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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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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….

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…

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…

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…

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…