Zachary Liscow

Zachary Liscow is Professor of Law at Yale Law School. In 2022–23, he was the Chief Economist at the Office of Management and Budget at the White House. His wide-ranging work in law and economics currently covers tax policy, benefit-cost analysis, and infrastructure construction costs. He is particularly interested in developing cost-effective policies to address inequality and understanding what drives the high costs of building U.S. infrastructure. He has also worked in a variety of other areas, including environmental policy and empirical legal studies. Liscow's work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Atlantic, Bloomberg, CNN, and elsewhere.

Liscow earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and his J.D. from Yale Law School. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College with degrees in Economics and in Environmental Science and Public Policy. He grew up in South Haven, Michigan. In 2009–2010, he was a Staff Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. He also worked for the World Bank's inspector general. Liscow clerked for the Honorable Stephen F. Williams on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

September 28, 2023

Connecticut Education Funding Increase Aligns with Research by Professor Liscow

Connecticut legislators included an additional $150 million in the most recent state budget to benefit lower-income school districts. The decision is in line with recommendations outlined by Professor Zachary Liscow ’15 in a 2017 paper on equitable state funding.

August 25, 2023

Financial Times

The NIMBY Tax on Britain and America ¹

An explanation of why infrastructure in the U.S. and U.K. costs more to build quotes a paper coauthored by Professor of Law Zachary Liscow ’15.

August 17, 2023

The American Prospect

How State Capacity Can Help America Build ²

A new paper co-authored by Professor of Law Zachary Liscow ’15 shows the cost of underinvesting in government.

July 28, 2023

The Atlantic

Why YIMBY Righteousness Backfires ³

Scholarship by Professor of Law Zachary Liscow ’15 is cited in a piece about zoning reform and suburbs.

June 18, 2023

The Washington Post

America Can Fix Its Highways Much Faster, If It Wants ⁴

Scholarship by Professor of Law Zachary Liscow ’15 is mentioned in a piece about how community input can slow infrastructure projects.

May 30, 2023

The Washington Post

America Needs More Housing, But Not More Public Housing ⁵

An analysis of the cost of public housing cites a study co-authored by Professor of Law Zachary Liscow ’15 on the long-term increase in highway construction costs.

August 24, 2022

Professor Liscow Appointed Chief Economist at White House Budget Office

Professor of Law Zachary Liscow ’15 has joined the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as its Chief Economist, the White House announced on Aug. 18.

July 25, 2022

The Atlantic

Why Your House Was So Expensive ⁶

Scholarship by Professor of Law Zachary Liscow ’15 is cited in explaining why home construction and other kinds of construction are so costly in the U.S.

July 24, 2022

Wall Street Journal

Why Is U.S. Infrastructure So Costly—and What Can We Do About It? ⁷

Professor of Law Zachary Liscow ’15 was interviewed about why American infrastructure projects are so costly.

July 9, 2022

Vox

When Cash Giving Doesn’t Work ⁸

A study by Professor of Law Zachary Liscow ’15 and Abigail Pershing ’20 is cited in this examination of the results of cash transfer programs in the U.S.

Published and Forthcoming Papers

"Getting Infrastructure Built: The Law and Economics of Permitting⁹," Journal of Economic Perspectives (forthcoming)

"State Capacity for Infrastructure Construction¹⁰," in Strengthening America’s Economic Dynamism 96, ed. Melissa Kearney and Luke Pardue (2024)

“No More Tax-Free Lunch for Billionaires: Closing the Borrowing Loophole¹¹” 182 Tax Notes 647 (2024) (with Edward Fox).

Policy writeup: Washington Center for Equitable Growth¹²

“Inequality Snowballing¹³” 77 International Review Of Law & Economics 106180 (2024) (with Daniel Giraldo)

“Infrastructure Costs¹⁴” 15 American Economic Journal: Applied 1 (2023) (with Leah Brooks)

Media: The Wall Street Journal¹⁵; Bloomberg¹⁶; Brookings¹⁷; Pedestrian Observations¹⁸; The Week¹⁹; Construction Dive²⁰; Engineering News-Record²¹; Forbes²²; Bloomberg Opinion²³; Reason²⁴; Claremont Review of Books²⁵; The Washington Post (Fareed Zakaria)²⁶; The Washington Post (George Will)²⁷; Washington Post (Matt Yglesias); The Economist²⁸; Vox²⁹; The New York Times³⁰; CNN³¹; The Atlantic⁶; Financial Times¹; El Confidencial³²; Investors’ Chronicle³³; NPR³⁴

“The Psychology of Taxing Capital Income: Evidence from a Survey Experiment on the Realization Rule³⁵” 213 Journal of Public Economics 104714 (2022) (with Edward Fox)

Media: Washington Post³⁶; TaxProf Blog³⁷; Voice of America³⁸

“Why Is So Much Redistribution In-Kind and Not in Cash? Evidence from a Survey Experiment³⁹” 75 National Tax Journal 313 (2022) (with Abigail Pershing)

Media: Vox⁸

“Democratizing Behavioral Economics⁴⁰” 39 Yale Journal on Regulation 1274 (2022) (with Daniel Markovits)

“Redistribution for Realists⁴¹” 107 Iowa Law Review 495 (2022)

“Can America Reduce Highway Construction Costs? Evidence from the States⁴²” in Economic Analysis and Infrastructure Investment, ed. Edward L. Glaeser & James Poterba (2021) (with Leah Brooks)

“A Case for Higher Corporate Tax Rates⁴³” (with Edward Fox), 167 Tax Notes Federal 2021 (2020)

“Does Legal Status Matter for Educational Choices? Evidence from Immigrant Teenagers⁴⁴” (with William Gui Woolston), 20 American Law and Economics Review 318 (2018)

“Is Efficiency Biased⁴⁵?” 85 University of Chicago Law Review 1649 (2018)