The United States is the world’s wealthiest country by economic output. The average American’s yearly salary ranks among the very highest globally. Despite this, few would give our economy high marks in recent years, and a chronic sense of insecurity has come to define the economic experiences of many.

Economic models and metrics are uniquely powerful in defining the possibilities, limits, and effectiveness of contemporary policymaking. Yet they don’t capture how Americans feel they are doing, much less how they feel they should be doing.

It’s a phenomenon that seems to rear its head highest in election season, when an apparent record of success — say low unemployment or strong wage growth — can fall flat before a skeptical electorate, who look at the numbers and don’t see themselves included.

Our March edition of Resource Roundup takes a look at how we might go beyond the typical economic metrics to understand and improve Americans’ wellbeing.

We start off with a review of Elizabeth Popp Berman’s critique of the growth of economic reasoning in public policy. Then, we hear a call for economic policymaking that better incorporates the voices of everyday people and prioritizes their desire for dignified lives. Philosopher Michael J. Sandel cautions against the application of economics to a growing assortment of societal questions and calls for the discipline to come to terms with its moral underpinnings. Finally, we take a trip to Disney World, where the shift from a middle-class consumer economy, to one that favors the very affluent, is on ready display.

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The New Yorker

The War on Economics

The language of economics inundates the public policy sphere, even if economists might criticize politicos as quick to jettison proper economic reasoning. 

But how — and why — has the pursuit of efficiency, and its enforcer, the cost–benefit analysis, become the measure by which the wisdom of policy interventions are judged? It’s a question that the sociologist Elizabeth Popp Berman sought to understand in her book, “Thinking Like an Economist.” 

Berman finds that a cadre of government officials dedicated to “scientific management” arose during the Second World War and over subsequent decades imposed their technocratic vision on government operations, thanks in part to receptive presidential administrations. The result is an entrenched style of evaluation that has stymied ambitious progressive policymaking, Berman concludes.

But in reviewing Berman’s book for the New Yorker, Idress Kahloon argues that economics has also bolstered efforts to create a fairer economy. And moreover, it can provide important tools for checking whether a policy is achieving its intended effect once implemented. 

Read Kahloon’s full review here. 

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Washington Center for Equitable Growth

The Death of the Social Contract and the Enshittification of Jobs

If the numbers show that the economic lives of ordinary Americans are improving, but many feel that things are only worsening, can a policy still be considered a success? 

Perceptions do matter, argue Alexander Hertel-Fernandez and Shayna Strom, of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. They propose that economic policymaking must account for how well it responds to Americans’ desire for community pride and personal dignity. Doing so would require expanding the range of disciplines that contribute to policy design, opening the policymaking process up to those affected, and developing new ways to measure success. 

Read the full paper here.

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Journal of Economic Perspectives

Market Reasoning as Moral Reasoning: Why Economists Should Re-engage with Political Philosophy

The philosopher Michael J. Sandel has observed that an increasing number of societal activities have fallen under the influence of market norms. Proponents of this trend argue that incorporating such reasoning into political governance and societal choices provides an objective basis for decisionmaking. 

But in Sandel’s estimation, economic and market reasoning are underpinned by moral assumptions about what counts as the public good, and bringing an economic rationale to goods and services governed by nonmarket principles might be morally dubious — and counterproductive. 

Read Sandel’s call for more philosophically engaged practice of economics here.

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The New York Times

Disney and the Decline of America’s Middle Class

A Disney vacation has for decades been a symbol of a middle-class American contentment. The gap between the wealthiest and everyone else has grown since Disney World was created with the promise of giving every ticket holder the same experience. Prices have hiked up, and tiered luxury packages abound. 

The story of Disney World is the story of today’s economy, writes management consultant Daniel Currell for the New York Times. As wealth concentrates at the top, the consumer market increasingly caters to the wealthy few, marking the decline of a broad middle-class society defined by shared experiences. 

Read the full dispatch from Disney World here.