Ellen Russell

I became an economist when I realized that economic issues impact so many social issues I care about. But despite the importance of economics, it can be daunting to try to make sense of the business and economic coverage in the newspaper. My goal is to translate economic issues so that public can understand how economics impacts our lives and so that we can engage with important debates about what sorts of economic changes we would like to pursue.

My recent research focuses on wage trends and growing inequality. I’m interested in the interaction of economic, political and cultural factors that have disadvantaged workers in recent decades, particularly as they have impacted worker bargaining power and contributed to stagnating real wages. I have applied this research to the study of austerity programs to examine their economic rationales and their impacts on wages, and to investigate the potential alliances between workers and environmentalists.

My current research investigates how economic discourses interpret economic necessity and possibility in ways that legitimate certain outcomes while rendering other conversations about the economy invisible.