Author: Mark G. Sheppard
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The Inequality of Recession
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The public perceives recessions simply as a sign that the economy is “bad.” However, many policymakers continue to define recessions as “two-quarters of negative gross domestic product.” This outdated definition implies that policy responses could take more than six months to even begin addressing a downturn. The National Bureau of…
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The Economics of a Wealthy Academy
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There are countless examples of economists disregarding survey data in which a representative sample concludes that the American economy is concerning, generally countering with some favorable economic figure. Although the data can be noisy, metrics poorly calibrated, samples biased, and respondents irrational, there is also the possibility that these two…
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Good Policy is Good Politics
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In the parts of America that will decide the election, the presidency is won or lost with policy and not in courts, brokered conventions, or headlines. With a high-stakes and volatile election, mired in early controversy, the focus on economic policy remains the most constructive path to gain the support…
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Raising the Poverty Line in Divided Government
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Once again, Congress appears deadlocked. Following the tight 2022 midterm elections, Democrats managed to maintain a slim majority in the U.S. Senate, but narrowly lost the House. More recently, the prolonged race for Speaker of the House revealed the instability of the Republican House majority. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is…
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Weird Data Says This is a Recession
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Mark Sheppard is a current Economics PhD student at CUNY Graduate Center. He is an alumnus of both the Harris School of Public Policy (MPP ’21) and Georgetown University (MA ’19). He is also a former Executive Board member of the Chicago Policy Review. As the Federal Reserve raises interest…
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Racial Justice is Infrastructure
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True political moments represent a chance to try and right a historical wrong. The infrastructure bill signed into law last November creates a unique political moment to make marginal progress on longstanding issues of racial justice. Too often policy windows pass, news cycles change and political moments come and go…
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How to Tax the Rich
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President-elect Joe Biden is forming a transition team to assume office in January, but the outcome of some Senate elections are still outstanding. While the exact congressional makeup is unclear, more is known about the Biden-Harris transition team, which now includes noted Harris faculty and tax economist, Professor Damon Jones.…
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The Jobs Numbers are Bad
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The jobs report was released today, October 2nd, with the preliminary estimate of the unemployment rate at 7.9%. Following last month’s better-than-expected jobs report, Senate Republicans unveiled a slimmed-down coronavirus relief bill. The more comprehensive House bill remains in committee, where it is unlikely to progress. After a quick floor…
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The Uncertain Economy
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These are highly uncertain times. In a matter of weeks, the longest economic expansion in U.S. history has become the sharpest recession on record with the first true pandemic recession. Mass death, record declines in GDP, and job losses are foregrounded against the confusing backdrop of a messy presidential election…
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Minimum Wage in a Pandemic, in 4 Graphs
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As the economy free falls into a sharp recession [1], many low-income workers have been deemed “essential” during the pandemic [2], which effectively obligates work—notably without any additional federally mandated hazard pay [3]. This basic contrast, along with conversations regarding the presumed distortions of unemployment benefits [4], has dominated much…