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Recent research shows the negative impact of discrimination not only on the targets of discrimination but also on the economy as a whole. Racial and gender inequality can limit the entire economy’s productive capacity and innovation outcomes. Using new data from the National Science Foundation’s Survey of Earned Doctorates on the scientific workforce from 1980 to 2019, as well as patenting and commercialization data, we examine racial and gender disparities at each stage of the innovation process: education and training, the practice of invention, and commercialization. Although improving along certain dimensions over time, we find persistent racial and gender disparities consistent with the current literature. To reverse the negative effects on productive capacity and long-run economic growth, we also discuss the literature on mitigating discriminatory practices at each juncture, which could have significant distributional effects as access to good jobs expands.

Barriers to entering the field of invention have led to negative outcomes for individuals and for the economy. We built a vibrant middle class in the post-war era because we started to tear down many of the barriers that had kept women of all races and men of color from contributing their full talents. A quarter of the growth in aggregate output from 1960 to 2010 can be explained by improved allocation of talent. We didn't finish the work. We allowed barriers to opportunity to return, or new ones to grow up. This turned out to be a tragedy, not only for those people who lost their livelihoods, but also for the economy. Policy can make a difference. The Civil Rights Act really did make a huge difference in the opportunities and gains for Black Americans and for women. Subsequent advancements in automation and trade, which left a lot of workers behind, were not accompanied by changes in policy to help those workers adapt. One thing that we know is that, especially in laboratories or patent teams where people are working together, equality of opportunity is much more than just getting things like as many job interviews. Women and underrepresented minorities are not pulled in and kept in the same way as others. We may, in fact, as a society be underinvesting in the people who could be creating the companies that would be creating the jobs that put those people to better use. A key concern now is that this could be a recession that would harm pathways to the middle class for a long time.

The COVID-19 pandemic radically and rapidly changed the world, including the world of business economists. Eight NABE members employed in a wide variety of fields discuss how their lives and work were transformed.

The financial markets in Russia are better developed than most observers imagine. Russian firms, for example, are often able to access bank loans if they have already accessed the trade credit market. This was confirmed by a survey of 352 Russian firms which showed that firms with trade credits have a significantly higher chance of acquiring bank credit. One explanation for this lies in the apparent willingness of Russian banks to use trade finance as a proxy for financial soundness.