Public Policy

Our approach to public policy has been to promote the creation, dissemination and debate of smart, rigorous and independent research, with a particular focus on economic policies that foster prosperity, opportunity and fairness. The research we support is explicitly designed to have a material impact on important problems that government can realistically address and that are relevant to the modern market economy.

Current projects include:

The Hutchins Center provides independent, non-partisan analysis of fiscal and monetary policy issues in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of those policies, as well as to further public understanding of them.

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The Hutchins Center was designed to fill two gaps in the public policy debate: first, the preponderance of research into monetary policy topics is conducted for policy-making purposes inside central banks. This creates a need for an independent forum where monetary policy can be systematically researched and publicly debated. Second, the Center seeks to improve both the quality of the fiscal debate in the U.S. and the understanding of important, but poorly understood, issues at the intersection of fiscal and monetary policy. In collaboration with Brookings economic policy scholars as well as with experts from outside Brookings, the Hutchins Center has assembled the capabilities required to craft thoughtful and effective policy analysis and recommendations.

The Hutchins Center pursues its mission through a variety of channels, including off-the-record roundtables, webcast public events, one-on-one interactions, commissioned papers and creative interactive tools and videos on the web. 

David Wessel directs the Center and Louise Sheiner is its policy director. Mr. Hutchins serves as a Vice Chairman of the board of Brookings.

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Center for American Progress seeks to build on the achievements of pioneering progressives by addressing 21st century challenges such as energy, national security, economic growth and opportunity, immigration, education and health care - all with an eye to promoting fairness and helping people in need. It endeavors to shape the national debate by developing new policy ideas and challenging the media to cover the issues that truly matter.

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Center for American Progress was founded in 2003 by former White House Chief of Staff, John Podesta. It is now headed by Neera Tanden, who also worked in the Clinton and Obama Administrations. Mr. Hutchins serves as a director.

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