Policy writing
Policy reports, essays, and public-facing commentary.
For a closer look at three specific policy designs — the problem, the state of the research, and my role in it — see Policy focus areas.
Policy Reports
How to end low-wage work forever: An 80-80 wage subsidy proposal
A large, targeted wage subsidy designed to raise earnings and strengthen labor-market attachment for low-wage workers.
The Impact of Opportunity Zones on Housing Supply
Evidence that Opportunity Zones increased residential development and housing supply in designated communities.
The Great "Transfer"-mation: How American Communities Became Reliant on Income from Government
How transfer income has grown across U.S. communities and reshaped the foundations of local economies.
The American Worker Project: Toward a New Consensus
A worker-centered economic policy agenda grounded in labor-market dynamism, mobility, and earnings growth.
Full vs. Hybrid: Examining the Consequences of How Americans Work Remotely
Why full-remote and hybrid arrangements have substantively different consequences for local labor markets.
Are Opportunity Zones Working? What the Literature Tells Us
A synthesis of the empirical literature on Opportunity Zones and what the early evidence says about program effects.
The Effects of Noncompete Agreement Reforms on Business Formation: A Comparison of Hawaii and Oregon
A research note comparing business-formation outcomes after noncompete reforms in Hawaii and Oregon.
Essays and Commentary
Agglomerations is the EIG newsletter; pieces are sometimes solo, sometimes co-authored with EIG colleagues. Co-bylines are noted on each card.
Fixing the U.S. Retirement System: A Q&A
A Q&A on the coverage gap, auto-enrollment, and the design choices behind the Retirement Savings for Americans Act.
How to end low-wage work forever, Part 2: the FAQ
Common objections to the 80-80 wage subsidy, addressed: incidence, take-up, fiscal cost, and interactions with the safety net.
The jobs chart that really has us worried
Reading labor-market slack through involuntary part-time work, and what it signals about worker bargaining power.
How many manufacturing workers are there?
What counts as a manufacturing worker, and why the number depends on which definition you use.
Where any SNAP lapse will bite hardest
Which communities would feel the sharpest effects of any interruption in SNAP support.
Fat Bear Week and the Fate of the World
AI, productivity, and the human-judgment problems that policy still has to solve.
Abundance: the Missing Piece
Supply, implementation, and what abundance arguments need to say about institutions.
How to end low-wage work forever
A public-facing introduction to the 80-80 wage subsidy proposal and the labor-market problem it is designed to solve.
Tariffs and Manufacturing Jobs: Three Big Problems
Three problems with the standard claim that tariffs bring back durable manufacturing jobs.
Opportunity Zones: A Quiet Revolution in Housing Policy
Connecting new evidence on Opportunity Zones to broader housing-supply debates.
Transfers, deficits, and your community: How will you know?
An interactive tour of the county-level transfer dependence behind the Great Transfer-mation report.
No, we are not producing too many STEM graduates
Why the argument that the U.S. has oversupplied STEM labor does not hold up.
The economic geography of the 2024 elections
Mapping the 2024 results onto county-level economic conditions and demographic change.
An inflation puzzle of the 2024 election
Why post-2021 inflation hit voters harder than headline indicators suggested.
Who's left out of America's retirement savings system?
Who falls outside the U.S. retirement savings system, and what the coverage gap looks like by income, employer size, and worker classification.
Guest Writing
Pieces written for outside publications.
Minimum Wage Laws and App-Based Workers
Guest essay on Liya Palagashvili and Revana Sharfuddin's newsletter, covering minimum-wage policy and platform-based work.