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13 Aspen Economic Strategy Group Reports related to the American Jobs and Families Plans

The Biden Administration’s American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan propose over $4.1 trillion in new government spending over the next 10 years, aiming to fundamentally reshape and expand the social safety net, increase the economy’s productive potential through investments in physical and human capital, and make major public investments in green infrastructure and technology.  ...

Economic Perspectives on Infrastructure Investment

THE ECONOMICS OF FEDERAL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT Bipartisan support for new infrastructure spending reflects a consensus view that well- chosen infrastructure investments would enhance American economic competitiveness and increase the economy’s productive capacity. Sound investments also have the potential to accelerate the US economy’s transition to sustainable energy sources and to address some of the sources ...

Science and Innovation: The Under-Fueled Engine of Prosperity

Benjamin Jones (Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University) argues that the United States is vastly underinvesting in science and innovation, hindering productivity growth. He presents evidence that increased public spending on research and development would lead to improvements in standards of living and health, enhance our economic competitiveness, and advance our nation’s capacity to ...

Challenges of a Clean Energy Transition and Implications for Energy Infrastructure Policy

Economists Severin Borenstein (Berkeley Haas School of Business) and Ryan Kellogg (University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy) discuss the major barriers that need to be overcome in order to successfully execute a transition to a reliable low-carbon energy system at reasonable cost. The authors observe that the country must rapidly reduce greenhouse gas ...

Aspen Economic Strategy Group Releases New Policy Analyses Examining the US Infrastructure Agenda

Three papers examine how infrastructure investments can promote economic growth and broader prosperity. Washington, DC, July 14, 2021 – The Aspen Economic Strategy Group (AESG) today released a set of three papers on infrastructure and technological innovation and their impact on the post-pandemic economic recovery.  These papers will be included in the group’s annual policy volume, ...

Internet Access and its Implications for Productivity, Inequality, and Resilience

The past year has brought an unprecedented change in the way Americans work, with millions of workers working from home and connecting to colleagues and clients virtually. In an AESG report titled “Internet Access and its Implications for Productivity, Inequality, and Resilience,” economists Jose Maria Barrero (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México), Nicholas Bloom (Stanford University), ...

AESG Member Statement: A Call for US Leadership on Global Vaccination Efforts

The United States government should take up a position of world leadership on ending the global COVID-19 pandemic through vaccine outreach to the world. Such an effort would serve a clear humanitarian purpose. It would represent forward defense of our security interests by slowing the virus’s rate of mutation. No other action would so clearly ...

Rebuilding the Post-Pandemic Economy

After suffering the worst economic shock since the Great Depression last year, the American economy is recovering in fits and starts. While many businesses are reopening their doors and thriving, continued uncertainty about the course of the virus, the inflation outlook, labor shortages, and many other factors are hampering a full return to normal activity. The COVID-19 pandemic also reinforced and exacerbated many of the biggest structural economic challenges in our society. It precipitated the largest economic relief and stimulus spending in US history and transformed the way that millions of Americans live and work, with automation, e-commerce, and telework all playing a bigger role. The pandemic and its aftershocks reignited not only the perennial debates about the appropriate role and size of government, but also present new and urgent questions about how the post-pandemic economy will take shape. The policy volume Rebuilding the Post Pandemic Economy examine important questions about how the post-pandemic economy will take shape. What are some initial lessons we can take away from the novel government programs that were deployed to provide economic relief and stimulus? How can we implement new infrastructure investments to maximize efficiency and equity, and best respond to the climate crisis? After a year of widespread school closures, what have we learned about the role of K-12 education in perpetuating or reducing social and economic inequities? And how should American trade policies evolve to promote economic recovery and strengthen America’s role in the global economy?