April 11, 2026
There Are Many Reasons to Cheer Up About the State of the Middle Class
This piece originally appeared at National Review Online and is reprinted here with permission. Statistics show that…
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…
December 9, 2025
Has Marriage Fallen Because Young Adults Can’t Afford Homes?
If you’ve been on social media in the past ten years, you’ve surely seen it:…
November 30, 2025
Our Economy Is Not Stagnant
Both sides of the political aisle are misleadingly bleak about the state of the American…
November 26, 2025
How Not to Redefine Poverty
I tried to let it go. Someone mentioned the essay to me on Monday, when…
October 15, 2025
Don’t Choose Your Own Adventure: Understanding Middle-Class Earnings Trends
What should we make of earnings trends in the United States? People can differ in…
August 8, 2025
Revise the Messenger
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported out the latest employment numbers on Friday, August 1, finding…
June 17, 2025
Work Requirements For Medicaid Could Increase Income and Reduce Poverty
New Congressional Budget Office figures last week indicate that the reconciliation bill passed by the House…
May 7, 2025
Did ‘China Shock’ Throw Millions of Americans Out of Work?
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed that “3.7 million Americans lost their…
March 27, 2025
The Looming Debt Crisis, the Trump Tax Cuts, and Medicaid
Let’s start with a chart to understand the dire fiscal situation we are in as…
February 20, 2025
The American Dream Is Not a Coin Flip, and Wages Have Not Stagnated
In my last column, I showed that Americans’ assessments of the economy have tracked the official…
January 16, 2025
Should We Believe the Economic Data or Americans’ “Lyin’” Eyes? The Answer Is Yes.
Many Americans are convinced the economy is ailing and that life is financially tougher today…