Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.
Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder
Aspen Institute
Expanding Economic Opportunity for More Americans, and Longform
Policies to Reintegrate Former Inmates Into the Labor Force
February 4, 2019
Aspen Economic Strategy Group
Authors
Manudeep Bhuller
, Professor of Economics, University of Oslo, and Statistics Norway Gordon B. Dahl, Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego Katrine V. Løken, Professor of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics
Incarceration rates in the United States have more than tripled in recent decades as rehabilitation has gradually taken a back seat to a policy agenda emphasizing punishment and incapacitation. This raises important questions about the effectiveness of state and federal prisons in the United States, and about whether the resources required for long prison sentences would be better spent improving prison conditions and expanding rehabilitation programs. Contrary to the widely embraced “nothing works” doctrine, we review recent empirical evidence from Norway demonstrating that a well-designed prison system can reduce recidivism and allow for successful re-entry into the labor market. We suggest several possible policy reforms that could be adopted in the United States, which, when combined with shorter prison sentences, would not require an increase in expenditures.
All households deserve to build–and sustain–the wealth they need to thrive. But when home equity is the largest source of wealth for most Americans, how do renters gain assets? This video spotlights the current state of renters’ wealth and calls on leaders across sectors to come together and co-create solutions that expand renters’ wealth-building pathways.
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