Policy

In an opinion piece for the Financial Times, Prof. Evan Lieberman, director of the MIT Center for International Studies, spotlights how states, cities, corporations, and civil society are working to advance climate action. “Today, over 300 U.S. cities have made climate commitments, action plans, or are participating in co-operative initiatives,” Lieberman writes, “Large cities are connecting with global partners through organizations such as C40 Cities, a group of mayors representing some 700mn people worldwide.” 

President Emeritus L. Rafael Reif joins Bloomberg’s Wall Street Week to highlight the importance of university research for the U.S. economy. “The federal government funds research at universities,” begins Reif. “Scientific research advances knowledge. And we do it here. And at the same time we educate the leaders of the future, who bring that advanced knowledge into the marketplace. That has been at the heart of the terrific ecosystem of innovation in this country.” He adds: “We have benefitted in the past 80 years from this terrific system, and not having access to that is going to basically kill the source of ideas that will power our economy for the next 80 years.” 

Prof. Thomas Kochan speaks with GBH reporter Craig LeMoult about the recent Market Basket’s leadership dispute. “The reality is Market Basket is a community asset,” says Kochan. “People value it because it provides good service, good prices, good jobs. And the public is hungry for a company like that. And they demonstrated that in 2014 when the first episode occurred and everyone rallied around the employees who rallied their CEO.” 

Prof. Jonathan Gruber speaks with Newsweek reporter Jasmine Laws about the anticipated price increase in employer health benefit plans for the coming year. Due to higher costs, “some may stop taking up employer coverage altogether while others may move to less expensive plans,” explains Gruber. 

Prof. Catherine Wolfram speaks with Financial Times reporter Simon Mundy about the EU’s decision to begin applying the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) next year. “I’m not sure the Europeans quite realize just how powerful the CBAM was as an incentive for other countries to adopt carbon pricing,” says Wolfram. “It’s really started a global conversation.” 

Prof. Jonathan Gruber speaks with Newsweek reporter Jasmine Laws about the impact of rising health insurance costs in California. "This is disastrous for both economic security and health,” says Gruber. “Studies have shown that losing insurance is associated with enormous economic risk and worse health, including death."

Prof. Daron Acemoglu speaks with WBUR’s Here & Now co-host Scott Tong about the role of institutions in the overall prosperity of nations and some of the current challenges facing the US. “It’s a very important part of rebuilding democracy that we have to make experts trusted again. And that has to start with us,” says Acemoglu. “We have to be much more down to Earth. We have to be honest about when we are certain of something and when we are uncertain. And, I think we have to make certain that it’s not our political views that drive our advice or our analysis.” 

Writing for Financial Times, Prof. Kristin Forbes explains how to approach to tariff trade-offs. “If even a fraction of the tariffs that have recently been announced are implemented, inflation will pick up and domestic activity will slow — at least over the next year or so,” explains Forbes. “The Fed will need to trade off mitigating the impact of another round of inflation with supporting employment.” 

Prof. Haoxiang Zhu speaks with Bloomberg reporters Jayna Rohslau and Katherine Doherty about a proposal by U.S. regulators "to rework the pattern day trading rule.” “Today, trading is often commission-free, although not in all securities, and there’s less concern about excessive commission cost,” explains Zhu. “For this reason, I think a moderate reduction in the minimum margin for pattern day trading is fine, in particular if the reduction applies to securities for which trading is now commission-free.” 

Prof. David Autor speaks with CNBC about how Chinese industrial policies could impact the United States. “The U.S. needs to recognize that it would be much more effective if it worked with its allies,” says Autor. 

Writing for The New York Times, Prof. David Autor and Prof. Gordon Hanson of Harvard explore how China is “aggressively contesting the innovative sectors where the United States has long been the unquestioned leader." To avoid a second China Shock, they emphasize that the United States “must nourish industries that have high potential for innovation, funded by joint investments by the private and public sectors.” 

In an opinion piece for Bloomberg, Gautam Mukunda PhD '10 highlights the importance of federally funded scientific research. “Today, the federal government’s best investment is scientific research,” writes Mukunda. “The Federal Reserve estimates that support for science has a 150% to 300% return. Few investors have a track record as good.” 

Prof. Simon Johnson speaks with Planet Money host Robert Smith about the role institutions play in prosperity gaps in different countries. “I think democracy is absolutely essential for shared prosperity, because if power isn't widely shared across society, in any kind of authoritarian system, you're going to have a situation where, you might have a good ruler or a pro-growth ruler for a while,” says Johnson. “But then they're going to get cranky. They're going to die and pass it on to somebody else who's really not good for growth. So authoritarian rulers are highly unreliable in terms of sustained prosperity." 

Prof. Asu Ozdaglar, Deputy Dean of MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, speaks with Is Business Broken? podcast host Curt Nickish to explore AI’s opportunities and risks — and whether it can be regulated without stifling progress. “AI is a very promising and transformative technology,” says Ozdaglar. “But regulation should be designed very carefully so that it does not block or impede the development of the technology.” Given AI’s potential harms or misuses, she added that it's important to think about the correct regulatory framework. “For it to be successful, it should focus on where harms can come from.”

A new book edited by Prof. Gary Gensler and Prof. Simon Johnson examines the current administration’s impact on the global economy and how new policies could lead to “a profound weakening of both US economic dynamism and the global system it once led,” reports Sam Sutton for Politico.