Nadarajan "Raj" Chetty, born on August 4, 1979, is a highly influential American economist known for his research combining empirical evidence and economic theory to inform the design of more effective government policies. He is currently the William A. Ackman Professor of Public Economics at Harvard University and the Director of Opportunity Insights. Chetty's work has been widely cited in academia, media, and policy discussions.
Chetty's research focuses on equality of opportunity and understanding how to improve the chances of success for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. His work covers a range of topics including tax policy, unemployment insurance, education, and affordable housing. He utilizes "big data" to identify drivers of inequality, test theories, and develop policy solutions. Chetty was granted tenure at Harvard at the age of 28, making him one of the youngest tenured professors in the university's history.
Chetty's notable achievements include being a recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship (2012), the John Bates Clark Medal (2013), the Infosys Prize (2020), and the Padma Shri award from the Government of India (2015). In 2024, he was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal by the Royal Society for Arts (RSA). Recent work includes research on how low-economic-mobility neighborhoods can be transformed into high-mobility areas and study causal mechanisms underlying those changes.