Zachary Liscow
@ZLiscow
Economist & lawyer. Professor at Yale Law School: economic and tax policy, infrastructure costs. Formerly OMB Chief Economist.
NEW PAPER! (w/ Ed Fox) We study 1) how much the wealthy borrow, quantifying “buy-borrow-die” for the first time, and 2) how much unrealized gains impact their taxes. The results changed (some of) our thinking on how to tax those at the top. 🧵 w/ findings ⬇️
I'm hiring a Director of Housing!! Come help us develop creative approaches to increase housing supply. In my completely unbiased opinion, we're doing really exciting & impactful work on one of the most critical policy issues of our time. Join our team! linkedin.com/jobs/view/4265…
🎉 Announcing the 2nd Yale Municipal Research Conference! 📅 November 1, 2025 📝 Submission deadline: September 12, 2025 🔗 Submit: forms.gle/sRWkEt4EbosRNL… Seeking research on: · Municipal reporting, debt, tax policy (More details in the screenshot) Please share widely! 🔄
Great opportunity on improving permitting and licensing processes linkedin.com/posts/administ…
Grateful to @open_phil and @nberpubs for continuing to support this program, which aims to encourage young scholars to pursue research on the economics of innovation and innovation policy. I'll co-teach tomorrow with Jeff Kling on the budget analysis of productivity policies.
NBER Innovation PhD boot camp today! Lectures by Ben Jones, Heidi Williams, Ina Ganguli, Pierre Azoulay, Chad Jones, Kyle Myers & me, dinner w/ Glenn Hubbard & Ed Glaeser, panels w/ Jeff Kling from CBO, Dylan Matthews from Vox, Matt Clancy from OpenPhil and Caleb Watney from IFP.
The Abundance and Growth Fund at Open Philanthropy is hiring! We’re looking for 2-4 people to help expand this new $120+ million program to accelerate economic growth and reduce the cost of living through strategic grantmaking and research. (1/4) openphilanthropy.org/research/annou…
Announcing the #ASSA2026 Distinguished Lecturer, Leah Boustan of Yale University. She will be speaking on her work related to migration, assimilation, and economic opportunity.
What can the US government do to make the economy grow faster, and could it grow fast enough to outrun the national debt? NEW from @NPR's @planetmoney, Tobin Center Faculty Advisor @ZLiscow discusses federal deficits and economic growth: npr.org/2025/07/02/125…
🚨 Calling transit policy experts: @IFP is seeking actionable, technically sound ideas to reform federal transit policy. Selected proposals will get a $2,000 honorarium + support to turn your idea into a full memo. Details: ifp.org/call-for-propo…
I am excited to announce that I am starting a new position this week as Chief Economist at the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. I'll be on leave from the University of Chicago. The usual disclaimer applies: Any views I express here are not intended to reflect the…
CEA's $5.5 trillion estimate of primary deficit reduction is up to $9 trillion off. Including tariffs and deregulation, the agenda actual adds $2.2 to $3.5 trillion to primary deficits. A short thread on some problems I think I found...
New CEA analysis of the Senate version of the One Big Beautiful Bill finds that it will raise economic growth, boost wages and take-home pay, and lead to reduced deficits and a lower federal debt burden.
BREAKING: Just minutes before midnight, Senate Republicans have released the full text of their proposed "Big Beautiful Bill" version. 940 pages. I'm digging in . Here's text: budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/… Here's one-pager: budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…
A new paper by coauthored Professor @ZLiscow has ideas to boost economic growth and reduce deficits. @Forbes looks at three. forbes.com/sites/adammill…
In my latest @Forbes piece I discuss a recent @nberpubs paper that examines ways to boost growth and reduce deficits. More #housing, #immigration and reducing #permitting times would help! @ZLiscow forbes.com/sites/adammill…
What’s the return on government support for R&D? To try to get a credible answer, @open_phil and @SloanFoundation are committing up to $1 million to trying something new: we call it a Pop-Up Journal. Today, we’re inviting organizations to bid on a five-year contract to…
Here's a nice writeup of my recent paper w/ Elmendorf & Hubbard, "Policies to Reduce Federal Budget Deficits by Increasing Economic Growth" from @YaleTobinCenter. tobin.yale.edu/research/pro-g… And here's the paper: x.com/ZLiscow/status…
🚨NEW PAPER🚨 w/ Elmendorf & Hubbard. We find: - Growth-enhancing policies almost certainly cannot stabilize federal debt on their own - But such policies can reduce the tax hikes/spending cuts needed to stabilize debt - We need more research here
There's now an AI-based podcast (courtesy of @sean_ulm) of my Journal of Economic Perspectives article, "Getting Infrastructure Built: The Law and Economics of Permitting." It's pretty good! open.spotify.com/episode/2MQbyG… Original article here: x.com/ZLiscow/status…
NEW PAPER: “Getting Infrastructure Built: The Law and Economics of Permitting,” on: - What to consider in design of permitting rules - The evidence - A possible "green bargain" that benefits efficiency, the environment, & democracy 🧵 1/ ssrn.com/abstract=47754…
I'm hiring a full-time researcher to work with me @UChicagoLaw on a wide range of empirical research projects. The position is perfect for a recent college graduate that's planning to apply to PhD programs in economics or political science. More info below.