Policy & the Economy
October 28, 2020
Choosing the Right Health-Insurance Plan Could Add Years to Your Life
New evidence suggests that certain Medicare Advantage plans increase life spans more than others. Here’s what the best plans have in common.
Jason Abaluck, Mauricio Cáceres Bravo, Peter Hull and Amanda Starc
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 5, 2020
When Executives Donate to Politicians, How Much Are They Keeping Their Companies’ Interests in Mind?
A new study looks at the motivation behind these donations, which make up nearly a fifth of all political giving.
Edoardo Teso
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
October 1, 2020
Researchers Designed an Algorithm to Save Schools Money and Improve Equity. The District Loved it. Then Things Got Messy.
A tale of bus routes in Boston shows the promises and pitfalls of using new technology to change entrenched systems.
Dimitris Bertsimas, Arthur Delarue and Sébastien Martin
September 2, 2020
Pharma Companies Argue That Lower Drug Prices Would Mean Fewer Breakthrough Drugs. Is That True?
Probably not, a new study suggests—as long as the price decreases are modest.
David Dranove, Craig Garthwaite and Manuel I. Hermosilla
September 2, 2020
How Credit Ratings Are Shaping Governments’ Responses to Covid-19
To fund pandemic-related spending, governments around the world will need to take on more debt. If they can.
Efraim Benmelech
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
September 1, 2020
How Did School Desegregation Shape the Political Ideology of White Students Later in Life?
A new study suggests that, more than four decades later, the impact of these policies on political leanings is apparent.
Ethan Kaplan, Jörg L. Spenkuch and Cody Tuttle
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
August 7, 2020
Why Well-Meaning NGOs Sometimes Do More Harm than Good
Studies of aid groups in Ghana and Uganda show why it’s so important to coordinate with local governments and institutions.
Erika Deserranno, Aisha Nansamba, Nancy Qian, Katharine Baldwin, Dean Karlan, Christopher Udry and Ernest Appiah
August 3, 2020
Why Are Social Media Platforms Still So Bad at Combating Misinformation?
Facebook, Twitter, and users themselves have few incentives to distinguish fact from fiction.
Hatim Rahman
July 20, 2020
A Look Inside Chicago’s Economic Recovery Plan
Attracting HQ2s. Expanding mental-health care. A member of the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force explains how the city can emerge both stronger and more equitable.
Benjamin Harris
July 10, 2020
Why We Know So Little about Disparities within the Federal Court System—and How That’s Finally Changing
Millions of hard-to-obtain public court records shed new light on the fairness of the U.S. judiciary.
Adam Pah, David Schwartz, Sarath Sanga, Zachary Clopton, Peter DiCola, Rachel Davis Mersey, Charlotte Alexander, Kristian Hammond and Luis A. Nunes Amaral
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 16, 2020
How Is the Pandemic Affecting Antitrust Enforcement?
Deals will be ramping up again soon. Companies shouldn’t expect a free pass from regulators.
R. Mark McCareins
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 8, 2020
The U.S. Is Full of Innovative Thinkers. The Government Needs to Marshal All of Them to Fight Covid-19.
Here’s how we can accelerate efforts to reduce the spread, develop treatments, and find a vaccine.
Benjamin F. Jones
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