Economics and finance | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
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Economics and finance

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Obama’s college proposal a bid to rev the economy says Wolfers

Jan 10, 2015
“If [Obama] succeeds in persuading more of the next generation to continue beyond high school…there’s a strong chance the rate of economic growth will be bolstered for decades to come,” says Justin Wolfers in his January 9, New York Times Upshot...
State & Hill

Policy analysis and prescience, making life better

Dec 18, 2014
To solve a vexing problem. To seize a promising opportunity. To find the best path forward. For centuries, for millennia, we’ve sought the power of prescience. These days, policy analysis—well and thoughtfully done—is among the most powerful tools...
State & Hill

What good is history, anyway?

Dec 18, 2014
With public service in our DNA, what we’d really like to do is to peer into the future, to see and shape what’s coming around the bend. So we asked ourselves, ‘Can a deeper understanding of the past help to shape and inform the future?’ The myth...
State & Hill

The Power of Policy

Dec 17, 2014
Public policy is a principled guide to action, designed to lead to the greater good. As we celebrate our centennial as America’s first graduate-level training program in public administration, we take a moment to reflect on the powerful role policy...
State & Hill

Measuring poverty, a more accurate picture

Dec 9, 2014
By Miriam Wasserman Jordan Matsudaira, PhD alum, stays second year to work as chief staff economist for President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers Only a very small number of economists get to work for the Council of Economic Advisers....
State & Hill

Serving the public, without going broke: the best investment

Dec 8, 2014
By Jeff Mortimer In the present, John Chamberlin is teaching an undergraduate course on U.S. inequality, even though he’s officially retired. In the past, he taught statistics, and values and ethics in public policy, and led the launch of the...

Wolfers on country music and the Fed’s dual mandate

Nov 7, 2014
“The struggle to balance the demands of keeping unemployment low versus keeping a lid on inflation is just the sort of dilemma crying out for the full country-music treatment,” states Justin Wolfers in Simone Pathe’s recent article, “From Alan...

Read 'the Ford School feed'

Oct 17, 2014
The latest edition of the Ford School feed, an email news source for alumni and friends of the school, arrived in inboxes this week.This fall edition:Reminds alumni and friends to RSVP for the Centennial Reunion, Oct. 31 – Nov . 1, which will...

Mainstream economists express skepticism about Piketty

Oct 17, 2014
Following a University of Chicago Economic Experts panel on the work of Thomas Piketty, Justin Wolfers pens New York Times Upshot column, “Fellow Economists Express Skepticism about Thomas Piketty.”“There’s no doubt that Thomas Piketty has...

The changing economics of nuclear power

Oct 9, 2014
Policy Points is a video series featuring short segments on current events or recent research by faculty from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. We encourage opinion leaders worldwide to use material from these videos or transcripts in...

Melyvn Levitsky on Brazil's Presidential Election

Oct 3, 2014
Melvyn Levitsky analyzes the dynamics of Brazil’s voting populace in Christina Silva’s October 3 International Business Times piece, “Brazil Recession Drives Heated Election Between President Dilma Rousseff, Marina Silva.” Levitsky believes the...

Helping working families will help the economy, says Stevenson

Sep 26, 2014
In a Q&A session with the New Republic, Betsey Stevenson discusses the impact new policies to support working families—such as paid sick and maternity leave, and universal pre-kindergarten—could have, both on families and the economy.Stevenson, who...

Slow down, get college ratings right, Dynarski tells White House

Sep 22, 2014
“The Obama administration seems intent on putting [college] ratings in place in short order,” writes Dynarski in “Why Federal College Ratings Won’t Rein In Tuition,” published in the Sunday, September 21 edition of The New York Times. “Along with...

Nuclear energy competition enhances safety, profitability?

Sep 12, 2014
After the widespread deregulation of U.S. energy in the late 1990s, in which half of American nuclear plants entered wholesale electricity markets for the first time, there were public fears that the new profit-mentality would degrade safety...

Wolfers picked for IMF "25 Brightest Young Economists" list

Sep 10, 2014
What does Justin Wolfers have in common with Esther Duflo, Roland Fryer, and Thomas Piketty?All just made the International Monetary Fund’s “25 Brightest Young Economists” list, published in the August 27 issue of IMF’s Finance and Development...

Fed stays cautious on recovery stimulus

Jul 31, 2014
"It would be hard to make a strong case at this point that the economy is roaring out of a slow recovery," Kathryn Dominguez says in the Bankrate.com article by Allison Ross, "Federal Reserve preview: No summer blockbuster." The article notes that...

Anti-globalization is "bad news for the U.S. auto industry"

Jul 8, 2014
"It looks as if U.S. auto manufacturers have finally gone global," Marina v.N. Whitman writes in "Globalization is, finally, working in Michigan's best interest," a June 27 op-ed in the Detroit Free Press. "In the first quarter of this year, General...