Policy & the Economy
November 1, 2021
What Businesses Must Do to Curtail Climate Change
We need to dramatically reduce carbon emissions. This will require a new system of incentives.
Meghan Busse
September 1, 2021
In Some Markets, Competition Can Do More Harm Than Good
A study of the Rwandan coffee industry shows how informal contracts can break down as new competitors enter, resulting in higher costs and lower quality products.
Rocco Macchiavello and Ameet Morjaria
August 11, 2021
COVID Has Accelerated These 4 Labor Market Trends
From greater flexibility to higher wages, the workplace is never going to look the same.
Benjamin Friedrich
August 6, 2021
Should Americans Be Worried about Inflation Right Now?
Three economists with opposing views weigh in.
Zhengyang Jiang, Nicolas Crouzet and Efraim Benmelech
August 2, 2021
To Better Measure Economic Uncertainty, Look Beyond the Stock Market
Incorporating news sources, surveys, and even Twitter conversations can help give policymakers more nuanced data.
David Altig, Scott R. Baker, Jose Maria Barrero, Nick Bloom, Phil Bunn, Scarlet Chen and et al.
July 13, 2021
The U.S. Economy Is Still Finding Its Footing. But States Are Doing Pretty Well.
Why California is thriving—and even Illinois is on the upswing.
Therese McGuire
July 1, 2021
Measuring COVID’s Devastating Impact on Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Global surveys of more than 30,000 people revealed widespread drops in income, rising food insecurity, and an increase in domestic violence.
Dean Karlan, Christopher Udry and and coauthors
June 1, 2021
U.S. Firms Are Investing Heavily in Innovation, Yet Economic Productivity Has Slowed. Why?
The answer may lie in how pharmaceutical companies are targeting their R&D spending.
Efraim Benmelech, Janice C. Eberly, Joshua Krieger and Dimitris Papanikolaou
April 1, 2021
To Escape Jim Crow–Era Discrimination and Violence, Some Black Men Passed as White. But How Many?
Hundreds of thousands, according to a new study of Census data. Doing so provided some economic benefits but came at a great personal cost.
Ricardo Dahis, Emily Nix and Nancy Qian
March 13, 2021
With More Stimulus Relief on the Way, Here’s a Look at America’s Covid Economy
A former Treasury official discusses where things stand now—and what the future might bring.
Janice C. Eberly
February 1, 2021
Why Do COVID-19 Death Rates Differ Wildly from Place to Place?
Researchers were surprised by the variable that best predicted fatalities.
Martin Eichenbaum, Sergio Rebelo and Mathias Trabandt
December 4, 2020
How an Advice Hotline Is Making Farmers in India More Productive
Previous efforts to provide farmers with guidance fell short. But this venture went further.
Apoorv Gupta, Jacopo Ponticelli and Andrea Tesei
November 11, 2020
How Auctions Help Solve Some of the World’s Most Complicated Problems
Whenever you turn your lights on, query Google, or stream a video on your phone, it’s likely an auction happened in the background. Our faculty discuss the decades of research that helped make auctions so ubiquitous.
Robert Weber, Jeroen Swinkels, Sandeep Baliga, James Schummer and Joshua Mollner
November 2, 2020
Meet the (Surprisingly Rational) COVID Consumer
Research on initial consumer spending shows that those at higher risk were making safer choices.
Sergio Rebelo, Martin Eichenbaum, Mathias Trabandt, Francisco Lima and Miguel Godinho de Matos
October 29, 2020
What Is “Auction Theory,” and What Kinds of Questions Can It Answer?
The recent Nobel put the field of auction theory in the spotlight. An economist explains how it works, using his own research as a guide.
Paul Milgrom and Joshua Mollner
October 19, 2020
Unpacking the Federal Reserve’s Aggressive Response to COVID-19
A Kellogg professor spent the past year at the Fed. He explains the bank’s “guns-blazing” response—and the limits to these interventions.
Nicolas Crouzet
October 1, 2020
Does Requiring Food-Stamp Recipients to Work Actually Increase Economic Self-Sufficiency?
The answer is increasingly urgent as politicians debate whether to reinstate the requirement, which was paused during the COVID-19 recession.
Elena Prager, Adam Leive, Mary Zaki, Colin Gray and Kelsey Pukelis
September 2, 2020
White Americans Overestimate Racial Progress. But Certain Attempts to Remedy That Could Backfire.
Researchers hoped that having white participants read about racism would help them grasp the true extent of racial gaps in wealth and income. They were wrong.
Ivuoma Ngozi Onyeador, Natalie M. Daumeyer, Julian M. Rucker, Ajua Duker, Michael W. Kraus and Jennifer A. Richeson
August 26, 2020
We’re Several Months into the COVID Economy. What Have We Learned?
From household spending to the strength of the dollar, an economist sees some clear trends—and signs of what’s to come.
Sergio Rebelo
June 24, 2020
Why the Next Round of COVID-19 Aid Should Target Industries That Can’t Work from Home
A new study pinpoints which sectors—and which workers in those sectors—suffered the most. Congress should take note.
Dimitris Papanikolaou and Lawrence Schmidt
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