Tax Policy Center Newsletter
April 10, 2008

How Much Does the Federal Government Spend to Promote Economic Mobility and For Whom?

Thursday, April 17
9:30-11:00 a.m.
At the Pew Charitable Trusts
1025 F Street NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC.

"How Much Does the Federal Government Spend to Promote Economic Mobility and For Whom?" -- coauthored by Urban Institute Senior Fellow and Tax Policy Center Codirector Eugene Steuerle -- will be the focal point of a forum hosted by The Economic Mobility Project, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The report, which Steuerle wrote with the Institute’s Gillian Reynolds and the New America Foundation’s Adam Carasso, finds that while the federal government spends approximately $750 billion annually on mobility-enhancing programs, almost three-quarters of that investment goes to middle- and upper-income families. Meanwhile, many programs benefit lower-income families, but in ways that do not promote and sometimes discourage their mobility.

Joining Steuerle in discussing the report’s findings and the broader role of the federal government in encouraging economic mobility will be

• Robert Greenstein, executive director, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Kevin A. Hassett, senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute
• Maya MacGuineas, president, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
• John E. Morton, managing director, economic policy, Pew Charitable Trusts.

Please R.S.V.P. by April 15 to events@pewtrusts.org.