Lawrence Mishel

Lawrence Mishel, a nationally-recognized economist, is President of the Economic Policy Institute, a role he assumed in 2002. Dr. Mishel first joined EPI in 1987 as Research Director. In the more than two decades he has been with EPI, Dr. Mishel has helped build it into the nation’s premier research organization focused on U.S. living standards and labor markets.

Dr. Mishel has co-authored 11 editions of The State of Working America, a book which former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich says “remains unrivaled as the most-trusted source for a comprehensive understanding of how working Americans and their families are faring in today’s economy.” The State of Working America has been an invaluable resource in newsrooms, classrooms, and halls of power since 1988.

Dr. Mishel’s primary research interests include labor markets and education. He has written extensively on wage and job quality trends in the United States. He co-edited a research volume on emerging labor market institutions for the National Bureau of Economic Research. His 1988 research on manufacturing data led the U.S. Commerce Department to revise the way it measures U.S. manufacturing output. This new measure helped accurately document the long decline in U.S.
manufacturing, a trend which is now widely understood.
Dr. Mishel leads EPI’s education research program. He has written extensively on charter schools, teacher pay and high school graduation rates. His research with Joydeep Roy has shown that high school graduation rates are significantly higher than the rates that are often cited by education analysts. This work has enabled policymakers to more accurately assess the state of public education in the United States.

Dr. Mishel has testified before Congress on the importance of promoting policies that reduce inequality, improve the lives of American workers and their families, and strengthen the middle class. He also serves frequently as a commentator in the print, broadcast, and online media.
Prior to joining EPI, Dr. Mishel held a number of research roles, including a fellowship at the U.S. Department of Labor. He also served as a faculty member at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Dr. Mishel holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Originally from Philadelphia, he lives with his wife and two dogs in Washington, D.C.