All Papers

NEW PAPER

Rationalizing U.S. Immigration Policy: Reforms for Simplicity, Fairness, and Economic Growth

May 2012 • Giovanni Peri • Economic Security, Employment & Wages, Global Economy

Giovanni Peri of UC Davis proposes a practical set of immigration reforms, starting with market-based changes to employment-based visas to better link visas with the labor market and ending with broad simplification in many areas of policy. 

NEW PAPER

What Immigration Means For U.S. Employment and Wages

May 2012 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Employment & Wages, Global Economy

Our nation’s immigration policy continues to be an issue of debate among policymakers, particularly the impact on the U.S. labor force. The Hamilton Project highlights the economic evidence on what immigration means for U.S. jobs and the economy.

NEW PAPER

A Dozen Economic Facts About Tax Reform

May 2012 • Michael Greenstone, Adam Looney, Leslie B. Samuels • Tax Policy, Effective Government, Employment & Wages

To provide an economic context for tax reform, The Hamilton Project has a new paper focusing on the role of our tax system in the long-run budget deficit, global competitiveness, and rising income inequality.

NEW PAPER

Paying Too Much for Energy? The True Costs of Our Energy Choices

April 2012 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Energy & Environment

In the Spring issue of Daedalus, Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney draw from previous Hamilton Project research to examine the “true social cost” of current energy consumption - nearly three times the amount that appears on utility bills.

NEW PAPER

Just How Progressive is the U.S. Tax Code?

April 2012 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Economic Security, Tax Policy

As tax time approaches, one focus of debate has been the progressivity of the U.S. tax code. Evidence shows that the current U.S. tax system is less progressive than the tax systems of other industrialized countries, and considerably less progressive today than it was just a few decades ago.

NEW PAPER

The Truth about Taxes: Just About Everyone Pays Them

April 2012 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Employment & Wages, Tax Policy

A popular tax myth is that a large segment of Americans do not pay taxes and instead free ride off of our society.  The Hamilton Project explores this myth and finds that virtually all Americans will pay some form of tax during their lifetime. 

NEW PAPER

Understanding the “Jobs Gap” and What it Says About America’s Evolving Workforce

March 2012 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Economic Security, Employment & Wages

The Hamilton Project reexamines the current rate of labor force expansion, and how shifts in labor force participation will decrease the time it will take to close the “jobs gap.” As a result of new methodology based on population estimates, we now project that at a job creation rate of 208,000 per month, it will take until 2020 to close the jobs gap, rather than late 2023 as we had projected with the old method. 

The Marriage Gap:  The Impact of Economic and Technological Change on Marriage Rates

February 2012 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Employment & Wages, Economic Security, Poverty

The Hamilton Project examines the decline the marriages over the last 50 years, highlighting the correlation between income level and likelihood of marrying. The decline in marriage is concentrated among less-educated, lower-income Americans.

The Hamilton Project Policy Response to the State of the Union Address

January 2012 • Education, Economic Security, Employment & Wages, Energy & Environment, Infrastructure, Tax Policy, Technology & Innovation

Last night, President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address, putting forth his policy agenda to the 112th Congress on issues. Since its launch in 2006, The Hamilton Project has developed targeted policy proposals that touch on many of these areas, which we offer as a resource to policymakers in response to specific ideas mentioned by the President last evening.