Teresa Ghilarducci The pandemic’s unequal effects on American workers laid bare fault lines long baked into our labor market and economy. At The New School's Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), our team of engaged scholars led the effort for systemic change in the service of two goals: 1) establishing equitable opportunities to help workers and families recover; and 2) advancing a just transition in economic policy to ensure a more sustainable and equitable future for...

We are grateful to our funders and partners for their work and for supporting our efforts to build a sustainable and equitable future. We aim to advance these goals by fostering conversations and building partnerships within The New School as well as outside our walls. Continued support from the Thyssen Foundation enabled us to host convenings and produce research on climate change, while funding from the Hewlett Foundation supported research into strengthening heterodox economic...

Educating tomorrow’s economic leaders is a fundamental part of our mission. Each year, we hire students with the goal of serving as their springboard into academia and high-profile economic policy positions—and this year, we are pleased to report that our former fellow, Michael Papadopoulos, joined New York City’s Office of Labor Policy and Standards as a labor economist. In this role, he supports the implementation and enforcement of New York City’s labor laws and evaluates these policies’...

SCEPA economists are thought leaders in the media, working with journalists to highlight economic trends. In 2021, the Schwartz Center’s ReLab issued its report on how older workers fared in the pandemic labor market, generating 33 articles in outlets including  The Financial Times,  Los Angeles Times, and  NBC News. This work led to a two-part series in Barron’s on SCEPA Director Teresa Ghilarducci’s proposal to reform retirement. SCEPA economists also penned opinion...

The Schwartz Center is dedicated to creating a space and building a network to foster dialogue, actively listen, and respectfully debate systemic failures and progressive solutions. In 2021, we moved these needed conversations online, creating virtual workshops to connect with communities working on issues faced by older workers during the pandemic and new and better ideas to confront climate change. We also celebrated our 25th anniversary, looking at our legacy of challenging the mainstream...

SCEPA helps policymakers produce evidence-based decisions by providing academic research on economic and retirement policy, climate change, and public finance. In 2021, we deepened our engagement with American elected officials by delivering testimony before the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and U.S. Department of Labor on economic inequality and retirement policy. Our scholars’ work was also featured in research distributed at the G20 summit, which called for political unity within the European...

Seismic shifts are occurring in the understanding of capitalism, the political economy of aging, labor markets, climate change, and inequality. As the world changes, our economic thinking and training must remain useful for building an inclusive society and economy that are resilient. SCEPA’s policy research is a tool for change, bringing the heterodoxy of The New School economics department to the service of pressing challenges, including climate change, an aging population, building a more...