Policy Topics

Economics and finance

Showing 601 - 630 of 1813 results

News

Federal debt: Sustainable or dangerous to the US economy? Ford School's Betsey Stevenson weighs in

Oct 7, 2020 Michigan News

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a $2 trillion federal financial rescue package, and negotiations have carried on about another round of relief—though its prospects aren't clear before next month's election. Plenty of experts, including economists...

In the Media

Wolfers on potential liability for irresponsible COVID-19 choices

Oct 6, 2020 Washington Post

"The purpose of liability law is to incentivize responsible behavior by making irresponsibility costly", said Wolfers. “We’d expect to see many more irresponsible choices being made by those taking the president’s comments to heart." Read the...

In the Media

Covid recession continues driving women from the job market, labor force

Oct 2, 2020 KRWG

“It was a really startling difference. There's no way to look at that number and conclude anything other than the fact that the child care crisis is wreaking havoc on women's employment," said Ford School economist Betsey Stevenson. "Even when men...

In the Media

Stevenson highlights COVID recession's stark impacts on Gen Z

Oct 2, 2020 Bloomberg Special Report

"What really matters is how long the recession lasts... I think there is already some damage to young people that is going to take them a decade to reverse," said Ford School economist Betsey Stevenson. "So, I think of that already as some permanent...

News

New U-M report lifts up Detroit residents' priorities for economic mobility

Sep 25, 2020

A new report from the University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions lifts up more than a decade's worth of input from Detroit residents on how to increase economic mobility and decrease poverty in their city. The community-based research project,...

Publication

Employer Resource Networks hold promise to increase retention and improve productivity of entry-level workers - Shaefer

Sep 24, 2020

Employer Resource Networks (ERNs) involve local networks of employers collectively providing work support services to their entry-level workforce. In a paper published for the American Enterprise Institute, Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of...

Luke Shaefer delivers a talk at the Ford School

In the Media

Stevenson: New COVID-19 recession upsets gains from Great Recession recovery

Sep 24, 2020 NPR Marketplace

“There is no clear change in the trajectory or path of the economy when Trump becomes president in 2016. We see an economy that started recovering in 2010 and just kept going for an extremely long period of time," said Stevenson. Read Professor...

In the Media

Stevenson discusses rising permanent unemployment and smart investments on BBC

Sep 18, 2020 BBC World Service

“Permanent unemployment is much harder to solve... It's going to be a long slog getting folks back to work and it's not clear that we're going to get the kind of support from the government that we need, but I do think that policy can mitigate some...

In the Media

Stevenson: Women's employment has fallen off a pandemic cliff

Sep 15, 2020 NPR Here and Now

“We had what you might even call a gendered shutdown. The kinds of industries that had to send people home, that shut down, disproportionately employed women," said Stevenson. "How long it takes women to recover is going to depend on the [childcare]...

In the Media

Shaefer: Record high 2019 U.S. median income sobering in comparison to coronavirus impacts

Sep 15, 2020 Reuters

“No one yet knows the full impact of the economic and public health crisis that is consuming our lives today and disproportionately impacting the poorest American families,” said H. Luke Shaefer. Read the full Reuters article...

In the Media

Stevenson: Pandemic recession hits women harder than men for the first time

Sep 14, 2020 Crain's Detroit Business

"What's unusual is the initial stage of the recession impacted women more," said Stevenson. "What's normal in this recession is the ongoing negative effects tend to hit women. They face a double whammy, adding that to this massive child-care crisis...

In the Media

Wolfers says inflation rate shift unfavorable to low-income people

Sep 14, 2020 Vox

“People are buying more of the essentials, like groceries, forcing their prices up. And they’re buying fewer airline tickets and less gasoline and clothing, pushing those prices down.” Read the full article in...

In the Media

Stevenson testifies on the effects of fiscal relief inaction

Sep 11, 2020 Law 360

"One of the problems we've seen is that high-income households have really boosted their savings [with CARES Act funding]. And when you're saving, you're not spending and that's part of what's caused the economy to contract." Read the full Law...

News

Stevenson and Wolfers: "Think Like an Economist"

Aug 21, 2020

Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers have launched a new podcast, called "Think Like an Economist." In a series of tweets on August 19, @JustinWolfers explained: We’re calling it Think Like an Economist because we want to teach you to,...

Alumni spotlight

Yosuke Matsuda (MPP ‘03) marries economics and public policy for organizational efficiency

Aug 18, 2020

A partner at McKinsey & Company in Japan, Yosuke Matsuda (MPP '03) helps industrial clients with strategy, organizational efficiency, productivity improvement, and company-wide transformation. Prior to coming to the Ford School, Matsuda worked at...

News

Stevenson and Wolfers: Michigan’s go-slow approach good for public health and economy

Aug 13, 2020

When other states were reopening their economies in May, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was taking a go-slow approach, which infuriated small business owners and Republican legislators. An article in Mlive says that as COVID-19 cases are surging in...

News

Detroit unemployment rate drops, but 1 in 5 residents in financial trouble

Aug 13, 2020

More Detroiters have returned to work amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but many families continue to have difficulty affording basic necessities and worry more hardship is ahead. That's according to the latest representative survey of Detroiters from...

News

Dominguez on economic fallout from COVID-19 pandemic

Aug 12, 2020

The economic impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic has been dramatic and wide ranging, affecting millions of Americans and their employment, incomes, health care, and access to education, while exposing significant inequality in all of those...

Kathryn Dominguez speaks to prospective students at the Ford School's Spring Preview

News

Barr seeks financial inclusion for underserved communities

Aug 12, 2020

Throughout his career in academia and in government, Ford School Dean Michael S. Barr has sought ways to help low-income people get better access to the financial system, and to change the financial system to work better for low-income...

In the Media

Economic future of Michigan "an incredible question mark", Shaefer tells Free Press

Aug 11, 2020 Detroit Free Press

While Michigan’s economy didn’t “fall off a cliff” in April, and the state acted quickly to help children and families access a federal meals program, more income support is required, Shaefer says in an article in the Detroit Free...

Alumni spotlight

Bart Édes (MPP ‘87) forges international partnerships to assist Asia’s developing countries

Aug 11, 2020

As the Asian Development Bank’s North American representative, Bart Édes (MPP '87) raises awareness of the economic, environmental and social challenges facing Asia and the Pacific, and builds partnerships in Canada and the United States to meet...

In the Media

What future global role for the dollar?

Aug 10, 2020 NPR Marketplace

An NPR Marketplace story states, "The U.S. dollar has been on a pretty steady decline ever since the pandemic began and the American economy plunged into recession. As every major currency is rising against the greenback, some financial...

News

Applications for financial aid lagging among Michigan low-income students

Aug 9, 2020

The economic hardship for low-income families caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may have another casualty: high school seniors accessing financial aid to attend college. Applications for federal and state financial aid for college are a leading...

News

Dean Barr publishes new paper to assist teaching about pandemic financial response

Aug 7, 2020

Michael Barr, Dean of the Ford School, has been observing the financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic closely, as the Fed, the Treasury Department and Congress (especially through the CARES Act) have worked to prop up the economy. To help...

News

Meet our new faculty: Charlotte Cavaillé

Aug 5, 2020

Charlotte Cavaillé is an assistant professor of public policy at the Ford School, who is arriving at the Ford School after a year as a visiting fellow at Princeton University's Center for the Study of Democratic Politics. She comes to the Ford...

News

Collins: If the U.S. economy gets sick, other countries could catch ‘pneumonia’

Aug 4, 2020

A segment on Marketplace on NPR, stated that the U.S. economy contributes more than half of the world’s stock market capitalization, accounts for over 15% of global GDP and is a crucial import market. U-M Provost and Ford School economics professor...

News

Did the U.S. economy shrink by 32.9 percent?

Aug 4, 2020

The devastating GDP numbers announced at the end of July—a decline of 9-and-a-half percent—are the worst in American history, according to Ford School economics professor Justin Wolfers. The way the numbers are reported, that at an annualized rate...

News

New Faculty Funding Opportunity for Action-Based Research to Combat and Confront Racism

Jul 30, 2020

Poverty Solutions and the Center for Social Solutions announce the inaugural faculty grants competition to pursue action-based research aimed at ending systemic and institutional racism. The awards, which range from $10,000 to $50,000, are open to...

Shortage of coins affects lower-income consumers - Harris

Jul 30, 2020

An article in the Los Angeles Times on July 30, states that "the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a coin shortage, and it’s hitting small-business owners, big retailers and everyday shoppers — especially those who don’t have credit or debit cards — in...

Alumni spotlight

Alan Cohen (MPP ‘75) improves U.S. social security under 7 administrations

Jul 27, 2020

Alan Cohen (MPP '75) has led an impressive career in social security policy, means-tested programs, and federal budget policy. Working for both the executive and legislative branches, Cohen has transformed aspects of social security, means-tested...