How to Get American Workers a Raise: Policies to Revitalize Wage Growth

One simple question—Are wages rising?—is as central to the health of our democracy as it is to the health of our economy. For the last few decades, the U.S. economy has experienced real wage stagnation. Without rising wages, the dreams of American families to live in good homes, to support their families, to retire comfortably, and to see their children do better—what we call the American Dream—simply cannot be realized. By raising productivity growth and strengthening worker bargaining power, we can create a faster-growing and more dynamic economy that will benefit all workers over the long term.

On February 28, The Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution hosted a forum to explore the most effective policy options to revitalize wage growth. The forum featured introductory remarks by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, and a fireside chat between Neel Kashkari, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The fireside chat was moderated by Ylan Mui, Reporter, CNBC.

The forum also included two roundtable discussions, featuring: Alan Krueger, Bendheim Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Princeton University; Heidi Shierholz, Senior Economist and Director of Policy, Economic Policy Institute; Lawrence Katz, Elisabeth Allison Professor of Economics, Harvard University; Julie Gehrki, Vice President, Walmart Foundation; William Spriggs, Chief Economist, AFL-CIO; Cicely Simpson, Executive Vice President, Public Affairs, National Restaurant Association; Portia Wu, Director of Workforce Policy, Microsoft Corporation; Abigail Wozniak, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Notre Dame; Fatih Guvenen, Curtis L. Carlson Professor of Economics, University of Minnesota; and Roger C. Altman, Founder and Senior Chairman, Evercore.

The event coincided with the release of a new book of Hamilton Project policy proposals entitled “Revitalizing Wage Growth: Policies to Get American Workers a Raise,” on topics including: the importance of strong labor demand; human capital investments; employer wage collusion; reforming non-compete policy; strengthening labor standards to promote wage growth; wage transparency; and encouraging geographic mobility at college entry and exit.