RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Gary Burtless, October 25, 2011, The Brookings Institution
Gary Burtless argues that living standards have improved for the poor and middle-class since 1980. Burtless notes that on average, Americans in the broad middle and at the bottom of the income distribution have seen their real incomes and consumption improve over the past three decades. Read More
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
3:00 PM to 4:30 PM
Washington, DC
On September 28, the Brookings Institution hosted a discussion with Carol Graham on her book The Pursuit of Happiness: An Economy of Well-being, what we know about the determinants of happiness, across and within countries at different stages of development and whether happiness can be a new marker for economic progress in the United States and across the world. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Ron Haskins, August 19, 2011, The Brookings Institution
Ron Haskins looks at the plight of Roma people and questions why this large minority population has not made great progress within Bulgaria since the fall of the Communist government or Bulgaria's entry into the EU. Haskins recommends development in areas like education and leadership training as he argues that progress depends on the actions of enlightened individuals and groups in their own spheres of influence. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Adam Thomas and Isabel V. Sawhill, April 12, 2011, The Brookings Institution
Adam Thomas and Isabel Sawhill write that last week’s inter-party feud over publicly funded family planning in the federal budget was pure political showmanship, since these programs reduce the prevalence of abortion, save tax dollars, and improve the lives of children and families. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Emily Garr, March 31, 2011, The Brookings Institution
Almost two years into economic recovery, unemployment and demand for safety net services remain high. In the third edition of Landscape of Recession, Emily Garr examines trends in unemployment and food stamp receipt since December 2007 in the 100 largest metro areas, and finds that suburbs saw the steepest increases in jobless residents and families seeking food assistance. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Carol Graham, December 15, 2010, The Brookings Institution
In a recent post to The New York Times Freakonomics blog, Justin Wolfers and Daniel Sacks show a statistically significant relationship between economic growth and life satisfaction in a large sample of countries from around the world, and thereby assert that the Easterlin paradox is debunked. However, Carol Graham suggests that the debate over the paradox is more nuanced and depends on the questions that are used, the sample of countries, and the period of time used in empirical tests. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Justin Wolfers and Daniel Sacks, December 13, 2010, The New York Times Freakonomics blog
Justin Wolfers discusses his research showing that economic development is associated with rising life satisfaction. Wolfers critically examines recent research seeking to debunk his work on this topic. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Martha Ross, December 08, 2010, The Brookings Institution
Martha Ross spoke to the Advisory Board of the Community Foundation for Prince George’s County, describing research on the suburbanization of poverty both nationally and in the Washington region. Despite perceptions that economic distress is primarily a central city phenomenon, suburbs are home to increasing numbers of low-income families. She highlighted the need to strengthen the social service infrastructure in suburban areas. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Alan Berube, October 19, 2010, The Avenue, The New Republic
There are many communities nationwide in which a trip to the supermarket is a rather long one, and most of those areas have residents with relatively lower incomes, says Alan Berube. Along with The Reinvestment Fund, Berube analyzes supermarket access in 10 U.S. metropolitan areas and illustrates the urgency of implementing policy solutions to alleviate burdens on underserved communities.
Read MoreRESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Justin Wolfers , October 13, 2010, The New York Times
Justin Wolfers counters recent reports suggesting that the recession has taken a toll on the institution of marriage by examining longer term demographic and cultural trends. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Daniel W. Sacks, Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers , October 01, 2010, The World Bank, Working Paper
Justin Wolfers, Daniel Sacks and Betsey Stevenson explore the relationships between subjective well-being and income, as seen across individuals within a given country, between countries in a given year, and as a country grows through time. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Carol Graham, July 2010, The World Bank Research Observer
Using research collected from around the world, Carol Graham analyzes individual happiness based on a variety of factors, including economics, democracy, crime, corruption and health. Graham argues that an individual’s ability to adapt may be the strongest determinant of overall happiness and psychological perspective. Read More
PAST EVENT
Thursday, June 10, 2010
10:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Washington, DC
Exactly how important is infrastructure to a country’s economy and how is it measured? Should a larger role for financing these investments be given to the private sector, particularly in developing nations? On June 10, the Economic Studies and Global Economy and Development programs at Brookings hosted an event to discuss the nature and role of infrastructure, including rigorous economic analysis to discern to what extent infrastructure can boost overall productivity and raise living standards. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Douglas J. Elliott, April 20, 2010, The Brookings Institution
State public pension funds have taken a hit in the recent financial crisis, like so many others. Unfortunately, according to Douglas Elliott, while things look bad now, with 25 percent losses in value since 2007, the future looks much worse because those funds are unlikely to hit their return targets. He says it’s time to face the music now and deal with the problem through higher contributions (which may mean higher taxes) or lower benefit accruals. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William A. Galston, March 16, 2010, Yahoo! Finance
According to a recent CBS-New York Times poll, only 19 percent of respondents said they trust the government "to do what is right all or most of the time," whereas 78 percent believe the government is run by special interests. William Galston writes that if current levels of trust in government do not improve, Americans will not be persuaded to make sacrifices now in exchange for a better future. Read More