Economics

The MITx MicroMasters program in Data, Economics, and Development Policy is an online series of courses designed for learners like Alan Al Yussef, who seek to have a direct impact on major social issues through an empirical, data-driven approach.

Turning an economics education into solutions with impact

MITx MicroMasters learner Alan Al Yussef is working to improve lives in the Middle East through a career in development economics.

August 14, 2018

Economics PhD student Ryan Hill, shown with daughter Norah, studies the role of risk in science. “There are a lot of projects that fail,” he notes. “And that’s a fundamental part of innovation.”

Risk, failure, and living your life: The economics of being an early-career scientist

Doctoral student Ryan Hill studies factors that influence researchers’ professional paths, while lending his voice to support student families.

August 9, 2018

"Rising inequality is highly correlated to unequal access to education," Piketty said in an address at MIT. "In the United States, 95 percent of those with parents at the highest income levels attend college, while only about 20 percent of the poorest do, research shows."

At MIT, Thomas Piketty calls for policies and collaborations to reduce income inequality

French economist was a keynote speaker at the 2018 World Economic History Congress.

August 9, 2018

A new way to measure women’s and girls’ empowerment in impact evaluations

Guide developed by J-PAL aims to improve women’s and girls’ empowerment worldwide and reduce bias and other gender-based inequalities.

July 17, 2018

J-PAL North America’s Education, Technology, and Opportunity Innovation Competition supports education leaders in using randomized evaluations to generate evidence on how technology can improve student learning, particularly for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

J-PAL North America’s Education, Technology, and Opportunity Innovation Competition announces inaugural partners

July 6, 2018

Ken Wang ’71 rebuilt the Pound Ridge Golf Course as an 18-hole course in 2008.

Building the green

Ken Wang ’71, MIT Corporation member and former MIT Alumni Association president, developed one of America’s premier modern golf courses.

June 29, 2018

“What we discovered is, very little [Medicare] money is spent on people who we know with high probability are going to die in a short amount of time,” says Amy Finkelstein, a professor in MIT’s Department of Economics and co-author of a paper in the journal Science.

The value of late-in-life health care spending

Study debunks notion that large chunks of Medicare go to futile end-of-life care.

June 28, 2018

“Teaching is complementary with research,” says economics professor Alberto Abadie. “When you need to explain material that you believe you understand very well, that is when the real test is."

Method man

Alberto Abadie refines the tools of economics — and gets some interesting results along the way.

June 18, 2018

Through a set of four online courses developed by MIT faculty and delivered on edX, students will learn, implement, and experiment with data analysis techniques and machine learning algorithms.

MITx MicroMasters Program in Statistics and Data Science opens enrollment

Program offers path to an accelerated master’s degree at seven universities.

June 11, 2018

“I’ve always been interested in technology and in the different ways in which you can make people’s lives better through [technological] tools,” Rodríguez says.

William Rodríguez: Helping others broaden their horizons

MIT senior and Model UN leader William Rodríguez works to encourage the global exchange of ideas.

May 20, 2018

About 30 percent of Indonesia’s households are supposed to receive subsidized rice from the government every month as part of a huge program called “Raskin,” or “Rice for the Poor.” The study shows that the amount of rice the villagers actually receive increases 26 percent when they are sent a simple information card with program details.

For food-aid recipients, information is power

A simple card explaining a government aid program leads to more rice for poor villagers in Indonesia.

May 9, 2018

MIT’s four new NAS members are (from left): Feng Zhang, Mehran Kardar, Amy Finkelstein, and Xiao-Gang Wen.

National Academy of Sciences elects four MIT professors for 2018

Finkelstein, Kardar, Wen, and Zhang honored for research achievements.

May 1, 2018

Refugees taking DEDP courses will study the root causes of poverty, while also developing skills in economics and data analysis that will enable them to build data-driven approaches to help drive positive change.

Empowering refugees worldwide by providing tools for social change

New collaboration joins together MITx MicroMasters, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, and MIT Refugee Action Hub.

May 1, 2018

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in India

How much does infrastructure boost an economy?

MIT economist’s historical study details how railroads helped India trade and grow.

April 26, 2018

Parag Pathak wins John Bates Clark Medal

MIT economist lauded for work on education, market-design mechanisms.

April 20, 2018

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