Benjamin H. Harris

Oct 22, 2024 | brookings.edu | Janice Eberly |Benjamin H. Harris |Oleg Itskhoki |Elina Ribakova

Since 2022, Western nations have emplaced a number of sanctions against Russia in response to the war in Ukraine. Policymakers and pundits have debated the efficacy of these measures, but this debate is belied by a deeper question: What does it mean for sanctions to “work”? In new BPEA research, Oleg Itskhoki of Harvard and Elina Ribakova of the Peterson Institute for International Economics explore fundamental questions of the theory and practice of sanctions in the Russia context.

Apr 2, 2024 | brookings.edu | Benjamin H. Harris |Liam Marshall

In the upcoming years, a confluence of factors will produce an unprecedented shortfall in the necessary supply of caregivers. If left unchecked, this shortfall will result in a series of harmful economic outcomes—including sharply raised caregiving costs, outsized burdens on informal caregivers, and subpar quality of care. Since demand for care is largely out of policymakers’ control, the most promising way to address these challenges is by expanding the supply of caregivers.

Dec 21, 2023 | brookings.edu | Chloe East |Benjamin H. Harris |Sanjay Patnaik |Louise Sheiner

With 2023 winding down, we asked six Brookings experts to take a moment to look back on some of the biggest economic policy developments of 2023 and the ways they expect them to evolve in 2024. Explore their reflections on fiscal policy, the social safety net, climate economics, and more below. On some dimensions, the U.S. labor market appears to have mostly recovered from the COVID-19 shock and to be stronger than before.

Nov 15, 2023 | brookings.edu | Benjamin H. Harris

Editor's note: The following testimony was given to the U.S. Congressional Joint Economic Committee on November 15, 2023. Video of the hearing is available here. Thank you to Chairman Heinrich, Vice Chairman Schweikert, and members of this committee for inviting me to testify at today’s hearing.

Nov 2, 2023 | brookings.edu | Benjamin H. Harris |Adrianna Pita

A new Department of Labor rule aims to expand protections for retirement savers by updating standards on different types of financial investment advice. Ben Harris explains what the new rule does and other steps the Biden administration could take to increase Americans’ retirement security.