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Kary Moss on Detroit water shutoffs

Oct 22, 2014

Kary Moss speaks on the Detroit water shutoffs in Henry Gass’s “Do Detroit's water shutoffs violate international law? UN to investigate,” posted in the Christian Science Monitor on October 17. The United Nations visited Detroit last weekend to...

Michael Barr in WaPo on proliferation of rent-to-own retailers and their impact on the working poor

Oct 21, 2014

Michael Barr was quoted in a Washington Post news feature about the boom of the rent-to-own retail industry since the Great Recession. The article, “Rental America: Why the poor pay $4,150 for a $1,500 sofa,” examines the impact these retailers have...

Law enforcement increasingly intolerant of dissent

Aug 29, 2014

"It's very clear that when people get this gear they tend to want to use it," says Joy Rohde in the August 28 Policy Points video, "When the police look like soldiers." Rohde argues that militarized police departments lead to violent confrontations...

Law enforcement increasingly intolerant of dissent image

Wealth inequality doubles among US households

Jun 27, 2014

By Diane SwanbrowWealth inequality among U.S. households roughly doubled between 2003 and 2013, according to a new analysis by University of Michigan researchers."American families experienced significant losses in wealth during the Great Recession,...

Wealth inequality doubles among US households image

NY Times publishes "answer on a postcard"

Jun 19, 2014

Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo) have proposed a bipartisan bill to dramatically simplify the college financial aid form. They announced their proposal in the op-ed column, "An Answer on a Postcard," published by The New...

No job, no welfare, no good: Atlantic features report by Seefeldt, Urban Institute

Jun 13, 2014

A recent report authored by Kristin Seefeldt and colleagues from The Urban Institute is the subject of Olga Khazan's article for The Atlantic, "What Happens If You Have No Welfare and No Job?""Spending on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or...

Internship field report: Nick Pfost @ EqualityMaine

Jun 3, 2014

Second year Ford School students are engaged in public policy internships all around the world this summer, and we're hoping they'll check in to share news from the field.Review more internship field reports from Ford School students serving...

Michigan's hourly minimum wage to increase to $9.25

May 29, 2014

In the May 28 Michigan Daily article, "Michigan law raises minimum wage to $9.25," Margo Levy, an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, interviews Professors Sandra Danziger and Alan Deardorff on the pros and cons of the state's new...

Michigan's hourly minimum wage to increase to $9.25 image

State & Hill

Hauling charcoal, studying conservation in Kenya

May 5, 2014

By William Foreman Zach Petroni (BA '13) believes that to truly know something, you have to experience it. So that's why he spent some time working as a charcoal hauler in Kenya, loading huge bags of the fuel on a rusty fixed-gear bike and...

Hauling charcoal, studying conservation in Kenya image

State & Hill

Zachary Petroni, inaugural Raoul Wallenberg Fellowship recipient, discusses the flawed conservation equation for Kenyan forest

May 5, 2014

By Zach Petroni (BA '13) Kenya's Arabuko-Sokoke Forest (ASF), the largest remnant of a hardwood forest that once spanned East Africa's coast from Somalia to southern Mozambique, is a refuge for dozens of endemic and endangered flora and fauna—the...

Zachary Petroni, inaugural Raoul Wallenberg Fellowship recipient, discusses the flawed conservation equation for Kenyan forest image

State & Hill

Fighting poverty like an IPPSter

May 2, 2014

Peter Borish applies analytics and creativity to for-profit and not-for-profit endeavors alike "I was like every other kid," says Peter Borish (AB '81, MPP '82). "When I was growing up, I wanted to become a professional baseball player." Like...

Informing local leaders about fiscal health and economic development

Mar 28, 2014

Five years ago, the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy launched an ongoing survey of the chief elected and appointed officials in every one of Michigan's 1,856 counties, cities, townships and villages, large and small. Among the survey's goals?...

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Kevyn Orr, Detroit's emergency financial manager, speaks at the Ford School

Mar 26, 2014

Over 400 people turned out on March 25th to hear Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr deliver a lecture as part of the Policy Talks @ the Ford School series. The event was covered by a number of media outlets, including the Detroit News, the...

Danziger speaks with Al Jazeera America on the U.S. poverty rate

Feb 24, 2014

On February 20, Professor Sheldon Danziger was interviewed in an Al Jazeera America article about the relationship between poverty and inequality. Danziger discussed his research on how factors such as the racial composition of the U.S., shifts in...

Rising child poverty long trend in the making, says Danziger image

Let states tailor immigration policies to boost economic growth, says Lin

Feb 12, 2014

In a new Ford School Policy Points video, Ann Lin analyzes Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's plan to bring 50,000 highly skilled immigrants to the state over five years. She states that Governor Snyder's numbers are likely unrealistic under the...

Emergency manager appointments reflect growing inequality, writes Farley

Jan 22, 2014

In a Bridge Magazine editorial, Reynolds Farley explains that the pattern of where the state has taken control from local officials highlights the persistent racial income gap in Michigan. He notes that the locations that have seen emergency...

Ford School's National Poverty Center hosts major event on anniversary of LBJ's 'War on Poverty'

Jan 16, 2014

January 8, 2014 marked the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson's declaration of "unconditional War on Poverty." Yet 15 percent of Americans live in poverty today, and no presidential administration or Congress since the Johnson era has...

Murphy seeks to put a face on new suburban poverty

Jan 8, 2014

In an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Alexandra Murphy, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Ford School's National Poverty Center, comments on the invisibility of and unique challenges facing the suburban poor. In 2009, Murphy moved to...

Legacies of the war on poverty, lessons for the future

Dec 20, 2013

January 8, 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson's declaration of "unconditional War on Poverty." Yet 15 percent of Americans live in poverty today, and no presidential administration or Congress since the Johnson era has...

State & Hill

BA alum among 'Top 35 under 35' foreigners making an impact in Africa

Dec 16, 2013

Madelynne Wager (BA '13), a first generation college student from the small town of Greenville, Mich., knew she wanted to make an impact. When she started her studies at the University of Michigan, she thought she could do that best by becoming a...

Danziger comments on what we can learn from change in poverty rate under revised census measure

Nov 7, 2013

This week, the Census Bureau released 2012 poverty numbers under the supplemental poverty measure, which calculates the number of poor people in America as 3 million higher than the official count. Based on this revised formula, 1 and 6 US...

Danziger pens Huffington Post op-ed on persistent effects of the Great Recession

Nov 7, 2013

In a Huffington Post opinion article, "Ravages of the Great Recession," Sheldon Danziger writes that Congress's dysfunction, in particular its preoccupation with slashing the federal deficit, is prolonging economic pains. Danziger cites a new study...

Rising child poverty long trend in the making, says Danziger

Oct 22, 2013

Sheldon Danziger was quoted in a Fox News article about rising child poverty. The article covers a study by the Southern Education Foundation which found that the majority of public school students in 13 southern and four western states are living...

The power of philanthropy to transform Arkansas communities

Oct 8, 2013

"I want change now," says Sherece West-Scantlebury (MPP '89). "I want the solutions now to solve old and difficult problems that keep Arkansas in the bottom five on indicators of children and family well-being. I want us to be number one on those...

Cross-sector partnerships fuel new breakthroughs in affordable housing

Sep 30, 2013

"It's Maslow's hierarchy of needs," Paul Weech says. "Cover the basics—food and shelter—and you allow people to focus their time and energy on work, family, education, and all the rest."A self-proclaimed "houser," Weech is fervent about the need for...

Danziger comments on lack of economic growth for the poor in Michigan

Sep 19, 2013

The Detroit Free Press reports that new census data for Michigan shows an increase in households receiving retirement pay, while overall household income and poverty rates remain stagnant. Sheldon Danziger, former director of the National Poverty...

U.S. poverty has held steady, despite growing income inequality, says Sheldon Danziger in New York Times op-ed

Sep 17, 2013

Sheldon H. Danziger's New York Times op-ed, "The Mismeasure of Poverty," suggests that the recent Census Bureau report on the 2012 U.S. poverty rate—at 15 percent—is inaccurate because it doesn't reflect the value of poverty interventions like food...

No matter what: working for criminal justice reform in New Orleans

Jul 31, 2013

Lelia Gowland (MPP '11) has New Orleans' back. Born and raised in the city, she left her hometown to attend college and always planned to return. Little surprise that she has spent the last few years doing social justice advocacy for youth in the...

State & Hill

Urban policy-themed Spring edition of State & Hill published

Apr 22, 2013

Cities—in America and around the globe—remain vitally important in fueling economic growth, producing jobs, and cultivating innovation and creativity. This edition of State & Hill features insights into city policy from faculty, alumni, and friends...

State & Hill

All in the game

Apr 22, 2013

An interdisciplinary approach to urban policy "Aw yeah. That golden rule." -Bunk Moreland Dirty and disheveled, Dukie rocks up to his crew in an alley somewhere off Franklin Street in West Baltimore. It's the last day of a long, hot summer,...