90-475 Methods of Policy Analysis: Future of Work
12 units, Carnegie Mellon University
Grad students should take 90745 instead. After decades of slow wage growth & rising inequality, many American workers now fear an epidemic of joblessness as new technologies increasingly replace human labor. Is this likely to occur? How will emerging technologies reshape the US labor market? How important is the "gig economy," & how big might it become? What impact will the shocks generated by the COVID crisis & rising inflation have on employment & income inequality in the short run & the long run? What can policy makers do to ensure that the growth of the American economy is more inclusive & equitable? The curriculum has been rewritten to help students think seriously & rigorously about the future of work in the 21st century American economy. The course will place current concerns in the broader context of the major structural shifts in the US labor market over the past several decades. Drawing upon the most recent quant analyses, the course will show that technological change has contributed to increasingly unequal outcomes in the US labor market for decades, & that this trend is likely to continue as a new wave of technological change unfolds. The course will also consider the degree to which globalization, immigration, rising monopoly power, declining union strength, minimum wage laws, & discrimination based on race & gender have contributed to rising inequality in US incomes. The course will draw upon frontier research to identify old & new policy ideas that could help make economic growth more inclusive, & it will bring into the classroom policy entrepreneurs who are making a real difference. The course instructor, Professor Lee Branstetter, is a globally recognized expert on the economics of innovation & technological change. He leads the Future of Work research initiative within CMU's Block Center for Technology & Society. In 2011-12, he served on the staff of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers.
Prerequisites: none listed
Offered: Spring 2027, Spring 2026
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