Michael R. Strain

Strain graduated from Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri, before attending Marquette University and graduating magna cum laude.{{Cite web|url=http://www.aei.org/author/michael-r-strain/|title=Michael R. Strain {{!}} AEI Scholar|website=AEI|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-16}}

Strain holds a Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University. In 2005, he joined the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as an assistant economist until 2008 when he joined the Center for Economic Studies at the US Census Bureau. While still working at the US Census Bureau, he took up the job of administrator at the New York Census Research Data Centers in 2011.

In 2012, Strain left the Census Bureau and joined the American Enterprise Institute as a Research Fellow and later became the deputy director of Economic Policy Studies at the institute in 2015. Since becoming AEI's Director of Economic Policy in 2016, Strain leads the work of the institute in the economic policy, financial markets, and health care policy.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/08/08/this-conservative-economist-cares-more-about-unemployment-than-obama-does/ |title= This conservative economist cares more about unemployment than Obama does|newspaper= The Washington Post}}

He is the editor of The US Labor Market: Questions and Challenges for Public Policy{{cite web|url=http://www.aei.org/publication/the-us-labor-market-questions-and-challenges-for-public-policy/ |title= The US Labor Market: Questions and Challenges for Public Policy}} He co-edited, with Stan Veuger, the Economic Freedom and Human Flourishing: Perspectives from Political Philosophy.{{cite journal|url=http://www.marketsandmorality.com/index.php/mandm/article/view/1263 |title= Review of "Economic Freedom and Human Flourishing: Perspectives from Political Philosophy" edited by Michael R. Strain and Stan A. Veuger|journal= Journal of Markets & Morality|date= 29 August 2017|volume= 20|issue= 1|last1= Jayabalan|first1= Kishore}} He is the co-editor of three books: What Has Happened to the American Working Class since the Great Recession?{{Cite web |date=2021-05-27 |title=What Has Happened to the American Working Class since the Great Recession? |url=https://www.aapss.org/volumes/what-has-happened-to-the-american-working-class-since-the-great-recession/ |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=AAPSS |language=en-US}}, The US Labor Market: Questions and Challenges for Public Policy{{Cite web |title=The US Labor Market: Questions and Challenges for Public Policy |url=https://www.aei.org/research-products/book/the-us-labor-market-questions-and-challenges-for-public-policy/ |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=American Enterprise Institute - AEI |language=en-US}}, and Economic Freedom and Human Flourishing: Perspectives from Political Philosophy.{{Cite web |title=Economic Freedom and Human Flourishing: Perspectives from Political Philosophy |url=https://www.aei.org/research-products/book/economic-freedom-and-human-flourishing-perspectives-from-political-philosophy/ |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=American Enterprise Institute - AEI |language=en-US}}

Strain has published research articles on the Paycheck Protection Program, fiscal and monetary policy following the 2008 financial crisis, the Earned Income Tax Credit, the gender pay gap, the effects of minimum wage laws and unemployment insurance, the Affordable Care Act, "wage theft" and payday lending, increasing employment,{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/a-jobs-agenda-for-the-right |title= A Jobs Agenda for the Right}} the "socially optimal" top marginal income tax rate,{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/11/27/should-the-top-tax-rate-be-73-percent/ |title= Should the top tax rate be 73 percent?|newspaper= The Washington Post}} worksharing unemployment insurance programs, the effects of job loss, and the federal budget.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/blog/the-agenda/michael-strains-new-jobs-agenda-reihan-salam/ |title=Michael Strain's New Jobs Agenda |website=National Review }}

In 2013, National Review's Reihan Salam described him as the "most important conservative reformer, and the one who could have the biggest beneficial impact on the well-being of Americans struggling to climb the economic ladder."{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/blog/the-agenda/north-carolinas-unemployment-insurance-experiment-reihan-salam/ |title= North Carolina's Unemployment Insurance Experiment|website= National Review}} He was featured in a 2014 New York Times Magazine cover story as one of the main intellectuals in the reform conservative movement.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/magazine/can-the-gop-be-a-party-of-ideas.html |title=Can the G.O.P. Be a Party of Ideas?|work=The New York Times |date=2 July 2014 |last1=Tanenhaus |first1=Sam }}{{cite web|url=https://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/07/behind-the-cover-story-sam-tanenhaus-on-the-g-o-p-s-new-intellectuals/|title= Behind the Cover Story: Sam Tanenhaus on the G.O.P.'s New Intellectuals|date= 7 July 2014}} He contributed a chapter to Room to Grow: Conservative Reforms for a Limited Government and a Thriving Middle Class, a reform conservative manifesto that New York Times columnist David Brooks called "the most coherent and compelling policy agenda the American right has produced this century."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/10/opinion/brooks-the-new-right.html|title=The New Right|work=The New York Times |date=10 June 2014 |last1=Brooks |first1=David }} He was identified by Karl Rove in 2014 as one of the new "conservative reformers."{{cite web|title=The New Republican Reformers|url=http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303725404579461533009549904}} In 2021 his work was cited by The Economist magazine as contributing “to an intellectual revolution in macroeconomics."{{Cite news|title=Changing central banks—and governments|url=https://www.economist.com/special-report/2021/04/08/changing-central-banks-and-governments|newspaper=The Economist}}

Strain's work on the economic policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic,{{Cite web|title=What Will Biden's Covid-19 Stimulus Plan Look Like?|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-will-bidens-covid-19-stimulus-plan-look-like-11610543042}} employment, anti-poverty and upward mobility issues, and economic opportunity has been featured or profiled in many publications, including The New York Times,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/opinion/brooks-movement-on-the-right.html|title=Movement on the Right|work=The New York Times |date=10 January 2014 |last1=Brooks |first1=David }} The Atlantic, and National Review, among others. Strain was cited by The New York Times,{{Cite news |last1=Tankersley |first1=Jim |last2=Smialek |first2=Jeanna |date=2021-02-15 |title=Biden and the Fed Leave 1970s Inflation Fears Behind |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/15/business/economy/biden-fed-inflation-covid.html |access-date=2022-11-28 |issn=0362-4331}} The Wall Street Journal,{{Cite web |last=Ip |first=Greg |title=On Inflation, Economics Has Some Explaining to Do |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/on-inflation-economics-has-some-explaining-to-do-11655294432 |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}} and The Washington Post{{Cite news |title=Biden's rescue plan made inflation worse but the economy better |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/10/09/inflation-economy-biden-covid/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}} as being among the first economists to warn that President Biden's stimulus plans could spark inflation. He is a regular guest on major media outlets, including CNBC, MSNBC, and Marketplace Radio.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/10/31/corporate-tax-cuts-at-heart-of-tax-reform-aeis-michael-strain.html |title= Corporate tax cuts at heart of tax reform: AEI's Michael Strain|website= CNBC}} He has testified before Congress and speaks often to a variety of audiences.{{Cite web|title=Virtual Hearing - More than a Shot in the Arm: The Need for Additional COVID-19 Stimulus|url=https://financialservices.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=407097}}

In January 2020, Strain published The American Dream is Not Dead: (But Populism Might Kill It), in which he writes that despite popular conceptions about long-term economic stagnation, America is still broadly characterized by upward mobility. Strain argues that when measured properly, wages and incomes have risen over the past several decades. Thus, contrary to what populist politicians and commentators of both parties often say, America's economic system is not “rigged.”{{Cite book|title=The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It) (New Threats to Freedom Series)|isbn=978-1599475578 |last1=Strain |first1=Michael R. |date=25 February 2020 |publisher=Templeton Press }}

The book received mostly positive reviews. Washington Post columnist George Will praised the book as "an inoculation against politically motivated misinformation."{{Cite news|last=Will|first=George|title=The false bipartisan narrative on the economy|newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/despite-bipartisan-lament-upward-mobility-lives-on/2020/03/12/8951d47a-6471-11ea-845d-e35b0234b136_story.html}} Former House speaker Paul Ryan wrote: "Without glossing over the real challenges that too many Americans face, Michael Strain makes a persuasive case that the American dream remains alive and well."{{Cite web|title=The American Dream Is Not Dead: But Populism Could Kill It|url=https://bookshop.org/books/the-american-dream-is-not-dead-but-populism-could-kill-it/9781599475578}} Lawrence Summers, the former Treasury secretary, described the book as "a welcome antidote to the pervasive pessimism surrounding economic policy debates." Robert Verbruggen in National Review wrote he had "one criticism of the book more broadly: There isn't a whole lot here about how 'populism could kill' the American Dream," but said the book would be "a good gift for that pessimistic reactionary down the street."{{Cite web|title=How Much Does It Suck to Live in Modern America?|website=National Review |date=27 February 2020 |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/02/american-economy-long-term-trends-positive/}}

Strain is Catholic.{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-08-29/yes-paul-ryan-can-be-pro-capitalist-and-a-catholic |title=Yes, Paul Ryan Can Be Pro-Capitalist and a Catholic|newspaper=Bloomberg |date=29 August 2017 }}{{cite web|url=https://cruxnow.com/life/2015/09/10/debate-over-poverty-highlights-discussion-of-economics-and-the-family/ |title=Debate over poverty highlights talk of economics and the family}} Strain and his wife have two children.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/10/wonder-mystery-birth-we-all-were-babies-once/|title=Birth, the Great Equalizer|date=2017-10-23|website=National Review|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-16}}

• The US Labor Market: Questions and Challenges for Public Policy (2016). {{ISBN|978-0844750071}}
• Economic Freedom and Human Flourishing: Perspectives from Political Philosophy (2016). {{ISBN|978-0844750019}}
• The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It) (2020) {{ISBN|978-1599475578}}

• High School Experiences, the Gender Wage Gap, and the Selection of Occupation, Applied Economics, vol. 49, no. 49, 2017.
• Do Minimum Wage Increases Influence Worker Health?, Economic Inquiry, vol. 55, no. 4, 2017.
• Has the Affordable Care Act increased part-time employment?, Applied Economics Letters, vol. 23, no. 3, 2016.
• A Jobs Agenda for the Right, National Affairs, no. 18, winter 2014.{{cite web|url=https://ideas.repec.org/f/pst593.html|title=Publications by Michael R. Strain}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/michael-r-strain Michael R. Strain's articles] on The Washington Post
• [https://www.theatlantic.com/author/michael-r-strain/ Michael R. Strain's articles] on The Atlantic
• [https://www.seattletimes.com/author/michael-r-strain/ Michael R. Strain's articles] on Seattle Times
• [https://www.nationalreview.com/author/michael-r-strain/ Michael R. Strain's articles] on National Review
• {{Google Scholar id|BNNxwBoAAAAJ}}

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Category:21st-century American economists

Category:American Enterprise Institute

Category:American Roman Catholics

Category:Cornell University alumni

Category:Living people

Category:New York University alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)