Policy

In an interview conducted by Scientific American reporter Andrea Thompson for “The Young American Scientists” special section, seismologist Lucy Jones, PhD ‘81, emphasizes the importance of collaboration between scientists and policymakers to develop solutions to big issues, including natural disasters. “Solutions have to be done in collaboration, which means spending time with policymakers,” says Thompson. She adds: “I do see a change in attitude about the worthiness of applying science—of activation. That’s relatively new and really important.”

Writing for The Daily Caller, Jesse Hamel Executive MBA ’25 - a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, an AC-130 gunship combat aviator, a former Air Force Special Operations Command drone squadron commander and founder of VICTUS Technologies - makes the case for the Department of War sponsoring graduate-level education and fellowships at MIT. “The talent base and the operational seriousness of MIT made VICTUS possible,” Hamel writes. “My time on [the MIT] campus from 2023 through 2025 reinforced that view. As a veteran, I encountered respect for my service alongside some of the most demanding technical and academic standards I have ever faced.” 

NPR reporter Jeff Brady spotlights a study by Prof. Jessika Trancik and Marco Miotti PhD ’20  that found “across most of the U.S., electric vehicles are cost-competitive with their gas counterparts. And it found that in most locations, EVs also reduce emissions between 40% and 60%.” 

Writing for The Boston Globe, President Sally Kornbluth emphasizes the importance of investment in discovery science, what she calls “curiosity on a mission." Kornbluth notes: “When someone we love needs therapies that could have emerged but didn’t or when other countries now investing in science can launch new science-based industries or run their societies on vast resources of fusion energy or reap the benefits of quantum computing power or advanced medical breakthroughs, America will wish it sustained its leadership in scientific research here and now.”

Sloan Visiting Prof. Gilbert Metcalf joins Marketplace to discuss whether suspending the gas tax could help consumers with rising prices. Metcalf notes that halting the tax likely won’t help, as gas prices have already risen by 40% or higher in some parts of the country. He also notes pausing the tax would hurt the country’s deficit, explaining that “every dollar that we take away in gas tax revenue means that's another dollar we have to spend out of the general budget” for infrastructure. 

President Emeritus L. Rafael Reif writes for The Boston Globe that with the advent of transformative AI, there is an urgent need for “a bilateral conversation between Washington and Beijing, focused on the shared dangers these technologies pose to each nation and to global stability. Both governments must work toward agreed guardrails, defining not just how this technology should be used but where it must never be applied. Red lines need to be defined, established, and agreed upon.” 

Senior Research Associate Jim Walsh speaks with WBUR Here & Now host Indira Lakshmanan about where things stand one month into the U.S. conflict with Iran. 

Senior Research Associate Jim Walsh speaks with WBUR Here & Now host Indira Lakshmanan about the global impact of the United States’ conflict with Iran. 

A new working paper by researchers from MIT and other institutions explores the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), reports Ana Swanson for The New York Times. The researchers “found that American workers in communities that were more exposed to competition from Mexican imports saw a significant shortening of their life spans after the trade deal went into effect in 1994,” writes Swanson. 

Prof. Christopher Knittel speaks with New York Times reporter Emmett Lindner about how the conflict with Iran has influenced gas prices in the United States. “When there’s a supply disruption in the Middle East, that raises prices for every barrel of oil in the world,” explains Knittel. “Those price increases then trickle down to products that use oil, gasoline being the most relevant one.”

Prof. Simon Johnson speaks with Associated Press reporter Paul Wiseman about how the conflict with Iran has impacted the global economy. “The Strait of Hormuz has to be reopened,” says Johnson. “It’s 20 million barrels of oil a day going through there. There’s no excess capacity anywhere in the world that can fill that gap.” 

Prof. Simon Johnson speaks with CNBC Squawk Box reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin about the state of private credit. “The opacity of this sector has become a problem,” says Johnson. “I think disclosure, at least to the authorities and publicly, would be healthy for everyone.” 

Prof. Christopher Knittel speaks with Bloomberg reporter Stacey Vanek Smith about increased gas prices. “Gas is something we tend to buy on a weekly basis,” says Knittel. “But also, we see the price hundreds of times a day. Even if you’re not buying it, you see the price, so the salience of gas prices is like no other.” 

Senior Research Associate Jim Walsh speaks with WBUR Here & Now host Indria Lakshmanan about the U.S. military action in Iran. 

Writing for The Washington Post, Senior Lecturer Robert Pozen explores the economic implications of blocking the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which links Detroit to Windsor, Ontario. “The new bridge is essential to modernizing the Michigan-Canada trade corridor,” writes Pozen. “It will create a second freeway-to-freeway link, thereby relieving bottlenecks and congestion on the old bridge.”