Rakeen Mabud
Chief Economist and Managing Director of Policy and Research, Groundwork Collaborative
New York, NY
Experience
- U.S. Department of the Treasury
- Roosevelt Institute
- Time’s Up
Expertise
- Inflation, Federal Reserve policy, and the macroeconomy
- Labor market dynamics
- Economic disparities by race and gender
Education
- Ph.D., Harvard University
- B.A., Wellesley College
Recent Coverage
MAY 14, 2024
New York Times | High Interest Rates Are Hitting Poorer Americans the Hardest
“High interest rates really forced cracks in that recovery, and it’s folks who are on the margins of our economy who are hit first and hit hardest,” said Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at the Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive group. “They really serve as a bellwether for what could happen to the rest of our economy.”
MAY 7, 2024
The Hill | Biden looks to boost worker, consumer power as election looms
“All of these rules really have at their core the idea that people deserve a fair and functioning economy that works for them,” said Rakeen Mabud, chief economist and managing director of policy and research at the Groundwork Collaborative, a left-leaning think tank and advocacy group.
MAY 1, 2024
The Hill | Fed holds off on rate cuts after ‘lack of further progress’ on inflation
“The Fed’s high interest rates are exacerbating our housing crisis while doing nothing to tackle the high prices that remain. Meanwhile, sky-high borrowing costs have pushed household debt to an all-time high and delinquencies are rising,” said Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at the progressive Groundwork Collaborative and a former Treasury Department staffer.
“The Fed is failing families struggling to get by and failing to bring down inflation. [Fed] Chair [Jerome] Powell should move to cut rates,” Mabud added.
APR 11, 2024
Politico | What higher for longer means
Rakeen Mabud, chief economist of the left-leaning Groundwork Collaborative, argues that the Fed needs to cut soon. She said gasoline and housing are helping drive rising prices and aren’t something the central bank can tamp down on with higher rates.
“It’s really important for the Fed to recognize they are playing chicken with our economy, and they are playing chicken with the lives of millions of people,” she said.
MAR 13, 2024
The Hill | Biden launches tax war with GOP
Rakeen Mabud, chief economist and managing director of policy and research at the left-leaning Groundwork Collaborative, noted that no matter how people describe Biden’s policies, he is laying out a “stark contrast between the two choices” facing America in a way that she finds “compelling.”
“What the president and the administration is really doing I think is tapping into a collective sense of ‘this economy isn’t working for us’ and pushing back and laying out his plans for addressing that,” Mabud said.
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About Rakeen
Dr. Rakeen Mabud is the Chief Economist and Managing Director of Policy and Research at the Groundwork Collaborative. A nationally respected policy expert, Rakeen is a leading thinker on the economy with a unique ability to communicate complex economic concepts in an accessible way. She played a key role in Groundwork’s pioneering effort to expose the role of corporate profiteering in inflation and serves as a leading policy expert and spokesperson on how economic trends impact people’s everyday lives, with a particular attention to structural disparities by race and gender.
Rakeen frequently testifies before Congress to help lawmakers understand how workers and small businesses are experiencing disruptions like inflation and the pandemic. In addition, she is a core member of Groundwork’s executive team, helping guide the organization’s strategy and managing its policy and research portfolio. She also serves as a board member for the National Employment Law Project (NELP).
Rakeen’s work is regularly published in many of the most prominent publications in the nation, and her views on how to ensure the economy works for all have been quoted in The New York Times, Washington Post, and NPR, among others.
Prior to joining Groundwork, Rakeen developed deep experience in economics and policy as a Special Assistant in the Office of Economic Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, serving as a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, leading the research portfolio at Time’s Up Foundation, and conducting research at Harvard Business School. She holds a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University, and a B.A. from Wellesley College in Economics & Political Science.
