In his last public event as U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg visited the Ford School for a conversation on investments in infrastructure. Below is an excerpt from an interview with S&H....
The economics of tariffs is surprisingly simple: they are a tax, which raises the price that buyers pay and that competing sellers inside the country can...
Susan M. Collins, former dean of the Ford School and now president & CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, made a welcome return to Weill Hall in November for a public event and lunch with students. During her visit, she shared insights into...
Gerald R. Ford once said, “The global economy requires an unprecedented grasp of diverse viewpoints and cultural traditions.” This sentiment is woven throughout and embedded in who we are and what we do at the Ford...
Professor Elisabeth Gerber is the inaugural faculty director of the Ford School’s Online Master of Public Affairs (MPA) program, which will launch in January 2026. Read what she has to say about the new...
Dean Watkins-Hayes, at the Congressional Breakfast in DC, with Michigan in Washington undergraduates Ajay Morelli, Malinda Brunk, Rachel Ellisen, and Isaac Davis, and Riecker Fellow Hope Wang (MPP...
This spring, Ford School economist Joshua Hausman delivered a talk on how the markets for cars and houses influenced the United States macroeconomy in the 1920s and 1930s. The talk was this year’s Bernie Saffran Lecture, in honor of longtime...
In the first 100 days of his second term, President Donald Trump has unleashed a whirlwind of policy shifts that have sent ripples across the globe. The responses to his administration's actions have ranged from applause to skepticism.Ford School...
Ford School professor Betsey Stevenson has been widely sought for her insights, and concerns, about the implications of the Trump administration's proposed tariffs. Here are some of the notes Stevenson has shared with news outlets over the past few...
"Whether by purchasing equipment, hiring contractors or training early career researchers, universities are a source of everyday economic and social benefits to communities in every congressional district in the country," said Jason Owen-Smith, from...
As the stock market faces shocks and falls from Trump's tariff policy, Marketplace has turned to the Ford School's Betsey Stevenson for an explanation of what this could mean for American workers. Stevenson told the network, “Layoffs are not the...
Reflecting on recent stock market instability, the Ford School's Betsey Stevenson told Bloomberg in an interview that, "I do think that he [Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve chairman] is going to reassure financial markets that we have a strong and...
Ford School professor Justin Wolfers explained to the New York Times why the bon market sell-off is so problematic, he said, “People feel nervous about lending us money,” and more than that, “They are saying, ‘We’ve lost our faith in America and the...
As the news buzzes with discussions of President Trump’s tariffs, economists and policymakers continue weighing the potential impacts of these policies. In a new opinion article published in the New York Times, Professor Justin Wolfers argues that...
"What we’re seeing is not targeted tariffs that are trying to help support certain aspects of American industry. This is across the board tariffs," said Bestsey Stevenson, professor at the Ford School. In a debate with an ex-campaign aide for...
Bloomberg Network spoke with the Ford School's Betsey Stevenson in pursuit of an estimate for what the Fed will do in response to Trump's recently implemented tariff policies. Stevenson stated, "There is clearly an inflation risk, and we know that...
Economist Justin Wolfers says levies could have a dramatic and long-lasting impact on consumers and the U.S. economy in an interview with Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences....
In an opinion piece for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Professor Jason Owen-Smith warns that NIH's new indirect-cost rate policy could harm research progress by undermining essential infrastructure....
Ford School professor Pamela Herd explained how Trump's agenda of using AI and making cuts to federal staff will damage Social Security. She said, “We’re talking about an agency that manages one-fifth of the federal budget—AI alone won’t cut it.” By...
Jason Owen-Smith, Ford School professor (by courtesy) and director of Institute for Research on Innovation and Science, in a piece for The Chronicle of Higher Education, explained the illogic of cutting indirect-cost (IDC) rates. Owen-Smith wrote,...
Don Moynihan, Ford School professor, said “Money is a an aggressive growing tumor at the heart of American democracy. The 2023 Wisconsin state supreme court race cost $56 million, a national record at the time. The 2025 version blasted that out of...
In March, CLOSUP released its second annual report analyzing the fiscal health of local Michigan governments. Using financial data reported to the State of Michigan in 2023, the researchers developed a set of indicators to look at cash, budgetary,...
The Trump administration appears particularly focused on “the president having absolute power and control over where money goes regardless of laws on impoundment or statutes on agencies... It’s a consolidation of power in the name of efficiency,"...
"The air is thick with recession talk, and stocks are cratering. But it just may be a mirage, a refraction of partisan distortions" wrote Ford School professor, Justin Wolfers, in a recent guest essay for The New York Times."It started with a...
A new brief from the Ford School's Education Policy Initiative and Youth Policy Lab shows the impact of federally funded education research. The policy-relevant research is developed in partnership with local and state agencies, practitioners, and...
As the economy prepares for the Trump administration's proposed tariff plan, U.S. goods are becoming less competitive than those from foreign countries. Speaking with Marketplace, the Ford School's Kathryn Dominguez claims this isn't the only...
The Ford School's Betsey Stevenson recently spoke with Bloomberg about the outlook for the U.S. labor market. Following a strong positive trend over the past few months, the labor market is now anticipated to soften with more people expected to face...
Betsey Stevenson, Ford School professor says It's really hard to compare restaurants of today to those of the past. This is part of why they are appearing to be more productive since the beginning of the pandemic. She says, with takeout, consumers...
