ukraine are exacerbating already soaring energy and food prices. Increasing hostility between the United States and China is accelerating the transition to a world of rival ...
IN BRIEF: The Wide Class Divide in Family Structure
BRIEFLY: Children in the US are far less likely to be raised in two-parent families today than they were in prior decades, a shift Aspen Economic Strategy Group (AESG) director Melissa Kearney explores in her new book, The Two-Parent Privilege. US children are now more likely than those in any other country to live in ...
The Economic Case for Smart Investing in America’s Youth
The United States spends a relatively small sum on children, both on a per capita basis and as a share of all spending. In 2019, the federal government spent an estimated $5,595 per child on programs benefiting children under 18, compared to $29,189 per elderly American on entitlement programs alone—a gap that remains wide even ...
In Brief: Building Security in the Semiconductor Supply Chain
BRIEFLY Semiconductors are the building blocks of almost every modern technology, from dishwashers to smartphones to javelin missiles. Shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with rising geopolitical tensions in the region where most chips are produced, have highlighted the fragile supply chains of this critical technology. In response, US policymakers have invested billions in the ...
Why Crime Matters, and What to Do About It
In this paper, Jennifer Doleac describes what is known about crime trends in the US and outlines the best evidence to date on the effectiveness of various approaches to reducing crime through prevention, deterrence, and rehabilitation. Crime in the US rose during the 1980s and early 1990s before declining steadily until 2020. During the COVID-19 ...
Improving Housing Affordability
Housing affordability in the United States has become a major challenge for Americans and a key policy priority for US policymakers. In this paper, Benjamin Keys and Vincent Reina assess the drivers of the housing affordability challenge, concluding that inadequate supply, barriers to homeownership such as tight credit standards, and the lack of a meaningful ...
Aspen Economic Strategy Group Reports related to Affordability
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. Below, we highlight five AESG reports that offer evidence-based insights into how policy can strengthen ...