In this brief, public finance fellow Jorge Barro explains some of the long-term economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and argues that policymakers can prepare for the impending macroeconomic shortfalls by maintaining a commitment to improving education, prioritizing immigration and resolving fiscal imbalances.
Two federal income tax incentives for business investment are scheduled to end after 2021 and 2022, just as the small business sector will be recovering from the economic downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this policy brief, Jennifer Rabb and Lisa Lin of the McNair Center propose that Congress, under the leadership of the new Biden administration, should extend these tax incentives to bolster the recovery of small businesses.
Immigration is not only a domestic issue for the United States, but a regional one. This brief lays out a policy framework to address the root causes of migration from Mexico and Central America and promote legal, orderly mobility.
Continued robust economic growth in the U.S. will, among many other things, require policies that encourage rapid technological innovation and increases in productivity, promote investment while reducing debt, and maximize economic efficiency. The authors explain why in this brief.
Jose Ivan Rodriguez-Sanchez, the postdoctoral research fellow in international trade for the Center for the U.S. and Mexico, analyzes the economic impact of COVID-19 travel restrictions on the tourism industry of Texas border counties, many of which depend on Mexicans entering the U.S. and spending billions of dollars each year.
While recent headlines announce that President Biden's proposed budget will drive the national debt past WWII levels, fellow Jorge Barro explained in November 2020 that a projected surge will be very different from the 1940s.
The unemployment insurance (UI) system is facing a perfect storm of problems: the pandemic has led to a surge in jobless claims, which is severely straining state UI trusts that weren't fully prepared for a recession. This report reviews the UI system and potential measures to mitigate challenges current downturn.
David A. Gantz, the Will Clayton Fellow in Trade and International Economics, analyzes a wide range of factors — including the U.S.-China trade war, the entry into force of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the COVID-19 pandemic — that are all contributing to the pressure on the U.S. to decouple from China and to shift supply chains back to North America.
Many economists are concerned that automation will result in a loss of jobs. This work shows that is not the issue, and that the two main effects of automation are increased inequality and economic growth.
