Prof. Christopher Knittel joins the Marketplace podcast “Make Me Smart” to discuss how the U.S. can be in the best position for global energy dominance. “The world is switching to electric vehicles, the world is switching to solar and wind,” says Knittel. “And the less we do domestically, the less capability we build domestically to provide those clean energy resources, the worse off our industries will be in the future.”
Writing for Forbes, Research Scientist Christian Catalini, founder of the MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab, discusses the future of the crypto industry. “Crypto isn’t above the fundamental laws of economics. Like any startup, crypto projects need to target genuine utility first, then use tokens to speed up adoption or address market failures in their ecosystem,” writes Catalini. “In short, while economists may be eager to play engineer, their ideas shine most when a project already has some traction.”
Samara Oster MBA '22, founder of Meli, has created the “first beer brewed entirely from quinoa,” reports Eli Chavez for Boston Business Journal. “Part of the journey as of late is, how do we explain this super unique, unexpected thing to people, some of whom are skeptical and really like beers,” says Oster “For me, it's about building this better for you, beer world that kind of doesn't exist in that much of a way, just yet.”
Six MIT faculty members – Prof. Emerita Lotte Bailyn, Prof. Gareth McKinley, Prof. Nasser Rabbat, Prof. Susan Silbey, Prof. Anne Whiston Spirn, and Prof. Catherine Wolfram – have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, reports Sarah Mesdjian for The Boston Globe. “The academy aims to honor accomplished leaders in a wide array of fields and ‘cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people,’” explains Mesdjian.
Boston Globe reporter Kevin Lewis spotlights a new study by MIT researchers that found “debate training can improve your chances of attaining leadership positions.” The researchers found that employees who received debate training were “more likely to have earned a promotion, even controlling for their pretraining management level, tenure, gender, and where they were born,” writes Lewis. “The training increased participants’ self-reported assertiveness, which appears to explain the effect on promotions.”
Prof. Simon Johnson joins CNBC’s Squawk Box to discuss the potential impact of U.S. tariffs on the global economy.
Writing for The Hill, Prof. Fiona Murray and Sloan Lecturer Gene Keselman underscore the importance of investment in U.S. universities, noting that the “traditional contributions of universities — advancing knowledge through research and patents — remain fundamental to America’s economic and national security dynamism.” An MIT program called Proto Ventures is building on this tradition, by turning “breakthroughs made in tech labs into real-world solutions that can help all Americans.” They note that: “By bridging the gap between groundbreaking research and tangible outcomes, universities can address their critics, strengthen the nation and focus on their highest purpose: advancing human progress through knowledge and innovation,” they write.
Graduate students Chuck Downing and Zhichu Ren PhD '24 highlight the potential uses of AI in the research process, reports Amanda Heidt for Nature. “I didn’t know much going in, but I learnt quite a bit, and so I use these deep dives all the time now,” says Downing on using deep-research tools when approaching unfamiliar topics. “It’s better than anything else I’ve used so far at finding good papers and in presenting the information in a way that I can easily understand.”
Anantha Chandrakasan, MIT’s chief innovation and strategy officer and dean of MIT’s School of Engineering, speaks with Boston Globe reporter Jon Chesto about the new MIT-GE Vernova Energy and Climate Alliance. “A great amount of innovation happens in academia. We have a longer view into the future,” says Chandrakasan. He adds that while companies like GE Vernova have “the ability to get products out quickly to scale up, to manufacture, we have the ability to think past the short-term. ... It’s super smart of them to surround themselves with this incredible talent in academia. That will allow us to make the kind of breakthroughs that will keep U.S. competitiveness at its peak.”
Writing for Science, Prof. Fiona Murray and Research Affiliate Stefan Raff-Heinen underscore the necessity of federal investment in university research, noting that “without sustained federal support, the country risks losing its technological edge, threatening economic competitiveness and national security.” Murray and Raff-Heinen write: “Translational research funding is crucial for moving discoveries and early-stage technologies from labs to real-world applications. Government support gives scientists the time to refine nascent technologies, which can be a long and uncertain process. But this approach has had substantial payoffs.”
E&E News reporter Christa Marshall writes that the new MIT-GE Vernova Energy and Climate Alliance will “scale sustainable energy systems across the globe” and advance breakthrough low-carbon technologies.
Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Sloan Senior Lecturer Robert Pozen highlights the impact of U.S. tariffs on foreign investment in U.S. Treasury securities and U.S. corporate bonds. “Nevertheless, since target countries will want to respond to reciprocal tariffs, they may stop buying or even sell U.S. debt securities,” explains Pozen. “Either response would increase U.S. interest rates and decrease economic growth. International trade flows and international investing are two sides of the same street.”
Writing for The New York Times, Prof. Catherine Wolfram and Columbia Prof. Glenn Hubbard make the case that to help end the war between Russia and Ukraine, the U.S. should “impose sanctions on any company or individual – in any country – involved in a Russian oil and gas sale.” They write: “Ideally, the policy would pressure Russia into negotiations, where its removal could be part of a deal. If not, the United States would still collect billions annually, which could help fund Mr. Trump’s proposed tax cuts.”
Lee Selwyn PhD '69 speaks with WVCB reporter Ben Simmoneau about how gas companies in Massachusetts promised consumers discounts on their March and April bills, following soaring energy costs this winter.
Sloan Lecturer Harvey Michaels speaks with Boston Globe reporter Scooty Nickerson about skyrocketing energy costs in Massachusetts. Michaels explains that one contributing factor is the vast but costly energy system that can supply heat during cold dips but is expensive to maintain. “It’s like having a fleet of planes flying around with very few passengers on them,” Michaels explains. “It’s going to be very expensive for the passengers that do fly” to make it worth it.