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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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Proposed SNAP cuts would permanently undermine recession readiness and responsiveness
Changes proposed in the budget bill would undermine SNAP's role as an automatic stabilizer during recessions.
Economic Security & Inequality
Social Insurance
Tax Policy & Budget
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Posts
Will the reconciliation bill’s Child Tax Credit changes leave out children in low-income working families?
Economic Security & Inequality
Tax Policy & Budget
Posts
Work requirements penalize workers in volatile occupations
Employment & Wages
Social Insurance
Tax Policy & Budget
Papers
Changes in the safety net over recent decades and their impact
Economic Security & Inequality
Social Insurance
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All school and no work becoming the norm for American teens
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 chang…
How will we know when a recession is coming?
Despite strong GDP growth and the longest uninterrupted streak of job growth in recorded U.S. history, another economic downturn will be inevitable. The Hamilt…
The damage done by recessions and how to respond
Automatic stabilizers are designed to expand during an economic downturn and contract during an expansion—providing timely and temporary fiscal stimulus. Boush…
How stabilizing has fiscal policy been?
Louise Sheiner and Michael Ng investigate the cyclicality of fiscal policy over the past 40 years, finding that fiscal policy has been increasingly countercycl…
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…
Recession Ready: Fiscal policies to stabilize the American economy
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; …
Infrastructure investment as an automatic stabilizer
Transportation infrastructure investment during economic downturns often occurs too slowly—and in insufficient quantities—to help stabilize the economy. Andrew…
