Bradley Hardy

Bradley Hardy is a Distinguished Professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. He is also a nonresident senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. He serves as a research affiliate of the University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty, the Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy, the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, and the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis.

Professor Hardy's research examines intra and inter-generational economic outcomes across three overlapping themes: income and consumption volatility among low-income and disadvantaged families, analysis of U.S. income transfer policies and programs for low-income families, and the role of race and place as determinants of economic and policy outcomes. He explores the factors that shape the well-being of families and children—including parental and spatial economic conditions, public policies, and varying forms of structural social and economic inequality. Throughout his work, he considers how safety net programs can act as buffers against exposure to economic risk. Within the school, he teaches courses on microeconomics and public finance. He has provided expert testimony for congress and local governmental commissions, as well as commentary for news and media outlets, including CNBC, MSNBC, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, and Vox.

Hardy's professional activities include service as president of the National Economic Association, membership on the American Economic Association Committee on Economic Statistics, and board service for the National Academy of Social Insurance. He is also a coeditor at Contemporary Economic Policy. Hardy recently served on two separate National Academies of Science panels focused on studying improvements to the Supplemental Poverty Measure, and on the federal policies impacts child poverty in 2021. Prior to joining Georgetown, Hardy was a faculty member in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University, where he held leadership roles as Department Chair and Director of the master of public policy program.

Visit Professor Hardy's website for more information on his published and on-going research projects.