In a piece for the Washington Post about infant mortality rates, Christopher Ingraham highlights a new study co-authored by Professor Heidi Williams examining why the U.S. infant mortality rate is so high. The researchers found that the higher mortality rates are due, “entirely, or almost entirely, to high mortality among less advantaged groups."
Professor Andrea Louise Campbell writes for Time about how government healthcare policy has forced her brother and sister-in-law into poverty in order to qualify for long-term care. Campbell argues that the solution for her family and others in the same situation is “[a] universal social insurance program for long-term care.”
Margot Sanger-Katz cites research by Professor Jonathan Gruber in this New York Times article on rising health insurance premiums. Gruber’s findings indicate that prior to the Affordable Care Act, premiums rose at higher average rates for individuals than they have since the legislation went into effect
Irving Wladawsky-Berger writes about research by Professor David Autor on the impact of technology on the workforce presented at this year’s Jackson Hole Federal Reserve Symposium. Autor argues that artificial intelligence still struggles to perform tasks that require flexibility, judgment and common sense.
MIT PhD Student Tom O’Grady writes for The Washington Post about the upcoming vote on independence in Scotland. O’Grady argues Scotland’s case is unique in that nationalists and progressives are united in their support for leaving the UK.
David Weininger reports for The Boston Globe on Professor Evan Ziporyn’s upcoming concert to celebrate his “20,000th day on earth.” The concert is slated for Tuesday and will be held in Killian Hall.
MIT Professor Abhijit Banerjee and Varad Pande of Harvard write for The New York Times about the United Nations’ forthcoming Sustainable Development Goals. The authors provide suggestions for the development of successful objectives, including outlining specific goals and limiting the number of objectives.
Shawn Donnan of the Financial Times writes about a new MIT study examining gossip. Prof. Abhijit Banerjee explains that the study shows, “your sense of who is the office gossip is generally very good and that if you want to spread information you should do it by that person.”
In a piece for The New York Times about poverty in America, Thomas B. Edsall highlights Professor David Autor’s work examining unemployment rates of American men. Autor and graduate student Melanie Wasserman found that for boys, “growing up in a single-parent home appears to significantly decrease the probability of college attendance.”
In a piece for Finance & Development, the International Monetary Fund’s quarterly magazine, Carmen Rollins highlights 25 economists influencing the global economy. The list includes five MIT faculty members: Esther Duflo, Amy Finkelstein, Kristin Forbes, Parag Pathak and Iván Werning.
Slate reporter Jordan Weissman writes about Professor David Autor’s new paper, presented at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas’s City’s Economic Symposium. In the paper, Autor argues that robots and computers will not replace humans in the labor market as they lack the ability to reason like the human brain.
Professor M. Taylor Fravel speaks with Edward Wong of The New York Times about the controversial new maps released by the Chinese military that display disputed regions with India as Chinese. Fravel argues the maps “get undue attention, as they almost always reaffirm existing claims rather than depict new ones.”
New York Times reporter Neil Irwin writes about Professor David Autor’s new paper, which asserts that robots will not replace humans in the labor market. “Many of the middle-skill jobs that persist in the future will combine routine technical tasks with the set of non-routine tasks in which workers hold comparative advantage,” Autor explains.
Reuters reports on Professor David Autor’s new paper on how automation and computers are impacting the labor market. "I expect that a significant stratum of middle skill, non-college jobs combining specific vocational skills with foundational middle skills - literacy, numeracy, adaptability, problem-solving and common sense - will persist in coming decades," Autor explains.
Bloomberg News reports on Professor David Autor’s presentation on the U.S. labor market at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, where he presented research demonstrating that robots are not replacing as many human workers as some fear. “Challenges to substituting machines for workers in tasks requiring flexibility, judgment, and common sense remain immense,” Autor explains.