Prasad is a sociologist who analyzes the complexities of capitalism, neoliberalism, and social policy. In her first book, The Politics of Free Markets, Prasad examines the rise of neoliberal policies in the 1970s and 1980s in the U.S., Britain, France, and Germany. In The Land of Too Much she provides a new explanation for why the U.S. looks so different from other developed countries. In her most recent book, Starving the Beast, Prasad dissects the American neoliberal obsession with tax cuts and investigates the history of the Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA) and its effect on our economy forty years later.

Prasad serves as a senior fellow for the Niskanen Center in Washington D.C. Named as “The Most Interesting Think Tank in America” by TIME magazine in 2023, the Niskanen Center uses a “transpartisan” approach to bridge differences and solve challenges across the country. Their solutions-based policy work addresses everything from the housing shortage to high crime rates to declining life expectancy. Prasad’s work focuses heavily on solving poverty and as she looks to the future, she is analyzing what lessons we can learn from the European welfare state as we aim to ameliorate poverty around the world.

Prasad joined Johns Hopkins University as a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor in 2023 from Northwestern University.