Policy Work

White House CEA Public Reports:

I served as the Chief Domestic Economist and Senior Adviser at the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) in 2020-21. Most of the work done at the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is for internal decision-making, but below is a sample of public reports that I worked on during my time at the CEA.

Economic Report of the President, January 2021

Expanding Educational Opportunity through Choice and Competition

Evaluating the Effects of the Economic Response to COVID-19

The Impact of Opportunity Zones: An Initial Assessment

The W-GDP Index: Empowering Women's Economic Activity through Addressing Legal Barriers

Policy Reports:

What Can Be Done to Address Rising Student Debt? (Center for Growth and Opportunity)
Summary

How Do Taxes Affect Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Productivity? (Center for Growth and Opportunity)
Summary

A Primer on the Past, Present, and Future of Higher Education (Center for Growth and Opportunity)
Summary

Housing Affordability: Trends, Consequences, and Policies (Center for Growth and Opportunity)
Summary

A Primer on Housing Finance Reform (Center for Growth and Opportunity)
Summary

Down Payments and the Homeownership Dream: Not Such a Barrier After All? (Center for Growth and Opportunity)
Summary

Crises in the Housing Market: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Lessons (Center for Growth and Opportunity)
Summary

How do Tax Rate Changes Affect Revenues? (Show-Me Institute)
Summary

A Guide to Tax Reform in Missouri (Governor's Committee for Simple, Fair, and Low Taxes)

Jobs and Growth Blueprint for Missouri

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Blog Posts:

Construction Permits and Future Housing Supply: Implications for 2020
Summary

Are U.S. Housing Markets Hot, Hot, Hot?
Summary

Opinion Pieces:

Ignoring Reality: The Zero-Emissions Crusade (American Spectator)
America Needs U-Turn Away from Inflationary Overspending (Fox News)
Countering the Alternate Economic Reality (Washington Times)
Building Back Badly: The Supply-Side Counterrevolution (National Review)
A Tsunami of Bad Policy (St. Louis Post Dispatch)
Climbing Out of a Hole and Turning Missouri into a Top-Performing State (St. Louis Post Dispatch)
Rent Control May Hurt Those It's Meant to Help (Tribune News Service)
How Pork-Barrel Spending Shapes the Ideological Composition of Congress (R Street)
Tax Reform Conservatives Can Get Behind (National Review)
Overhaul Our Dysfunctional Tax Code (St. Louis Post Dispatch)
The Free Market Can Deliver a Better Health Care Solution (Kansas City Star)
How to Craft an Effective, Politically Viable Repeal-and-Replace Bill (National Review)

Select Recorded Events:

Inflation in America: The Role of the Fed and the Risk of Recession (Show-Me Institute)
Video

On 5/10/2022, the Show-Me Institute hosted a virtual event between me and Tyler Goodspeed, former Acting Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, to discuss the surging inflation rate, its causes and implications, and the role played by policy.


Opportunity Zones: The Early Evidence (Brookings Institution)
Video

On 2/24/2021, the Brookings Institution hosted a conference to examine the early evidence on the impact of the Opportunity Zone program. I discussed three papers in the second session on the labor market effects of Opportunity Zones.


Are We Ready for the Future of Work? (Center for Growth and Opportunity)
Video

In November 2018, the Center for Growth and Opportunity sponsored a panel discussion on the future of work with a focus on how policymakers can be proactive both in preparing for potential dislocation and capitalizing on valuable opportunities.


Behind Bars in Missouri — Who is Paying the Price? (Show-Me Institute)
Video | Slides

On 9/26/2017, Columbia College hosted a Show-Me Institute panel discussion on criminal justice reform. I addressed the economics of criminal justice reform with a focus on trends, underlying causes, and implications for reform.


What's Driving the Rise in College Tuition? (American Action Forum)
Video

On 4/12/2016, the American Action Forum hosted an event to discuss the drivers of rising college tuition and student debt with a particular focus on the unintended consequences of federal financial aid.