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Two older people sit on a bench near a beach on a clear day.
Feature: Changes in Racial Gaps in Retirement Security over Time

Douglas Elmendorf and Karen Dynan find a large wealth disparity between White and Black families nearing retirement age, and notable wealth declines for both groups between 2001 and 2019.

A man wearing a mask talks on a cell phone.
Feature: Recovering from COVID

James Stock finds that COVID-19 recovery was unprecedented in its rapid speed but still introduced or accelerated structural economic changes, including to the labor force.

Person looks at a text message on their cell phone.
Feature: Efficacy of Text Messaging in Activating Hard-to-Reach Voters

Latanya Sweeney finds that text message reminders can effectively boost engagement and registration accuracy among hard-to-reach voters.

A person reads an academic article on a laptop.
Feature: The Global Distribution of Authorship in Economics Journals

Dani Rodrik finds that Western and Northern European authors are overrepresented in economics journals by an order of magnitude compared to authors based in low-income countries.

Harvard Kennedy School faculty disseminate their research in working publications and papers that contribute to public knowledge and fuel policy innovation. This list features recent faculty publications, including journal articles, books, edited volumes, research papers, and public testimony.

Faculty Publications

Putting US Fiscal Policy on a Sustainable Path

Dynan, Karen, and Douglas Elmendorf. "Putting US Fiscal Policy on a Sustainable Path." NBER Working Paper Series, May 2025.

Changes in Racial Gaps in Retirement Security over Time

Dynan, Karen, and Douglas Elmendorf. "Changes in Racial Gaps in Retirement Security over Time." Reducing Retirement Inequality: Building Wealth and Old-Age Resilience. Ed. Olivia S. Mitchell, and Nikolai Roussanov. New York: Oxford University Press, 2025.

Don’t look to efficiency for big deficit reductions

Dynan, Karen, and Doug Elmendorf. "Don’t look to efficiency for big deficit reductions." What awaits the Department of Government Efficiency? ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø experts on prospects for a radical new initiative, January 15, 2025.

GDP as a Measure of Economic Well-Being

Dynan, Karen, and Louise Sheiner. "GDP as a Measure of Economic Well-Being." The Measure of Economies: Measuring Productivity in an Age of Technological Change. Ed. Reinsdorf, Marshall B. and Louise Sheiner. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2024.

Fiscal policy and the pandemic-era surge in US inflation: Lessons for the future

Dynan, Karen, and Douglas Elmendorf. "Fiscal policy and the pandemic-era surge in US inflation: Lessons for the future." Understanding the COVID Era Inflation, Peterson Institute for International Economics, December 2024.

The Risk of Financial Hardship in Retirement: A Cohort Analysis

Dynan, Karen. "The Risk of Financial Hardship in Retirement: A Cohort Analysis." Remaking Retirement: Debt in an Aging Economy. Ed. Olivia Mitchell and Annamaria Lusardi. Oxford University Press, 2020.

The Federal Fisc

Dynan, Karen, and Douglas Elmendorf. "The Federal Fisc." Harvard Magazine. May-June 2020.

The Economic Context for Reforming the Safety Net

Dynan, Karen. "The Economic Context for Reforming the Safety Net." The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 686.1 (November 2019): 352-368.

Adapting Tax Systems for Population Aging

Dynan, Karen. "Adapting Tax Systems for Population Aging." Business Economics 53.2 (April 2018): 66-71.