The State of the Nation Project: A comprehensive discussion on America’s successes and failures

On Monday, February 3, The Murphy Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Brookings Institution will host an event featuring insights from leading experts and authors of a new report from the State of the Nation Project. The report provides a critical analysis of the United States' status across key societal measures, from economic performance and the environment to mental health and life satisfaction. 

The event will provide attendees with a unique opportunity to engage with the authors as they discuss the findings of the State of the Nation Project. The discussions will highlight the challenges facing the nation and progress made so far. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and participate in a dialogue about the implications of the report’s findings for the future of our nation.

• When: Monday, February 3 , 2025 | Time: 9:00 AM CST / 10:00 AM EST

Viewers can join the conversation and ask questions in advance by emailing events@brookings.edu or on X @BrookingsInst using the hashtag #StateoftheNation.
 

WATCH ONLINE

ATTEND IN PERSON: Brookings Institution
Falk Auditorium
1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW.
Washington, D.C.

The State of the Nation Project: A National Progress Report

The State of the Nation Project is a comprehensive and objective national progress report assessing how we are doing as a country. The purpose is to thoroughly explore America’s national trends across a wide range of topics and our standing compared to other high-income countries. SOTN reports on 37 measures across 15 topics, including children/families, citizenship/democracy, civil rights, economy, education, environment, inequality, life satisfaction, mental health, national security, physical health, social capital, trust, violence, and work/labor force. The report makes some unusual international comparisons and juxtapose the various measures and topics.

The report yields four overarching conclusions:
 
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.

Another unusual feature of the project is that these measures came through a board with representatives from seven of the nation's leading think tanks and appointees and advisors of the past five presidential administrations, from across the political spectrum and across academic disciplines. Representative samples of the nation's citizens were polled to ask what topics and measures they thought should be included in the report. Topics and measures were only included if they had supermajority support from the board (most also have support from the public), meaning they have broad support.

Additional Details: 

Visit https://stateofnation.org/ for more information and to register to watch the launch event online. The event is being held in partnership between Tulane University’s Murphy Institute, the Brookings Institution, the American Enterprise Institute, and the State of the Nation Project. 

Moderator: Bill Galston, Columnist for The Wall Street Journal

Speakers:
• Robert Doar, President, American Enterprise Institute
• Cecilia Rouse, President, Brookings Institution

Panelists: Key authors of the report, including
• Douglas Harris, Tulane University (& Murphy Institute, Brookings Institution)
• Gary Hoover, Tulane University’s Murphy Institute
• Ariel Kalil, University of Chicago
• Kiron Skinner, Pepperdine University (& AFPI, Heritage Foundation, Hoover Institution)
• Scott Winship, American Enterprise Institute

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER