The challenges facing the global economy are daunting and prompt a host of high-stakes discussions about appropriate policy responses. In the United States, debates continue about the declining manufacturing sector, the impact of immigration on low-wage workers, the extent to which free-trade agreements are beneficial, the health and status of the American Dream, the long-term consequences of a weak U.S. dollar, and the effectiveness of the tax code in confronting these new dynamics. Policy makers are also considering the proper role for government in engaging in, and regulating markets, and the need for fiscal discipline in an increasingly constrained environment.

America’s position in the global economy is fundamentally interconnected to the financial conditions and prospects of other countries. As evidenced by continuing volatility in world markets, the policy choices we make in the United States have profound effects on nations and people around the world.

Pew’s Economic Policy Group combines a belief in the importance of upward mobility and the power of the market economy, with an understanding offered over two centuries ago by Alexander Hamilton that the market “may be beneficially stimulated by prudent aids and encouragements on the part of the government.” In this spirit, we promote policies and practices that strengthen and ensure the future competitiveness of the U.S. economy by cultivating new bipartisan coalitions, informing critical national debates and striving toward meaningful policy change.