Publications
The Hamilton Project produces and commissions policy proposals and analyses to promote broad-based economic growth by embracing a significant role for well-designed government policies and public investment.
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The Hamilton Project: 2025 in figures
These nine data visualizations illustrate The Hamilton Project's work in 2025 on key economic policy challenges and developments.
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Learning curves: Post-COVID learning trajectories differ by the grade a student was in when the pandemic hit
Education
Policy Proposals
Artificial intelligence and algorithmic exclusion
Technology & Innovation
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Event recap—Addressing threats to the SNAP program
Economic Security & Inequality
Social Insurance
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Food security is economic security is economic stimulus
Lauren Bauer and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach detail policy responses tailored to the COVID-19 pandemic to support food security, particularly for households wi…
New SNAP rule change just made it harder to combat future recessions
The final rule on work requirement waivers, released on December 4, 2019, weakens SNAP's role as an automatic stabilizer and a critical element of the safe…
Unemployment insurance and macroeconomic stabilization
Low recipiency rates and an imperfect Extended Benefits program weaken the unemployment insurance program’s effectiveness during recessions. Gabriel Chodorow-R…
Strengthening SNAP as an automatic stabilizer
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is both an effective antipoverty program and a natural automatic stabilizer, expanding when the economy is…
Direct stimulus payments to individuals
Consumer spending, which makes up about 70 percent of aggregate expenditures in the economy, slows sharply during recessions. This slowdown can exacerbate empl…
Improving TANF’s countercyclicality through increased basic assistance and subsidized jobs
The design of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program prevents it from providing sufficient assistance to families with children during econ…
How do work requirement waivers help SNAP respond to a recession?
Work requirements impede SNAP’s dual role as a safety net and automatic stabilizer. This economic analysis provides new evidence about how waivers to these rul…
Workers could lose SNAP benefits under Trump’s proposed rule
Following the announcement of a plan to reform SNAP rules, Fellow Lauren Bauer offers analysis suggesting that strict enforcement of work requirements will san…
