Policy Topics

Domestic policy

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State & Hill

Discourse: Faculty in the news from the Spring 2020 issue of State & Hill

May 22, 2020

“The government needs to make sure the hardest-hit families have enough income to keep food on their tables...in a rapidly unfolding crisis, the type of aid that’s offered may matter at least as much as the quantity.” Betsey Stevenson and Justin...

Ford School Policy Talk: Hope for economic recovery tied to health success

May 22, 2020

The U.S. and global economy will only recover when major improvements in healthcare and the ability to combat the coronavirus take hold. The crisis has exacerbated inequality along racial, ethnic and economic lines. This recession is unlike any...

Alumni spotlight

John Guerriero (MPP ‘17) urges governors' cybersecurity response to pandemic-related cyberattacks

May 22, 2020

COVID-19-themed cyberattacks are on the rise due to an exponential increase in telework and an opportunity to exploit fear during the pandemic. Ford School alum John Guerriero (MPP ‘17) and his team at the National Governors Association Center for...

State & Hill

Barriers at the ballot box—100 years and counting

May 22, 2020

By Daniel Rivkin This year marks 100 years since the 19th Amendment officially granted women the right to vote. Some women, that is. The milestone was significant, but the ballot box remained closed for many: Native Americans only gained...

A long line of same-day voters extends along the sidewalks around Ann Arbor City Hall

News

Growing civic-minded technologists

May 19, 2020

“This was a game-changer for us,” said Kwaku Osei, the CEO of Farmacy, a food app startup focused on user’s dietary needs. Osei was one of five social entrepreneurs of color in the Detroit metro area matched with Masters students from the Ford...

Parsing the unemployment statistics, Stevenson finds reason for optimism even amidst a higher-than-reported rate

May 15, 2020

The rate of unemployment was recently recorded as 14.7%. Ford School economist Betsey Stevenson, who was Chief Economist of the U.S. Department of Labor 2010-2011, says the real rate is actually higher. In a tweet quoted in an article in Forbes May...

Wolfers puts public health at the center of economic recovery

May 15, 2020

The current method for calculating Gross Domestic Product is missing “the immense value of the sacrifices being made by millions of people who have stayed at home to stop the spread of the coronavirus,” Ford School economics professor Justin Wolfers...

Public consensus on anti-COVID-19 measures risks being politicized, says Parthasarathy

May 14, 2020

Ford School professor Shobita Parthasarathy says Americans' consensus belief in the science behind anti-COVID-19 measures is at risk. In an article in Times Higher Education published May 14 entitled "Science ‘risks coronavirus backlash’ as it is...

Professor Shobita Parthasarathy leads a discussion in the Betty Ford Classroom

News

Two Ford School faculty awarded the prestigious Carnegie Fellowship

May 12, 2020

Two faculty members at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy have been chosen from hundreds of nominees as part of the prestigious Carnegie Fellows program. Professors Susan Dynarski and H. Luke Shaefer are among only...

News

Detroit housing shortage, evictions set stage for COVID-19 housing crisis

May 12, 2020

New research from Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan highlights the need for more robust eviction protections in Detroit in light of the number of people who have lost income during the COVID-19 pandemic, existing instability in the...

News

COVID-19 Fiscal Strategy and Resource Guides for Local Governments produced by CLOSUP and partners

May 11, 2020

The COVID-19 crisis is having a dramatic impact on Michigan's local governments, and the fiscal implications — including emergency spending, revenue losses, and budget cuts — are already being felt. The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy...

News

TANF left out of coronavirus relief efforts

May 8, 2020

Temporary Assistance For Needy Families, or TANF, was created as part of the 1996 Welfare Reform bill as a way to give cash assistance to those most vulnerable. Yet at a time when millions of Americans are in dire need of cash assistance, the...

Luke Shaefer delivers a talk at the Ford School

News

Making up for lost time for millions of children, U.S. education needs a major rescue effort

May 8, 2020

For most students, the school year ended in March, according to a New York Times commentary by Ford School professor Susan Dynarski. She outlines both the education lost for American students from school closures and what will need to be done to...

Ali calls for expanded intelligence community infectious disease response capacity

May 4, 2020

The U.S. intelligence community needs to enhance the size and expertise of the relatively small team working on infectious diseases, according to Ford School’s Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence, Javed Ali. In a May 4th article in New...

Healthcare sector takes a hit amidst the broader economic downturn

May 1, 2020

The news released on April 30 that the U.S. economy had shrunk 4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020 confirmed that the country is poised to experience a deep recession. The analyses of Ford School economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers...

News

Detroit Metro Area Communities Study on COVID-19 draws national attention

Apr 28, 2020

A rapid-response Detroit Metro Area Communities Study (DMACS) survey found that 1 in 5 Detroiters will run out of money due to the COVID-19 crisis within the next three months. The DMACS survey asked wide-ranging questions from economic, social,...

News

Ann Arbor may repurpose streets to accommodate pedestrian and cyclist social distancing

Apr 28, 2020

Since the implementation of the governor’s stay at home order, Ann Arbor’s vehicle traffic has declined markedly. Ann Arbor city council members may consider vehicle street closures in an effort to expand space available for pedestrians and cyclists...

Wolfers challenges U.S. business who seek immunity from coronavirus lawsuits

Apr 27, 2020

In a recent article published in Quartz, “U.S. businesses are seeking immunity from coronavirus lawsuits,” Ford School professor, Justin Wolfers, pushes back on calls by U.S. businesses for COVID-19 related immunity from liability. As some states...

News

CLOSUP helps local governments navigate fiscal challenges during global pandemic

Apr 23, 2020

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...

People sharing a public space with greenery, tables, umbrellas, and open space

Dean Barr on the need to do more for communities and small businesses

Apr 23, 2020

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,...

Philanthropist, entrepreneur discusses U-M fellowship that aims to help students, major cities

Apr 21, 2020

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...

Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill leaves legacy at the Ford School

Apr 20, 2020

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...

Research team takes on food insecurity in Detroit in the face of coronavirus limitations

Apr 17, 2020

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,...

Beyond imitation and competition: how states can implement effective COVID-19 policies

Apr 17, 2020

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...

U-M helping Detroit’s small businesses locate, navigate coronavirus-related financial aid

Apr 15, 2020

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...

Tompkins-Stange talks COVID-19 relief trade-offs

Apr 10, 2020

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...

Dr. Villavicencio (MPP’20) balances increasing demands of medical field with completing her MPP

Apr 9, 2020

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...

Key decisions hurt Financial Stability Oversight Council in COVID-19 response, says Barr

Apr 2, 2020

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...

Shaefer discusses jump in joblessness that strains safety nets

Mar 27, 2020

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...

News

Poverty Solutions releases Michigan COVID-19 pandemic resource guide

Mar 27, 2020

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...