Eileen Norcross
- Senior Research Fellow, Vice President of Policy Research
Eileen Norcross is the Vice President of Policy Research and a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Her research focuses on questions of public finance, how economic institutions support or hamper economic resiliency and civil society, the relationship between culture and institutions, and polycentricity in governance. She specializes in fiscal federalism and institutions, state and local government finance, public governance, and economic development.
Her work has been cited in various media outlets, and her op-eds have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, Christian Science Monitor, US News & World Report, and Forbes.
Norcross has testified before Congress on the Community Development Block Grant program, state and local pension underfunding, municipal bankruptcy, and the use of technology to monitor stimulus funding. She has also testified on fiscal policies in Pennsylvania, Florida, California, New Hampshire, and Montana. She served as a public member on the Virginia Commission on Employee Retirement Security and Pension Reform from 2016 to 2017. Her academic publications include articles in the Maryland Journal, The Journal of Law, Economics and Policy, the American Journal of Economics and Sociology, and a book chapter in The Political Economy of Hurricane Katrina and Community Rebound, edited by Emily Chamlee-Wright and Virgil Henry Storr.
She received both her MA in economics and her BA in economics and American history from Rutgers University.
Latest Work
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Catholic Integralism’s Deepest Deprivations |O Virtus Sapientiae
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Abundance Is About More Than Stuff | Discourse
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Budget Boost Over a Fiscal Cliff: States Surf a Federal Windfall | Washington Examiner
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The China Challenge: Rebuilding Trust in the Global Trading System
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Congress Bails Out Some Pension Plans, but Does Nothing to Fix the Problem
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
COVID Stimulus Won’t Cure the Pension Pandemic
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Project No. 3-20 Proposed Changes May Obscure Government Fiscal Health
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Executive Orders Aren’t Always the Best Tool
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Discourse Magazine Podcast Discourse Magazine Podcast
Classical Liberalism and the Common Good
Latest Work
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Catholic Integralism’s Deepest Deprivations |O Virtus Sapientiae
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Abundance Is About More Than Stuff | Discourse
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Budget Boost Over a Fiscal Cliff: States Surf a Federal Windfall | Washington Examiner
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The China Challenge: Rebuilding Trust in the Global Trading System
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Congress Bails Out Some Pension Plans, but Does Nothing to Fix the Problem
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
COVID Stimulus Won’t Cure the Pension Pandemic
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Project No. 3-20 Proposed Changes May Obscure Government Fiscal Health
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Executive Orders Aren’t Always the Best Tool
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Discourse Magazine Podcast Discourse Magazine Podcast
Classical Liberalism and the Common Good
Latest Work
- | F. A. Hayek Program F. A. Hayek Program
- | Journal Articles Journal Articles
Catholic Social Thought and New Institutional Economics
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Pandemic Recovery and State and Local Pension Reform
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Public Sector Pensions and the COVID-19 Shock
- | Academic & Student Programs Academic & Student Programs
- | Journal Articles Journal Articles
A Call for Institutional Analysis
- | State Fiscal Rankings | 2018 Edition State Fiscal Rankings | 2018 Edition
- | Research Papers Research Papers
#46 | Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition: Kentucky

- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | Research Papers Research Papers
State Fiscal Rankings | 2018 Edition
- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | Data Visualizations Data Visualizations
Ohio’s Worsening Pension Crisis
- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | Research Papers Research Papers
Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition | 2017 Edition
- | Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition | 2017 Edition Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition | 2017 Edition
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
#2 | Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition: North Dakota
Latest Work
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Discourse Magazine Podcast Discourse Magazine Podcast
Classical Liberalism and the Common Good
- | F. A. Hayek Program F. A. Hayek Program
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Hayek Program Podcast Hayek Program Podcast
Peter Boettke and Eileen Norcross on Public Governance
- | F. A. Hayek Program F. A. Hayek Program
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Hayek Program Podcast Hayek Program Podcast
"Public Governance and the Classical-Liberal Perspective" Book Panel
- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Mercatus Policy Download Mercatus Policy Download
How Healthy Are Your State's Finances?

- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Eileen Norcross on WV Metro News
- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | Mercatus Original Video Mercatus Original Video
Webinar | Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition 2017
- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Eileen Norcross on WGMD (Delaware)
- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | Mercatus Original Video Mercatus Original Video
Webinar: Fiscal Rankings with Eileen Norcross
- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | TV Appearance TV Appearance
Eileen Norcross Discusses Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition on C-SPAN

- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Eileen Norcross on WDAY
Latest Work
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Project No. 3-20 Proposed Changes May Obscure Government Fiscal Health
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | State Testimonies State Testimonies
Pennsylvania's Fiscal Health: Current Status and Recommendations for Improvement
- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | State Testimonies State Testimonies
Considerations for Improved Pension Solvency and Retirement Options in Maryland

- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | State Testimonies State Testimonies
Fiscal Health Tax Climate and Best Practices for Budgeting
- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Comment for Actuarial Standards Board Hearing on Public Pension Issues
- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | State Testimonies State Testimonies
Public-Sector Pension Reform in Pennsylvania and the Role of Transition Costs
- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | State Testimonies State Testimonies
Pension Reform in Montana

- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Pensions in Peril: How Municipalities Are Defusing This Fiscal Time Bomb
- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | State Testimonies State Testimonies
Pension Reform In Pennsylvania
- | Urban Economics Urban Economics
- | State Testimonies State Testimonies
Redefining Earnable Compensation in the Retirement System for New and Non-Vested Members in Service
Latest Work
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Catholic Integralism’s Deepest Deprivations |O Virtus Sapientiae
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Abundance Is About More Than Stuff | Discourse
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Budget Boost Over a Fiscal Cliff: States Surf a Federal Windfall | Washington Examiner
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The China Challenge: Rebuilding Trust in the Global Trading System
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Congress Bails Out Some Pension Plans, but Does Nothing to Fix the Problem
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
COVID Stimulus Won’t Cure the Pension Pandemic
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Executive Orders Aren’t Always the Best Tool
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Mercatus Scholars’ Most Influential Books: Eileen Norcross
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Preparing for a Rainy Day
