Consumer confidence, spending climb as more states reopen (John Friedman cited)
May 29, 2020 Micky
This article draws on data gathered by Opportunity Insights, a project co-directed by John Friedman.
John N. Friedman
John N. Friedman
Professor of Economics and International and Public Affairs
Biography
John N. Friedman is a professor of economics and international affairs and public policy at Brown University. He is also a founding co-director of Opportunity Insights at Harvard University, a research and policy institute using big data to understand the forces influencing upward mobility and develop scalable policy solution to increase it. Friedman's research has yielded policy-relevant insights on a wide range of topics, including education access and quality, taxation, healthcare, and data privacy. His work has appeared in top academic journals as well as in major media outlets. His most well-known papers estimate the effects of childhood influences (including neighborhoods, teacher and education quality, and access to higher education) on long-term outcomes such as earnings and incarceration. Friedman served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council in the White House from 2013-2014. He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and Co-Editor of the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy.
Publications
"The SOI Databank: A case study in leveraging administrative data in support of evidence-based policymaking," w/ Raj Chetty, Emmanuel Saez, and Danny Yagan. Statistical Journal of the IAOS, Vol. 34 (1), pp. 99-103 (2018).
"The Opportunity Atlas: Mapping the Childhood Roots of Social Mobility," w/ Raj Chetty, Nathan Hendren, Maggie R. Jones, and Sonya R. Porter. NBER Working Paper Series, no. 25147, 10/01/2018, Non-Peer Reviewed, In Revision.
“Identification and Inference with Many Invalid Instruments” w/ Michal Kolesar, Raj Chetty, Edward L. Glaeser and Guido W. Imbens (2013) Revise and resubmit at JBES
“Measuring the Impacts of Teachers I: Estimating Bias in Teacher Value-Added Estimates.” w/ Raj Chetty and Jonah Rockoff
American Economic Review, Vol. 104 (9), pp. 2593-2632 (2014)
“Measuring the Impacts of Teachers II: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood.” w/ Raj Chetty and Jonah Rockoff
American Economic Review, Vol. 104 (9), pp. 2633-2679 (2014)
“Active vs. Passive Decisions and Crowd-Out in Retirement Savings: Evidence from Denmark” w/ Raj Chetty, Soren Leth-Petersen, Torben H. Nielsen, and Tore Olsen. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol 129(3), (2014)
“Using Differences in Knowledge Across Neighborhood to Uncover the Impacts of the EITC on Earnings” w/ Raj Chetty and Emmanuel Saez. American Economic Review, Vol. 103 (7), pp. 2683-2721 (2013)
"How Does Your Kindergarten Class Affect Your Earnings? Evidence from Project STAR" w/ Raj Chetty, Nate Hilger, Emmanuel Saez, Diane Schanzenbach, and Danny Yagan. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol 126 (4), pp. 1593-1660 (2011)
“Adjustment Costs, Firm Responses, and Labor Supply Elasticities: Evidence from Denmark” w/ Raj Chetty, Tore Olsen, and Luigi Pistaferri. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 126 (2), pp. 749-804 (2011)
Teaching
MPA 2455 Statistics for Public Policy
Talks & Media
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Are America's colleges promoting social mobility? - APM Reports
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America, Land of Equal Opportunity? Still Not There - Bloomberg
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The Ivy League Students Least Likely to Get Married - The Upshot
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Higher Ed and the American Dream - Inside Higher Ed
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Top public universities are shutting out poor students, report says - Washington Post
News|Recent News
Consumer Spending Is Already Rebounding in These States (interview with John Friedman)
May 28, 2020 NBC New York
In this article, John Friedman discusses the correlation between communities greatly affected by coronavirus and the subsequent decline in consumer spending.
Coronavirus shuttered 48% of Worcester County's small businesses, dropped revenues 43% (Opportunity Insights cited)
May 14, 2020 Worcester Business Journal
This article draws on data gathered by Opportunity Insights, a project co-directed by John Friedman.
3.2 million unemployment claims filed last week, for a total of 33 million (interview with John Friedman)
May 8, 2020 CBS News
The research team Opportunity Insights, co-directed by John Friedman, developed a tool to help policymakers and nonprofits respond to rapid economic shifts during the global health crisis. Friedman discusses the tracker and its latest numbers in this video segment.
U.S. loses record 20.5 million jobs in April (interview with John Friedman)
May 8, 2020 CBS News
In this interview, John Friedman discusses the latest numbers in U.S. unemployment and how the economy and job market can bounce back.
Government Orders Alone Didn’t Close the Economy. They Probably Can’t Reopen It. (commentary by John Friedman)
May 7, 2020 New York Times
In this article, John Friedman provides commentary on the correlation between the opening of southern states in the U.S. and a change in the economy as a result.
Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, Brown Economist, Colleagues Develop Real-Time Economic Tracker
May 7, 2020
In May 2020, John Friedman and a nonprofit research team called Opportunity Insights launched the OI Economic Tracker, a new real-time economic tracker to help policymakers, nonprofit organizations and philanthropists understand the dimensions of the COVID-induced economic downturn and identify targeted, effective recovery efforts.