Ryan Nunn

The latest analysis from The Hamilton Project explores how teenagers (16–19-year-olds) have shifted away from working or seeking work and the impact this change has on the broader labor force participation rate. 

Much of the nation’s economic activity is made possible by roads and railways. As policymakers consider new directions for infrastructure policy, The Hamilton Project outlines investment proposals that could facilitate economic growth and promote climate resiliency, as well as minimize the damage of a recession as an effective fiscal stimulus.

Despite strong GDP growth and the longest uninterrupted streak of job growth in recorded U.S. history, another economic downturn will be inevitable. The Hamilton Project explores the most direct approaches to identify recessions—including a rapidly increasing unemployment rate—in order to plan a timely response that can mitigate damages.

On May 16, The Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth co-convened a forum to explore policy options to reduce the impact of the next recession. 

Slowdowns in the economy are inevitable. While it may be tempting to rely on Federal Reserve policy as a lone response to recessions, this would be a mistake; we know that fiscal stimulus is effective. Rather than wait for a crisis to strike before designing discretionary fiscal policy, we would be better served by preparing in advance. Enacting evidence-based automatic stabilizer proposals before the next recession will help the next recovery start faster, make job creation stronger, and restore confidence to businesses and households.

Automatic stabilizers are designed to expand during an economic downturn and contract during an expansion—providing timely and temporary fiscal stimulus. Boushey, Nunn, O’Donnell, and Shambaugh assess the various policy responses available to the federal government and argues that when well designed, automatic stabilizers can be an effective part of the policy tool kit for responding to recessions. 

Despite a steadily improving U.S. labor market in recent years, unemployed workers today have more trouble finding a job than they did at the peak of the last business cycle in 2006, and have a much lower job-finding rate than in 2000. In the latest analysis, The Hamilton Project compares the rates of finding a job pre-, mid- and post-recession, as well as shifts in unemployment over the years. 

How and why does occupational licensing exist? As policymakers consider reforms, Hamilton Project Policy Director Ryan Nunn and Gabriel Scheffler of Penn Law School and Yale Law School explore the explanations of “public interest” and “public choice.”

This tax season, some Americans will receive a financial boost from federal and state refunds while others will face unexpected payments. The Hamilton Project takes this moment to highlight three types of reform that would promote work—focusing on secondary earners, caregivers of young children, and low-wage workers. 

Each March, we celebrate Women’s History Month. The Hamilton Project takes this opportune moment to reflect on women’s changing labor market fortunes and its impact on the U.S. economy. 

On March 15, The Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution will host a forum exploring reforms to monetary sanctions, including bail, fines, fees, and forfeitures.

Interacting with the criminal justice system is an expensive proposition. Its reliance on bail to encourage return after pretrial release, on fines to punish and provide restitution, and on fees to fund the system implies that an individual’s economic means may determine how burdensome any interaction is. These nine economic facts characterize the current use of monetary sanctions in the criminal justice system, highlighting the economic and social costs that they pose to defendants and society.