The Long Recovery from the Great Recession: Public Policy and the Working Class

What did more than a decade of economic expansion following the Great Recession do for the working class? And how can policymakers improve American workers’ future following the COVID-19 pandemic? AEI’s Michael R. Strain and contributing authors discussed the 2021 issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science titled “What Has Happened to the American Working Class since the Great Recession?”

The panel discussed the impact of labor market institutions and the effects of workforce entry training after the Great Recession and policy recommendations to remedy the rise in unemployment following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Agenda

2:00 PM
Opening remarks:
Michael R. Strain, Director, Economic Policy Studies, AEI

2:05 PM
Presentation: How labor market institutions matter for worker compensation
Ryan Nunn, Assistant Vice President, Community Development and Engagement, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

2:15 PM
Presentation: Workforce entry including career and technical education and training
Jeffrey Smith, Paul T. Heyne Distinguished Chair in Economics, University of Wisconsin–Madison

2:25 PM
Presentation: Policies to help the working class in the aftermath of COVID-19: Lessons from the Great Recession
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum

2:35 PM
Presentation: Improving the fortunes of America’s working class
Isabel V. Sawhill, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

2:45 PM
Discussion

Panelists:
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum
Ryan Nunn, Assistant Vice President, Community Development and Engagement, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Isabel V. Sawhill, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Jeffrey Smith, Paul T. Heyne Distinguished Chair in Economics, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Moderator
Michael R. Strain, Director, Economic Policy Studies, AEI

3:15 PM
Q&A

3:30 PM
Adjournment