It’s Mother’s Day, and I’m back!

Mother’s Day 2019: I started a blog on this site on Mother’s Day, 2008 (when my four kids were ages 9 1/2 to 16)–when I was working for the Concord Coalition–and wrote nearly every day for nearly 5 years (until I left for the Pew Charitable Trusts in early 2013). I’m back after a 6 1/2 year hiatus, my kids now ages 20 1/2 to 27. I’m (still) a Ph.D. economist living and working in the DC Metro Area. After a 20+ year first marriage (to another economist), I decided I wanted a divorce. A decade later I am getting remarried (and to another economist!)–something I never would have predicted would have happened if you had asked me 5-10 years ago. But I have learned a lot of things over my nearly 30 years of motherhood–more than I have learned over my 35 years of working as an economist. I like to think that the part of me that is “just a mom” gives me a unique perspective on the economy, because I am constantly testing the wisdom of economic theories and the usefulness of the economist’s standard analytical toolbox against what I see and experience in real life. Most of what I will do here is make observations and reflect on my own experiences, while also relating them to the various issues that economists and other social scientists study. I hope my musings will resonate with some of you–whether because of the economist in me or (maybe more likely) because of the mom in me. Thanks for reading, and Happy Mother’s Day to all fellow moms out there. (Please follow me on Twitter to keep up with my new posts here.)