June 3, 2026
Poverty and Dependency in the United States, 1939–2023
In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared the War on Poverty. This set in motion the…
May 26, 2026
Fiscal and Economic Effects of Tariffs
Executive Summary Tariffs have become an important economic policy in the United States. Tariffs are…
March 25, 2026
Compiling My Work on Work Incentives
At the American Enterprise Institute Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility, which I run, we’re…
September 10, 2024
America is Still Working
Sometimes it seems like Americans can’t decide whether we work too much or too little….
June 13, 2024
The Family-to-Prison-or-College Pipeline: Married Fathers and Young Men’s Transition to Adulthood
A growing minority of young men are floundering. “Failure to launch” is a description that’s…
January 17, 2024
A Midwest State of Mind
Although many now worry that it is endangered, American civil society has long been an…
November 13, 2023
Family’s Place in America’s Social Fabric
The family is arguably the most basic building block of community life.[i] But even as…
November 8, 2023
Measuring the Geography of Social Networks
Social interactions shape social and economic activity across a range of domains, from migration and…
November 1, 2023
The Ultimate Social Capital: A Story to Save the Union
The American Republic is on the brink; a revived civic national story can help us…
August 8, 2023
Bad Hoosiers
A new book tells a strange tale of political extremism in the Midwest. “Why Hitler?”…
May 3, 2023
The Mainline Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Social Capitalism
When Alexis de Tocqueville penned his seminal Democracy in America lauding the strength of American…
March 2, 2023
The Lost World of Ecumenical Republicanism
As improbable as it may sound, one of the more interesting books on the market…