Can large language models figure out the real world?
New test could help determine if AI systems that make accurate predictions in one area can understand it well enough to apply that ability to a different area.
Department
Economics
Better public service with data
MIT master’s student and Brazilian diplomat Davi Augusto Oliveira Pinto wants to help policymakers make informed choices to improve people’s lives.
Professor Emeritus Peter Temin, influential and prolific economic historian, dies at 87
The longtime MIT scholar and former department head used the tools of economics to shed new light on historical events and their profound implications for today’s society.
3 Questions: Applying lessons in data, economics, and policy design to the real world
Gevorg Minasyan MAP ’23 draws on experiences in MIT’s Data, Economics, and Design of Policy MicroMasters and master’s programs to shape policymaking at the Central Bank of Armenia.
Helping cities evolve
Economics graduate student Vincent Rollet studies how housing, regulation, and politics interact to shape the future of cities.
What do we owe each other?
A new class teaches MIT students how to navigate a fast-changing world with a moral compass.
Five MIT faculty elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2025
Rodney Brooks, Parag Pathak, Scott Sheffield, Benjamin Weiss, Yukiko Yamashita, and 13 MIT alumni are recognized by their peers for their outstanding contributions to research.
QS ranks MIT the world’s No. 1 university for 2025-26
Ranking at the top for the 14th year in a row, the Institute also places first in 11 subject areas.
The math of politics and power
Institute Professor and Nobel Prize winner Daron Acemoglu teaches a PhD class about the intersections between history, political power, and money.
Professor Emeritus Stanley Fischer, a towering figure in academic macroeconomics and global economic policymaking, dies at 81
Influential MIT economist and former vice chair of the US Federal Reserve inspired generations of students and helped shape modern macroeconomics.
The sweet taste of a new idea
Sendhil Mullainathan brings a lifetime of unique perspectives to research in behavioral economics and machine learning.
Study in India shows several tactics together boost vaccination against deadly diseases
One combination of methods led to a 44 percent increase in child immunizations.
MIT Department of Economics to launch James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work
With support from the Stone Foundation, the center will advance cutting-edge research and inform policy.
If time is money, here’s one way consumers value it
A study on ride-sharing opens a window into consumer behavior, measuring the benefits for businesses.
The age-old problem of long-term care
Informal help is a huge share of elder care in the U.S., a burden that is only set to expand. A new book explores different countries’ solutions.