RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Douglas J. Elliott, October 23, 2009, The Brookings Institution
The Obama administration’s pay czar imposed limits on executive compensation for bailed-out Wall Street firms. Doug Elliott says the actions are not smart, sending the message to those employees that their pay will not be determined the same way as on the rest of Wall Street and will be considerably lower and more volatile. This risks losing the best people, since the ones that move are always those who have the best options elsewhere. Read More
VIDEO
Gary Burtless, July 24, 2009
The federal minimum wage is going up to $7.25 an hour. Some say the raise during a deep recession is a bad idea because it could cause employers to lay off more workers. Gary Burtless doesn’t think anyone will lose their job, but some future hires may be impacted. He says the most noticeable impact of the raise will be in the spending power of some workers.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Martha Ross, April 20, 2009, Council of the District of Columbia Committee on Housing and Workforce Development
Testifying before the Council of the District of Columbia, Martha Ross called for renewed attention to programs connecting young people to job training and the labor market, urging attention to program quality rather than just numbers served. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Harry J. Holzer, December 10, 2008, The Brookings Institution
Harry Holzer examines the likely effects of “living wage” ordinances on employment outcomes, according to economic theory; as well as evidence on their actual effects. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Alan Berube, David Park and Elizabeth Kneebone, June 05, 2008, The Brookings Institution
Slowed economic growth and rising prices for necessities like food, transportation, and child care threaten to exacerbate the challenges already facing America's low-income workers and their families. The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) could do more to help close the growing gap between stagnant wages and rising prices. "Metro Raise" demonstrates how an expanded and modernized EITC would benefit families and communities in the nation's major metropolitan areas. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Stephen D. Holt, June 05, 2008, The Brookings Institution
Many low-income working families would benefit from a streamlined ability to access the proceeds of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) throughout the year as they pay for ongoing expenses like housing, child care, and transportation. The federal government should consider adopting a model for direct periodic payment of the EITC, as most other countries with in-work tax credits provide. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Rebecca M. Blank, April 10, 2008, House Ways and Means Committee
The March unemployment rate jumped to 5.1 percent, fueling concerns about a flagging economy. Rebecca Blank, noting the unusually high rates of long-term unemployment, recommends extending benefits to assist these workers who are clearly having difficulty finding jobs. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Peter Blair Henry and Diego Sasson, March 31, 2008, The Brookings Institution
In new research, Peter Blair Henry shows the benefits of stock market opening for developing countries. Read More
PAST EVENT
Thursday, March 20, 2008
9:00 AM to 11:45 AM
Washington, DC
A comprehensive look at the trends and issues that drive economic opportunity in America was released last month in a new volume by Brookings experts, "Getting Ahead or Losing Ground: Economic Mobility in America." On March 20, the Center on Children and Families at Brookings and the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Economic Mobility Project held a forum to discuss the findings on gender, race, immigration, and families in addition to new findings on education, international comparisons, trends, and wealth. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Lael Brainard, March 20, 2008, Democracy Journal
Despite profound economic changes over recent years, America’s job-transition, or worker adjustment, program remains one of the weakest among advanced economies. Lael Brainard proposes fundamental changes in the nation’s programs in order to provide enhanced training and financial support to help American workers compete. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Gregg Easterbrook and Elizabeth Warren, January 11, 2008, American Public Media, Marketplace
Brookings Expert Gregg Easterbrook and Harvard Law School's Elizabeth Warren discuss the squeeze on the American middle class. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jason Furman, December 15, 2007, McClatchy-Tribune
Although the overall economy has grown reasonably well in the last six years, the gains have not filtered down and the share of Americans in poverty has risen. Jason Furman suggests policy improvements to better facilitate the American dream. Read More
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Washington, DC
On December 12, the Hamilton Project at Brookings hosted a two-part forum at the National Press Club on ways to encourage, facilitate and reward work. Besides releasing a new Hamilton Project strategy paper, the forum highlighted four new and forthcoming discussion papers. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jason Bordoff, Jason Furman and Paige Shevlin , December 12, 2007, Hamilton Project Strategy Paper
Poverty remains a pressing problem in the United States. Many of the 36 million Americans in poverty are working, but full-time work at the minimum wage does not provide enough income to escape poverty. Jason Bordoff, Jason Furman, and Paige Shevlin offer a three-part strategy to reduce poverty and strengthen growth across the income spectrum. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Hans Bos, Greg J. Duncan, Lisa A. Gennetian and Heather D. Hill, December 12, 2007, Hamilton Project Discussion Paper
Hans Bos, Greg J. Duncan, Lisa A. Gennetian and Heather D. Hill make the case for a national program offering the kind of work supports that were part of the New Hope program, a policy experiment that operated for three years in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the mid- to late-1990s. Read More