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Harry J. Holzer

John LaFarge Jr. SJ Professor of Public Policy, Georgetown University
Areas of Expertise:

About Harry

Harry J. Holzer is the John LaFarge SJ Professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University and is a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings. He served as Chief Economist at the US Department of Labor in the Clinton Administration. His top interests include workforce education and training, employer wage-setting practices, and other policy issues (like the minimum wage, Earned Income Tax Credit, and immigration). He received his BA and Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University.

No Jargon Podcast

In the News

Harry J. Holzer quoted on use of work-sharing policies in states by Don Lee, "Mass Layoffs Hit the Economy. Can the Government’s $2-Trillion Stimulus Plan Stem the Tide?" Los Angeles Times, March 26, 2020.
Harry J. Holzer quoted on rise in unemployment due to pandemic by Don Lee, "From 50-year Low to Fears of 20%? How Coronavirus is Fast Changing U.S. Jobless Rate" Los Angeles Times, March 19, 2020.
Harry J. Holzer quoted on lack of improvement in median income by Don Lee, "Poverty Declines, But More are Uninsured and Household Income is at a Standstill, Census Data Show" Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2019.
Harry J. Holzer quoted on workers with supplementary income by Martha C. White, "Who's Got a Side Hustle? Postgrads and People Earning $80,000 or More" NBC News, June 4, 2019.
Harry J. Holzer quoted by Steve Matthews and Alex Tanzi, "Hold the Bubbly, Mr. President: Youth Jobs Are Far From Record" Bloomberg, August 17, 2018.
Guest to discuss the decline in labor participation on PBS Newshour, Harry J. Holzer, July 3, 2015.
Guest to discuss how fear of African-American men manifests in the criminal justice system and labor market on NPR's All Things Considered, Harry J. Holzer, March 30, 2015.
Harry J. Holzer quoted on the challenges met by those who have criminal records by Ruth Graham, "How Criminal Records Hold Americans Back" Boston Globe, March 8, 2015.
"Effects of Raising the Minimum Wage," Harry J. Holzer, Letter to the Editor, New York Times, February 13, 2014.
Harry J. Holzer's research on the future of career and technical education discussed by Ed Kilgore, "Reinvigorating Vo-Tech," Washington Monthly, October 29, 2013.
"Immigration Reform Requires Consensus on Flow of Foreign Labor," Harry J. Holzer, Christian Science Monitor, April 11, 2013.
"Payments to Elders are Harming our Future," Harry J. Holzer (with Isabel Sawhill), Washington Post, March 28, 2013.
"Can the U.S. Produce Good Jobs and the Workers to Fill Them?," Harry J. Holzer, Huffington Post, June 21, 2012.
Regular contributions, typically as a commenter on employment issues, by Harry J. Holzer to C-SPAN.

Publications

"Jobs for the Working Class: Raising Earnings among Non-College Graduates," Brookings Institution, April 23, 2018.

Lays out a policy agenda for raising employment and earnings among U.S. non-college graduates.

"Getting Men Back to Work: Solutions from the Right and Left," (with Brent Orrell and Robert Doar), American Enterprise Institute, April 20, 2017.
"Building a New Middle Class in the Knowledge Economy," Progressive Policy Institute, April 12, 2017.
"Will Robots Make Job Training (and Workers) Obsolete?," Brookings Institution, June 19, 2017.
"Making College Work: Pathways to Success for Disadvantaged Students" (with Sandy Baum) (Brookings Press, 2017).

Offers practical solutions for improving higher education opportunities for disadvantaged students.