Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a nonpartisan research and policy institute that pursues federal and state policies designed both to reduce poverty and inequality and to restore fiscal responsibility in equitable and effective ways. CBPP applies deep expertise in budget and tax issues and in programs and policies that help low-income people, in order to help inform debates and achieve better policy outcomes. Among CBPP’s current priorities, its Full Employment project offers a thorough re-evaluation of key macroeconomic assumptions, particularly those related to full employment, inflation, and the business cycle. For decades, empirically suspect assumptions in these areas led to policies that contributed to slack labor markets, with the costs falling largely on the most economically vulnerable people and their communities. There is growing recognition across the economics profession that these assumptions led policymakers to implement fiscal and monetary policies that reduced employment, incomes, and opportunities for millions of working families. CBPP will continue to develop, elevate, and disseminate research on the benefits of full employment, the costs and disparate impacts of slack, and the monetary and fiscal policy agenda necessary to get and keep the U.S. labor market at full employment.