Peterson Institute for International Economics — Macroeconomic Research Projects

[Macroeconomic Stabilization Policy] Grant investigator: Alexander Berger This page was reviewed but not written by the grant investigator. PIIE staff also reviewed this page prior to publication. The Open Philanthropy Project recommended a grant of $400,000 over two years to the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) to support a pair of research projects on macroeconomic stabilization policy. Karen Dynan, a PIIE nonresident senior fellow, Harvard professor, and former chief economist at the Treasury Department, will study the optimal design of automatic stabilizer programs — taxes and government programs that respond automatically to changing economic conditions. Jason Furman, a PIIE nonresident senior fellow and formerly chair of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, will study the costs and benefits of allowing employment to exceed some estimates of full employment. We see these both as crucially important questions in macroeconomic stabilization policy and believe Dynan and Furman are especially well-placed to address them in an influential and informative fashion. This follows our April 2016 grant and falls within our focus area of macroeconomic stabilization policy.