Fireside Chat with Neale Mahoney: “Research and its Impact on Policy”

Key Concepts

• Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR): A research institute at Stanford focused on economic policy.
• Policy Impact Work: Bridging the gap between economic research and policy making.
• Important and Researchable: Criteria for choosing research topics.
• Medical Debt: Financial distress associated with healthcare costs.
• Upstream vs. Downstream Debt Relief: Addressing debt early versus after it has accumulated.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): US agency responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector.
• Welfare Analysis: Economic analysis of the overall well-being impacts of policies.

SIEPR Vision and Importance

• Three Pillars: SIEPR focuses on hosting events, supporting the next generation of economic leaders, and policy impact work.
• Events: SIEPR hosts events to bring together people from across the policy spectrum to discuss pressing economic issues in a fact-based way. Examples include the annual summit and fireside chats with figures like Jen Pula. The summit is described as "Davos before there was Davos."
• Next Generation Support: SIEPR supports economic researchers at various stages, from undergraduates to young scholars, through programs and events.
• Policy Impact: SIEPR aims to bridge the gap between economic research and policy by providing quick-turn analysis, economic modeling of prospective policies, and translating research into actionable information for policymakers.
• Director's Vision: The director aims to build out the policy impact work, recognizing that policymakers often don't have the time to read academic papers.

Choosing Research Topics and Influencing Policy

• Important and Researchable: The key advice is to focus on topics that are both important and researchable. Some important topics may be better suited for investigative journalists or philosophical debate.
• Trust Your Instincts: Young researchers have a comparative advantage in understanding what will be important in the future. Trust your instincts about the issues that are important to your generation.
• Policy as a Means to an End: Economics can be a means to an end for those interested in economic policy.
• Spending Time in Government: There is no substitute for spending time in government to understand the policy-making process and build connections. Even a short period can be valuable.
• Being a Team Player: In government, it's important to be a team player and work hard on assigned tasks. Avoid being a know-it-all economist.
• Selective Advocacy: Choose your battles carefully and be selective about which fights to pick.
• Trade-offs: While trade-offs exist, policy work can provide access to resources, data, and ideas that can enhance research.
• Early Career Focus: Early in your career, focus on writing job market papers and getting tenure.
• Marginal Cost Impact: There are ways to increase the impact of research with fairly small marginal cost, such as writing op-eds, substacks, or Twitter threads.

Research and Policy Intersection

• Policy-Driven Research: Policy experiences can inspire academic papers.
• Example: Procurement Reform: Work on procurement reform in the Obama administration led to a paper on wasteful year-end spending.
• Data Challenges: It's important to determine early on if a project is truly researchable, considering data availability.
• Sunk Cost Fallacy: Be aware of the sunk cost fallacy and avoid holding on to projects that should be abandoned.
• Co-authors: Choose co-authors carefully, ensuring they have the same objective function in terms of quality and speed of publication.
• Key Result: Try to get to the key result that could kill the paper as quickly as possible.
• Failure is Common: Most research projects don't succeed. Be comfortable with failure and learn to fail quickly.

Medical Debt Case Study

• RCTs on Debt Forgiveness: A series of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were conducted to study the impacts of debt forgiveness. Over $100 million in medical debt was bought and forgiven.
• Null Results: The RCTs largely showed null results, despite expectations of significant benefits.
• Upstream vs. Downstream: A study with Kaiser Permanente found that addressing medical debt upstream (right after hospital discharge) had bigger effects.
• Triangulation: The two studies were used to triangulate on what was good policy. Downstream debt relief was too little too late, while upstream interventions had a greater impact.
• Policy Pivot: The nonprofit RIP Medical Debt pivoted its business model towards more upstream debt relief.
• Broader Policy Push: Efforts were made to work with policymakers to address medical debt upstream.

Teaching and Policy

• Integrating Policy into Teaching: Personal experiences in government and policy failures are shared to make teaching more personalized.
• Motivating Students: Sharing what excites you about economics can motivate students.

Advice for Young Researchers

• Do Work You Find Interesting: You have to do work that you find interesting to stay motivated.
• Don't Discard Common Sense: Economic frameworks are useful, but never discard your common sense.
• Explain Your Research Simply: Be able to explain your research in both a 100-page paper and a postcard to your grandmother.
• Learn How to Write: Learn how to write well and tell your story effectively.
• Be on Time: Be on time when you are asked to be a referee.
• Referee Feedback: Provide feedback on why you think it's above the bar, what needs to be done.
• Economic Principles: Economic principles can take you a long way.

Challenges in Policy Work

• Understanding Policy Nuts and Bolts: Economists often don't understand the nuts and bolts of policy, such as executive authority and regulatory processes.
• Listening to Policymakers: Listen to policymakers to understand their puts and takes and provide them with the information they need.
• Meeting Policymakers Where They Are: Meet policymakers where they are and tailor your research to their specific interests.

Conclusion

The discussion emphasizes the importance of bridging the gap between economic research and policy, focusing on topics that are both important and researchable, and effectively communicating research findings to policymakers. The speaker highlights the value of spending time in government, being a team player, and trusting your instincts. The medical debt case study illustrates how research can inform policy decisions, even when initial results are disappointing. The advice for young researchers stresses the importance of doing work you find interesting, not discarding common sense, and learning how to write well.