This year marked the twenty-seventh volume of the Journal of Economic Perspectives. Throughout its history, the Journal has sought to contribute to the economics profession along multiple dimensions: introducing readers to state-of-the-art thinking on theoretical and empirical research topics; encouraging cross-fertilization of ideas among the fields of economics; providing analyses of public policy issues; providing readings for students; offering illustrations that are useful in lectures; sparking discussion among colleagues; suggesting directions for future research; and analyzing features of the economics profession itself