Moynihan: "State capacity” is hard to define and measure, and is perhaps seen as boring, but capacity is the hidden glue that holds public policy together, or, when debased, causes public policy to fall apart. If you care about the quality of...
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...
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...
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...
Javed Ali, Ford School professor, discussed with USA Today the signal groupchat that was publicly released. He said, "you certainly don't want those details being revealed in any kind of public form because you are putting the force at risk." More...
Current government operations under the Trump administration are pointing to signs of democratic backsliding. The Ford School's Don Moynihan has stated that Americans have put too much faith in the law. Quoted in an article from the Financial Times,...
The Ford School's Jeff Morenoff advocated for legislation that would reduce long sentences for incarcerated people in Michigan. In an opinion piece published in the Detroit Free Press, Morenoff explained that Michigan's average prison sentence...
“Civility is the bedrock of our free and democratic society,” Tonya Schuitmaker, a former Republican member of the Michigan Senate, told the recent panel on Promoting Civic Discourse - Democratic and Republican politicians on bridging the political...
"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...
The Ford School's Don Moynihan spoke with The Daily Beast and commented on the removal of government history from various agency websites, specifically targeting topics involving DEI or POC and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. "It's this sort of...
"We are living through a massive assault on basic premises of our constitutional system" said Ford School Professor Samuel Bagenstos, in a question-and-answer article for The New Yorker magazine. He said, "I really hate the significance that’s being...
Pam Herd, Ford School professor, talked about the Trump administration's strategies to cut the government work force, saying "It's the move fast and break things approach, without really thinking through the implications of a range of different...
Technology writer and podcaster Kara Swisher will join the Ford School for the Fall 2025 semester as a Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in...
Shobita Parthasarathy, Ford School professor, says "These workers have real expertise and a nuanced understanding of the issues, which AI does not. AI does not, in fact, ‘understand’ anything." So, she says, “It’s a very bad idea" to use AI to run...
Justin Wolfers, Ford School professor talked with ABC Australia about Trump's trade war and how other countries like Australia have yet to retaliate. Wolfers said "we haven't seen any action of non-US countries imposing tariffs on each other so its...
Ford School professor Justin Wolfers tried to explain Donald Trump's thinking on the economy. He said, "There is an underlying economics of trump, and you won't be surprised I think it's dead wrong." Wolfers said, "There's the zero sum thinking and...
Don Moynihan, Ford School professor, said the DOGE cuts at agencies created by Congress "is implementing an unprecedented scale of disruption.” Rather than just shrinking the government in ways conservatives have long advocated, these efforts by...
Ford School assistant professor (by courtesy) Ben Green, wrote an essay for Tech Policy on Elon Musk's new “AI-first strategy” for the federal government, and commented, "unleashing AI to revolutionize the federal government is a recipe for...
The Ford School's Kenneth Lowande recently presented at the University of Oklahoma's annual Teach-In conference. There, Lowande was asked to comment on the power of the president and why Donald Trump has upheld a strategy of implementing countless...
Rusty Hills, Ford School lecturer, commented on the president's address to Congress, calling it "classic Trump." He said, "The speech was a campaign rally held under the capitol dome. It was a two hour long ‘Greatest Hits’ tour." In the speech,...
Kenneth Lowande, Ford School professor, explains why the Trump administration made English the official language of the US by saying, "The point of these actions is to show you that President Trump stands for people speaking English.” It is not...
Don Moynihan, Ford School professor, spoke about reports of DOGE employees receiving six-figure salaries from government agencies. He said, "It does seem worth understanding what these employees are being paid, especially if they are being paid...
Kenneth Lowande, Ford School professor, talked impacts of the Trump administration and expansion of presidential powers. Lowande discussed the breaking of norms, saying, "Their goal is to change the rules of American government that have existed for...
Don Moynihan, Ford School professor and co-director of the Better Government Lab, talked about the court orders against the Trump administration, saying, ""Trump administration broke the law by pausing legitimate spending. The courts told him to...
The Ford School's Betsey Stevenson recently spoke with Bloomberg, highlighting the false assertions of government saving increases made by DOGE. DOGE claims it has saved the government around $55 billion in spending through a wave of federal firings...
Michigan Advance has observed ways in which political trends and ideologies of Michiganders are representative of the broader national population. “It’s not just that we’re a swing state, but we’re kind of a microcosm of the country and our politics...
“The Michigan Supreme Court enforced a basic democratic principle — that the people have a reserved power to vote on an initiative that qualifies for the ballot if the Legislature will not let it go into effect,” the Ford School's Sam Bagenstos...
Professor at the Ford School and former General Counsel to the Office of Management and Budget, Samuel Bagenstos said the president "withholding certain funding — including for green energy projects and foreign aid" is not supported by "proper...
