Murphy Institute Featured at Book Fest: State of the Nation Project and Ladder or Lottery

The Murphy Institute was well represented at the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University with back-to-back panels on Friday, March 13, 2026, featuring Institute leadership and faculty. 

Held March 12-15, the festival brought together more than 250 authors, artists, storytellers and moderators across 100 sessions. Programming highlights included special events tied to America's 250th anniversary, an expanded Family Day, and wide-ranging conversations on literature, history, music, food and politics. 

Douglas Harris, Director of the Education Research Program in The Murphy Institute Center for Public Policy Research, joined Murphy Institute Executive Director Gary "Hoov" Hoover on the panel “The State of the Nation Project: In Books,” moderated by Tulane University President Michael A. Fitts. The conversation also featured Carol Graham, Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, author, and College Park Professor at the University of Maryland. 

Funded by The Murphy Institute, The State of the Nation Project launched in 2025 as the nation’s first widely publicized bipartisan progress report, offering a shared set of facts to assess how the United States is performing across economic, social, and civic dimensions. 

During the panel, Harris outlined four central conclusions from the report that resonated across party lines: 

1. We are a nation of extremes—extreme successes and extreme failures.
2. Our national trends are improving in more areas than we are declining. However, relative to other countries, the opposite is true—we are declining in more areas than we are improving.
3. Our economy is poised for continued success.
4. Our rising incomes are not translating into greater perceived well-being and social relations. 

Harris, Graham, and Hoover discussed how these findings reflect the nation’s economic, social, and psychological condition. In closing, President Fitts asked each panelist to identify the report’s most important takeaway. Hoover emphasized: 

Following the conversation, Hoov was featured on a second panel, “America at 250: Who Gets Ahead in America? And Why?” The conversation featured Marc J. Dunkelman, Senior Fellow at the Searchlight Institute and author of Why Nothing Works, and was moderated by Nicholas Lemann, journalist and professor at Columbia University. 

Framed around the nation’s approaching 250th anniversary, the panel examined whether the American system still delivers on its promise of opportunity or whether stalled economic mobility has turned that promise into a lottery rather than a ladder. 

Drawing on history, political analysis, and economic insight, Dunkelman and Hoover explored how public institutions shape who gets ahead, and why perceptions of fairness and mobility matter as much as material outcomes. 

Hoover expanded on themes central to his book Ladder or Lottery, noting that discouragement emerges when people no longer believe effort leads to advancement. Dunkelman underscored the need for effective, responsive governance to rebuild trust and shared purpose. 

Together, the two Murphy Institute–affiliated panels highlighted the value of political economy and interdisciplinary scholarship in understanding the nation’s challenges. By bringing together perspectives across economics, political science, sociology, and public policy, the conversations displayed how economic outcomes, institutional design, and social well-being are deeply interconnected.