Policy & the Economy
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
June 1, 2020
Want Your Employees to Innovate? Trust Them.
R&D teams take more risks—and do better work—when their CEOs have faith in them.
Kieu-Trang Nguyen
May 27, 2020
The Wrong Way to Ramp Up COVID-19 Testing
Robust testing is key to safely reopening the economy. But a new model shows that if testing is not paired with “smart containment,” it could backfire.
Martin Eichenbaum, Sergio Rebelo and Mathias Trabandt
May 11, 2020
The Treasury’s Former Chief Economist Takes Stock of the Pandemic’s Economic Impact
Kellogg’s Janice Eberly zeroes in on a few data points that demonstrate the massive challenge policymakers face.
Janice C. Eberly
May 5, 2020
Here’s How Americans Are Spending Their Stimulus Checks
Real-time data pinpoints what we’re buying, and who’s spending the fastest.
Scott R. Baker, R Farrokhnia, Steffen Meyer, Michaela Pagel and Constantine Yannelis
April 14, 2020
Companies Need to Prepare Today to Survive the Next 18 Months
An economist explains how leaders can try to lower fixed costs, retain workers, and mind their brands.
Sergio Rebelo
April 10, 2020
A Closer Look at Consumer Stockpiling During the Coronavirus Crisis
Researchers examined how households responded to shelter-in-place orders. They uncovered some surprises.
Scott R. Baker, R Farrokhnia, Steffen Meyer, Michaela Pagel and Constantine Yannelis
April 1, 2020
The Unprecedented Stock-Market Reaction to COVID-19
A new analysis explains why this pandemic really is different.
Scott R. Baker, Nicholas Bloom, Steven J. Davis, Kyle Kost, Marco Sammon and Tasaneeya Viratyosin
March 26, 2020
Containing COVID-19 Will Devastate the Economy. Here’s the Economic Case for Why It’s Still Our Best Option.
The death toll from failing to contain the virus will be far more costly to society.
Martin Eichenbaum, Sergio Rebelo and Mathias Trabandt
March 24, 2020
Take 5: What Previous Recessions Can Teach Us about the Coronavirus Crisis
From stimulus strategies to how businesses will fare, research on past downturns can help inform our outlook today.
Ravi Jagannathan, Filippo Mezzanotti, Sara Moreira, Jacopo Ponticelli and Scott R. Baker
March 2, 2020
When Do Open Borders Make Economic Sense?
A new study provides a window into the logic behind various immigration policies.
João Guerreiro, Sergio Rebelo and Pedro Teles
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