McCourt School of Public Policy
McCourt School of Public Policy

Economic Dignity Lab

Grounded in research, evidence and analysis, the Economic Dignity Lab seeks to develop tangible policy proposals that will provide the necessary details and policy nuances required to be the basis of actual legislation and administrative policy.

About the Lab

The Economic Dignity Lab at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy is founded on the philosophy that the end goal and north star of economic policy is the promotion of economic dignity. Building on the framework Gene Sperling introduced in his book Economic Dignity (2020), economic dignity is defined in three-parts: 1) the capacity to care for loved ones while being there for life’s most precious and equally treasured moments with loved ones; 2) the ability to pursue purpose and potential; and 3) the right to experience dignity and respect at work, with freedom from domination and humiliation.

Our Approach

Bookcover for Economic Dignity by Gene Sperling

The Economic Dignity Lab seeks to develop tangible policy proposals – grounded in research, evidence and analysis – that will provide the necessary details and policy nuances required for these proposals to be the basis for actual legislation and administrative policy. The Lab will seek to publish its proposals in long and short-form, and to educate and inform policymakers, the media and other practitioners in order to drive real-world impact. The Economic Dignity Lab will also serve as a forum to discuss and refine policy ideas through open dialogue featuring diverse policy and political perspectives. Sperling will bring his experience of nearly 15 years in the West Wing to guide the development of such policies.

Our Work

The Economic Dignity Lab will work to develop a diverse set of policies ranging from eviction prevention, responding to AI-driven job displacement, promoting work opportunities for those with disabilities, preventing downward cycles in factory towns and policies that reduce child poverty and promote the ideal that the accident of birth should not limit life outcomes or the opportunity to pursue purpose and potential.

The Lab will develop and disseminate several individual policies related to the larger framework laid out in its first published paper, “An Economic Dignity Compact for the AI Age”.

The first published paper for the Lab is “An Economic Dignity Compact for the AI Age” – published by Democracy (January 21, 2026). The framework articulated in this essay adopts economic dignity as the north star for policy responses to AI, while rejecting any notion that AI-driven job displacement should lead us to abandon work and broader forms of economic and social contribution as central to future economic policy. The essay rejects models like Universal Basic Income or Universal Basic Capital that focus on depleting all potential resources through equal distribution of resources for all. It instead proposes a three-part Economic Dignity framework for the AI era that targets resources to Double Dignity Jobs Creation, an Economic Dignity Floor for all, and worker adjustment policies that help workers find new paths to purpose and economic contribution while avoiding the devastating impacts of despair and long-term unemployment.

Read the article here.

Leadership

Gene Sperling

Executive Director of the Economic Dignity Lab