Ryan Nunn

Improving labor productivity is important to sustain economic output and power long-run growth—yet productivity growth has generally declined over the past half century. Emily Moss, Ryan Nunn, and Jay Shambaugh consider explanations for the slowdown in productivity growth as well as the public policies that can help restore it.

In this analysis, Ryan Nunn, Jimmy O'Donnell, and Jay Shambaugh consider several policy options that could help boost workers’ wages. The authors also provide a categorization of which workers qualify as essential—performing functions society urgently needs that must be done in person—and then detail their incomes and their demographic characteristics.

The rapid contraction of the economy this spring has shattered records for the speed of onset of a recession. One of the most economically important pieces of the nearly $3 trillion policy response has been the rapid expansion of unemployment insurance (UI). Our preliminary calculations suggest that UI offset a small portion of personal income loss in March 2020, but roughly half of lost wages and salaries in April.

This blog post explores two important labor market disadvantages observed for nontraditional workers: more volatile hours and less health insurance coverage.

In 2017, over 15 million workers (about 10 percent of the total U.S. workforce) were in alternative work arrangements. In this economic analysis, Ryan Nunn and Jimmy O'Donnell explore the characteristics of these workers, analyze their unique economic outcomes, and assess policy reforms that can help provide more security for these workers.

The U.S. unemployment insurance (UI) system replaces some of the earnings of workers who have lost their jobs, helping them to stay afloat during tough economic times. But the UI system can also support workers and employers as they reduce, rather than eliminate, employees’ work hours.

On Wednesday, April 1, from 3:00-4:00 p.m., The Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution hosted a webcast discussing UI during the COVID-19 pandemic and how it can reduce the impact of the economic downturn.

Hamilton Project researchers Ryan Nunn and Jana Parsons show that unemployment duration is substantially shorter for workers who are temporarily laid off and provides hope that employment relationships can be maintained after a temporary shutdown of the economy.

Ryan Nunn argues that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UI system requires a number of reforms to support families and the broader economy. 

A well-functioning health-care sector supports well-being and is a prerequisite for a well-functioning economy. Unfortunately, the problems with U.S. health care—from high prices to excessive administrative costs to insufficient competition—are substantial. These 12 facts about the economics of U.S. health care provide context for important policy discussions.

A close examination of wealth in the U.S. finds evidence of staggering racial disparities.

Leveraging monthly labor market data, Emily Moss, Ryan Nunn, and Jay Shambaugh analyze three components of income—wages, hours worked, and employment—to estimate household income growth.