IN BRIEF: Cutting the Safety Net Is Not an Effective Way to Reduce Government Spending
BRIEFLY… High-stakes negotiations over the debt limit center on ways to bring government spending more in line with government revenues. The political contours of the debate have excluded cuts to Social Security and Medicare from consideration, as well as the possibility of raising taxes. With these options off the table, much of what is left ...
Press Release: Why Drug Pricing Is Complicated
Aspen Economic Strategy Group releases new paper by Kellogg’s Craig Garthwaite and Amanda Starc WASHINGTON, DC | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2023 — The Aspen Economic Strategy Group (AESG) today released a new paper, “Why Drug Pricing is Complicated,” by Craig Garthwaite and Amanda Starc of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. The paper details the complicated drug ...
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 ...
Figure 11: The Median Medicare Part D Plan: Total Cost by Drug
From, “Why Drug Pricing Reform is Complicated: A Primer and Policy Guide to Pharmaceutical Prices in the US,” by Craig Garthwaite and Amanda Starc.
Book: Building a More Resilient US Economy
The Aspen Economic Strategy Group’s sixth annual policy volume, Building a More Resilient US Economy, considers some of the most pressing economic challenges facing the United States. The book’s publication comes as the US faces historically high levels of debt that threaten the resiliency of the nation’s economy, including the ability to invest in key ...
Foreword: Building a More Resilient US Economy
The Aspen Economic Strategy Group’s sixth annual policy volume focuses on building a more resilient US economy. Several major economic and geopolitical disruptions and developments in recent years—including the global COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and growing tensions with China—have heightened the need to get our domestic finances in order, strengthen supply chains, and ...
Introduction: Building a More Resilient US Economy
The post-pandemic US economy features a strong labor market but also persistent inflation, rising levels of debt, and acute educational challenges. These issues are compounded by ongoing, systemic difficulties: domestic and global, economic and political. This policy volume considers these topics and others, with a thematic focus on building a more resilient US economy. The ...
High and Rising US Federal Debt: Causes and Implications
The outlook for federal debt represents a significant economic challenge for the United States. Economic developments and policy changes over the past two decades have materially raised the level of current and projected debt, but the primary factors behind the projected upward trajectory of debt remain population aging and rising health care spending. Even under ...