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.
Posts
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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Posts
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
Posts
Event recap—Addressing threats to the SNAP program
Economic Security & Inequality
Social Insurance
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Policy Proposals
October 21, 2016
Graduated reintegration: Smoothing the transition from prison to community
High recidivism rates—some 50 percent of released prisoners return within three years—constitute a major factor driving both high crime rates and high incarcer…
Papers
October 20, 2016
The economics of private prisons
Recently, private prisons have become the focus of considerable attention. This economic analysis explores the growth of the private prison industry and provid…
Economic Facts
October 20, 2016
Twelve facts about incarceration and prisoner reentry
In this set of economic facts, The Hamilton Project explores the characteristics of the populations of the currently incarcerated and individuals reentering th…
Posts
August 18, 2016
Recent developments in federal prison policy
Today, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it will reduce, and eventually end, the use of federal private prisons. In a new Hamilton Project blog po…
Posts
December 22, 2014
The economic challenges of crime & incarceration in the United States
High rates of crime and incarceration impose tremendous costs on society, with lasting negative effects on individuals, families, and communities. Although cri…
Policy Proposals
May 1, 2014
A new approach to reducing incarceration while maintaining low rates of crime
The United States incarcerates people at a higher rate than any other country in the world. Large increases in the U.S. incarceration rate over the past three …
Economic Facts
May 1, 2014
Ten economic facts about crime and incarceration in the United States
This Hamilton Project policy memo provides ten economic facts highlighting recent trends in crime and incarceration in the United States. Specifically, it expl…
Posts
April 28, 2014
The unequal burden of crime and incarceration on America’s poor
The Hamilton Project highlights the disproportionate burden of crime and incarceration on America’s poor. For too many Americans, that means living in a commun…
