PERI’s Garrett-Peltier Presents Research at DC Congressional Briefing

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Heidi Garrett-Peltier, a research fellow with the Political Economy Research Institute who studies the costs and impacts of a clean energy transition and the effects of federal spending policies, presented her work at a congressional briefing in Washington, D.C., on March 14. The briefing, organized by the Brown University Cost of War project and sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee, featured researchers who presented evidence on the economic, political and human costs of war.

Garrett-Peltier presented her findings from her 2017 paper “Job Opportunity Cost of War,” which is featured on the website of Brown University's Watson Institute. She discussed the job creation potential of federal spending in areas such as clean energy, infrastructure, healthcare and education, and how these sectors all produce from 40-120 percent more jobs than military spending.

The briefing, held in the Rayburn building on Capitol Hill, was attended by congressional staffers, researchers and policy analysts from various research institutes and non-profits, as well as members of the public.

Garrett-Peltier's paper can be found here, and a newer version with updated spending numbers will soon become available on the Watson Institute site. She is currently working on a project to study the role of the public sector in serving the public good.