Policy Topics

Economics and finance

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Professor Leahy's latest paper studies the economic effects of wishful thinking

Apr 12, 2019

In a new paper entitled “Wishful Thinking” published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, co-authors Andrew Caplin (a professor of economics at the New York University) and John Leahy from the University of Michigan, analyze the economic...

State & Hill

Stephanie Leiser and Sarah Mills on perception versus reality in local government budgets

Apr 10, 2019

Local government officials’ assessments of their own fiscal health is often at odds with—and worse than—what their financial statements indicate, according to work done by Stephanie Leiser and Sarah Mills. The researchers note that this could be...

News

Refereeing the Referees: Wolfers featured on podcast about fairness in basketball

Apr 8, 2019

Just in time for the NCAA championship game concluding March Madness, a new podcast investigating the idea of fairness titled Against the Rules with Michael Lewis gives insight into changing referee standards. In the first episode released April 2,...

Stevenson summarizes the boom-bust cycle, likelihood of next recession

Mar 29, 2019

While the economy experiences one of the longest period of sustained growth, many Americans are already concerned about the likelihood of the next recession. For many, the wounds of the Great Recession are only now beginning to heal and the thought...

Michael Barr addresses faltering financial protection for consumers

Mar 22, 2019

Only 10 years out of the Great Recession in which hundreds of thousands of Americans lost their jobs, homes, and savings, the Trump Administration’s deregulatory stance sounds alarms for many in the finance sector. Among the concerned is Michael...

Stevenson testifies for the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Mar 19, 2019

On March 6, 2019, Professor Betsey Stevenson testified in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, addressing critical issues facing the modern American worker. After initial remarks by Chairman Marco Rubio and...

News

With a declining birthrate, Farley suggests it's time to reimagine policy

Mar 11, 2019

Although we may not notice in a bustling town like Ann Arbor, we are amidst a crisis—the number of births in the state of Michigan has reached its lowest point since World War II. In the last three decades, births have fallen from 153,000 in 1990 to...

News

Poverty Solutions & CLOSUP new report find local officials believe many Michigan residents struggle to make ends meet

Mar 7, 2019

AMany local governments in Michigan report poverty and economic hardships among their residents, according to a survey from University of Michigan researchers. Almost half (44 percent) of local officials say more than one in five of their...

Informing local leaders about fiscal health and economic development image

10% Happier: Stevenson and Wolfers talk wealth inequality and redistribution on NewsHour

Mar 1, 2019

More money makes you happier...right? Professors Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson say that’s accurate, to a point. “It’s a truism, but it’s false,” states Wolfers plainly on a February 28, 2019, segment from PBS’s NewsHour. “Rich people are...

Justin Wolfers says expansions don’t necessitate recessions as long as there is good policy

Feb 15, 2019

Media outlets continue to search for red flags signaling the next recession, but for Professor Justin Wolfers there’s more reason for optimism. Wolfers was featured in a CNBC video titled “Justin Wolfers: Biggest risk to strong U.S. economy is Trump...

Crying recession: Ford professor Betsey Stevenson urges people to look holistically

Jan 28, 2019

Recent economic conversations have attempted to forecast the widely-anticipated next recession, but when are these commentators correct, and when are they crying wolf? Politico Money's Ben White sat down with Professor Betsey Stevenson to dissect...

Deardorff questions the economics of Trump’s border wall and the USMCA

Jan 16, 2019

The “will they or won’t they” question continues to circulate around who, if anyone, will pay for a border wall between the United States and Mexico. President Trump has attempted to provide some clarity, but each suggestion only appears to add...

Ford Professor Betsey Stevenson casts doubt on middle-class gains from federal tax cuts

Jan 11, 2019

In the January 10, 2019 PBS NewsHour story “Evaluating Trump’s economic policies, 2 years in,” Paul Solman asked Ford School Professor, and former member of the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) for the Obama Administration, Betsey Stevenson about...

News

CFLP to research opportunities for shaping central banks of the future to advance a more inclusive economy for the poor

Jan 10, 2019

The University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to identify opportunities for how a central bank of the future might build a financial system that serves the needs of...

News

Minimum wage delay—what is it good for? Wolfers adds perspective

Dec 10, 2018

In an attempt to forestall a citizen-led initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage, Michigan GOP legislators approved a gradual increase that would get the state to a $12-minimum in 2022. However, during this lame duck session, they instead...

New research unearths the discrepancies of higher ed costs

Dec 6, 2018

Not all degrees are of equal cost in the world of higher education. That is what Kevin Stange’s, assistant professor at the Ford School, new research paper reveals, as reported in Inside Higher Ed. “Why Teaching Engineering Costs More Than Teaching...

Wolfers' take on Trump’s tariffs

Nov 28, 2018

While President Trump’s rhetoric about trade and the tariffs his administration has implemented aim to make America more protectionist, Ford School professor Justin Wolfers argues the recent and forthcoming actions still have a long way to go to...

News

Clearing the Air: Catherine Hausman details methane gas regulatory impacts

Nov 1, 2018

Over the past year energy policy standards have been relaxed by the federal government, justified by supporters in the name of economic opportunity. In a podcast interview with Energy Policy Now Ford School Assistant Professor Catherine Hausman...

News

CLOSUP survey reveals that local officials are perplexed on Prop 1

Oct 12, 2018

On November 6, Michigan voters will have the option to either affirm or oppose Proposal 1, an amendment to the Michigan state constitution that will legalize the use of recreational marijuana. While public opinion polls convey support for the...

Dominguez named to European economic committee

Oct 9, 2018

The Ford School’s Kathryn Dominguez, an economics professor, was named to the Advisory Scientific Committee (ASC) of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), which oversees financial systems of the European Union to mitigate and prevent systemic...

News

Ford School research suggests refugee restrictions will harm Michigan’s economy

Sep 28, 2018

In line with his “America First” foreign policy, President Trump recently declared that the United States will limit the number of refugees permitted into the United States. Research from Global Detroit and the Ford School, however, shows how such...

News

Bloomberg cites Catherine Hausman - oil executive pay disproportionate to oil price

Sep 21, 2018

In “How Oil Bosses Make Their Own Luck,” Bloomberg Opinion columnist Liam Denning reports that oil executive compensation continues to skyrocket in a disparate relation to oil prices. Instead of pay reflecting fluctuations in price, oil executives...

Dean Michael Barr sounds off: Washington politics put renters at risk

Sep 21, 2018

In a recent Market Watch article focusing on the lack of financial regulations in the housing market, Ford School Dean Michael Barr states that “Our politics in Washington right now are pushing us toward a set of steps that will make the financial...

News

Michigan-Harvard team up to bolster Detroit economy, tackle nationwide opioid epidemic

Sep 14, 2018

The University of Michigan and Harvard University are forming two new partnerships designed to spur economic mobility and reduce poverty in Detroit, as well as combine resources and expertise in response to the national opioid...

Michael Barr's financial regulation textbook set for publication

Jul 31, 2018

Dean Michael S. Barr's textbook, Financial Regulation: Law and Policy 2d, written with coauthors Howell Jackson and Margaret Tahyar, will be released on August 6, 2018. Just two years after the publication of the first edition of Financial...

Photo of Michael Barr and his new book, "Financial Regulation: Law and Policy"

Students publish 15th edition of the Michigan Journal of Public Affairs

Jul 9, 2018

In June, Ford School graduate students announced the publication of the Michigan Journal of Public Affairs, Volume 15. The journal is available online here.MJPA is the Ford School's graduate student-run journal, dedicated to publishing innovative...

Graphic with text "Michigan Journal of Public Affairs in Solidarity with Black lives"

Planet Money podcast on banking "stress tests" features Michael Barr

Jul 3, 2018

Dean Michael Barr is featured on a recent episode of The Indicator, a podcast from NPR's Planet Money. The episode, titled "Dungeons & Dragons & Balance Sheets," explored the origins, results, and future of annual "stress tests" for mid-sized to...

News

Michael Barr quoted in Free Press on Bitcoin ATMs in low-income neighborhoods

Jun 29, 2018

Bitcoin ATMs in poor neighborhoods are "not a safe or sound way of providing financial services to low-income people," says Dean Michael Barr in an interview with Detroit Free Press journalist Susan Tompor. The article, titled "Bitcoin ATMs...

Shaefer in WaPo: Low federal spending on children in U.S. compared to other developed nations

May 18, 2018

H. Luke Shaefer is quoted in the Washington Post’s May 16 article, “The U.S. spends less on children than almost any other developed nation,” by Jeff Stein.The article presents the results of a new NBER working paper by Diane W. Schanzenbach and...

Behavioral Finance Symposium summary paper now available

May 17, 2018

On September 14-15, 2017, the University of Michigan’s Center on Finance, Law, and Policy and behavioral science research and design lab ideas42 brought together influential leaders from academia, government, nonprofits and the financial sector for...