Isabel Sawhill

Bio

Isabel V. Sawhill is a senior fellow emeritus in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, where she served as vice president and director of the Economic Studies program from 2003 to 2006. She was previously an associate director at the Office of Management and Budget, responsible for the federal government’s human resource programs — about a third of the federal budget. Her research spans fiscal policy, economic growth, poverty and inequality, welfare reform, and the well‑being of children and families. Her books include “The Forgotten Americans: An Economic Agenda for a Divided Nation” and “A New Contract with the Middle Class,” written with Richard Reeves. Her latest, “Reviving the American Dream,” is forthcoming in early 2027 and argues that the country can be reunited by balancing opportunity with responsibility. She is a distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association and a recipient of the American Academy of Political and Social Science’s Moynihan Award.