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Do the Ends of Nudge Policy Justify the Means?

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What difference can a suggested contribution make for your retirement? In 2016, the United States’ “Thrift Savings Plan” included a recommended contribution rate, or ‘anchor rate,’ in its email messaging to the plan’s participants. This relatively low-cost nud... More »

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The Future of the Child Tax Credit

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After months of negotiations, Sen. Joe Manchin announced he would not support the $1.7 trillion Build Back Better Act — legislation that would make historically unparalleled investments in clean energy, health care, and a wide range of social programs. Effecti... More »

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Who Benefits From Student Debt Cancellation?

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As of August 2021, roughly 44 million Americans held a cumulative $1.57 trillion in student debt. Student debt held by Americans has doubled since 2008 and is growing faster than any other form of household debt. In fact, the average household today has nearly... More »

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Should Policy Makers Push for Supply Chain Resilience?

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Your Christmas gifts this year may be stuck somewhere on the ocean. The latest NBER research gives some tips for policymakers to prevent this kind of supply chain disruption from happening again.Over the past two years, you may have had a hard time finding dai... More »

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How the Top 1% Evade Taxes – and Get Away With It

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It is no secret that the rich hate paying taxes. A recent ProPublica investigation of tax returns revealed that the 25 richest Americans paid a true tax rate of 3.4% on the wealth they accumulated from 2014 to 2018 through entirely legal means. At the same tim... More »

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Why Good Policymakers Should Check Their Moral Judgements

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Consider bans of the headscarf, which stem from a moral objection to the object and the value system it symbolizes. A policymaker who advocates for the ban might believe that it would be for the “good” of the women affected by it in opposing a patriarchal symb... More »

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Is a Skill Signaling Gap Worsening Economic Inequality?

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Since the 1970s, the United States has experienced growing inequality as the wealthy increased their total income share while the middle class shrunk. One of the most important explanations of this phenomenon is rising college premiums coupled with stagnant re... More »