New research from the Center for Local State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP)’s Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS) measures the impact that the COVID-19 crisis will have on local fiscal health. CLOSUP anticipates local governments will be...
Hundreds of billions of dollars have been allocated to help small businesses and individuals in response to the COVID-19 financial crisis. Yet for low-income households and small businesses, accessing those funds has proved to be a challenge,...
Financial technology, commonly known as fintech, is the intersection of financial services and technology. Fintech services that have become popular in recent years include mobile payments, online lending, and digital currency.Adrienne Harris, a...
Entrepreneur and philanthropist David Bohnett sees big cities as laboratories for humanity, and seized upon an idea that could help them as well as budding civic leaders by putting the latter in service to the...
It’s becoming clear that more diagnostic testing is key for the U.S. to stop the spread of COVID-19, re-open the economy, and better manage the next epidemic. Shobita Parthasarathy, director of the Ford School of Public Policy's Science, Technology,...
The Ford School mourns the passing of Paul O’Neill, Treasury Secretary in the George W. Bush administration, and a long-time supporter of the school and its mission. O’Neill died April 18, 2020, at the age of 84. He served for several years on the...
Ford School alumni across the world are responding to the global pandemic from a variety of public policy angles. They are also looking at how they can help the next generation of leaders dedicated to the public good.
The coronavirus outbreak...
Intellectual property, and patents, in particular, affect every level of society. Research interest in the area has expanded beyond just the legal community and now involves social scientists and humanists as well. In an article published on...
Access to food is a critical measure of societal disparity that has been brought into sharp relief by the COVID-19 pandemic. School lunch programs that previously helped bridge a gap for low income families are unavailable during school closures,...
To contain the spread of COVID-19, state and local governments are looking to their neighbors, often replicating and applying their policies to their own jurisdiction. It started with all 50 states calling for a state of emergency within days of...
Each spring since 2008, Ford School faculty and staff nominate dozens of outstanding student research and service projects for recognition at the Gramlich Showcase of Student Work. The event honors longtime U-M professor Edward (Ned) Gramlich, who...
More than 17 million Americans have applied for unemployment insurance in the wake of mandatory business closures protecting against COVID-19. Betsey Stevenson, professor at the Ford School, predicts that the number of unemployed Americans is...
The University of Michigan is working with Detroit’s small businesses to help them find sources of federal financial aid amid the COVID-19 pandemic and assist them in navigating the rules and regulations they will encounter in the application...
April 13 press release from Poverty Solutions:
A new 2020 Coronavirus Stimulus Payment website launched today aims to make sure Michiganders receive their federal stimulus checks as soon as possible.
The vast majority of Michigan residents are...
Ford School students in former Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje’s classes are preparing to host a two-part spring forum for prospective Ann Arbor City Council candidates. Students from the Ford School have hosted similar forums since 2014, but this year...
Ford School professor Megan Tompkins Stange is asking: What should the role be of philanthropy during the COVID-19 crisis? She studies the power and influence of philanthropy on public policy and politics.
In a recent Vox article, “These are the...
With economic activity changing faster than standard statistical measures can keep up, economists are looking at other indicators to take the economy’s pulse. Justin Wolfers, professor at the Ford School, analyzed electricity usage to understand the...
Medical professionals like Dr. Jen Villavicencio (MPP ‘20) are enduring grueling professional and personal circumstances to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. VIllavicencio is a practicing OB-GYN and abortion provider, a lecturer at the University of...
In the aftermath of the 2008 recession, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) was established in Title I of the Dodd-Frank Act, tasked to identify and monitor future threats before the next crisis. Now, during the current crisis brought...
As the United States grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are looking to recent historical crises to provide insights into the challenges we currently face. Javed Ali, Towsley Policymaker in Residence at the Ford School, wrote an opinion...
For those away from campus, but who miss it dearly, our custom Zoom backgrounds will give you a little taste of 'hoMe.'
Zoom, a popular video conferencing app, allows you to upload custom virtual backgrounds and instantly appear in the location...
With widespread shutdowns of businesses across the country due to COVID-19, states have seen a dramatic rise in the number of unemployed and those seeking unemployment benefits. This week, unemployment claims jumped 2000% in Michigan, putting the...
A historic $2 trillion relief package has just been approved by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent economic crisis. Professors Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers have weighed in on the relief package and the economic...
March 27 press release from Poverty Solutions:
A new Michigan COVID-19 Pandemic Resource Guide provides information on how to access various resources aimed at supporting Michiganders through the coronavirus pandemic and related economic...
The Ford School is excited to announce that we are underway with a major redesign and technological upgrade of our website. The new website is scheduled to launch just prior to the start of the fall semester, in late August 2020.
The Ford School...
Today the Regents of the University of Michigan approved H. Luke Shaefer’s appointment as the inaugural Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, for a five-year term,...
In uncertain times, forecasters across sectors are looking for indicators that can help them accurately predict what’s going to happen next. Economists are no exception: there are many indicators that the economy is in dire straits due to the...
For all of us, adjusting to the new reality of staying home and staying safe means finding ways to stay educated and informed from afar. As we practice safe social distancing, the Ford School has postponed all in-person public events for the...
