School of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences

Mario Draghi PhD ’76 has been invited to form a new government by Italian President Sergio Mattarella, writes Colleen Barry and David McHugh for the AP. Draghi, the former European Central Bank chief, “is credited with helping to save the euro has now been tapped to lead Italy, the eurozone’s third-largest economy, out of the pandemic and the worst recession since World War II.”

Writing for STAT, Prof. Emeritus Jeffrey Harris explores how community health centers “can play a crucial role in reducing the burden of the Covid-19 epidemic in the difficult winter months to come. They can serve as critical safety valves at a time when acute care hospitals and emergency rooms are saturated with patients.”

TechCrunch reporter Devin Coldewey writes that a new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that debunking misinformation is the most effective method of addressing false news on social media platforms. “The team speculated as to the cause of this, suggesting that it fits with other indications that people are more likely to incorporate feedback into a preexisting judgment rather than alter that judgment as it’s being formed,” writes Coldewey. 

Writing for The New York Times, Prof. Amy Finkelstein examines the difficulties posed by trying to reduce waste in health care spending. “If something becomes more expensive, people will buy less of it,” writes Finkelstein. “And the empirical evidence is overwhelming: When patients have to pay more, they use less medical care. The problem is they use less of all types of care.”

Writing for the New York Daily News, Prof. Sandy Alexandre underscores the importance of having a role for the humanities in the White House. “Ultimately, presidents who are vocal about believing in science — the power of facts — should also be vocal about their belief in and support of the humanities — the power of history, language, the imagination, critical thinking and hope,” writes Alexandre.

The Economist highlights research by Prof. Daron Acemoglu that finds “networks of influential individuals seem also to have contributed to Italy’s descent into fascism” after WWI.

Prof. Daron Acemoglu speaks with Greg Rosalsky of NPR’s Planet Money about his book, “Why Nations Fail,” whether the attack on the U.S. Capitol signals difficulties for U.S. institutions, and how politicians can create more shared prosperity through a “good jobs” agenda. "We are still at a point where we can reverse things," Acemoglu says. "But I think if we paper over these issues, we will most likely see a huge deterioration in institutions. And it can happen very rapidly."

The Economist spotlights research by Professors Daron Acemoglu and David Autor examining how companies are adopting AI technologies, and the impact on the workforce and productivity. The researchers found, “machines are not yet depressing labour demand across the economy as a whole. As machines become cleverer, however, that could change.” 

Forbes contributor Adi Gaskell spotlights how the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future recently released a comprehensive report examining the future of work. Gaskell writes that the Task Force's report emphasizes the “pressing issues of our time as one of improving the quality of jobs to ensure that prosperity is shared across the economy.”

“Dealing with the present constitutional crisis requires more than removing Donald Trump from office," writes Professor Charles Stewart III. "It requires creating the conditions for electoral politics to marginalize opponents of constitutional government.”

Prof. Vipin Narang speaks with Washington Post reporter Elizabeth Saunders about the process by which the U.S. president can order a nuclear strike. “The president, and the president alone, possesses the sole authority to order a nuclear launch, and no one can legally stop him or her,” Narang explains. “Despite reports that Pelosi received assurances that there are safeguards in place in the event the president of the United States (POTUS) wants to launch a nuclear weapon, any such meaningful or effective safeguards would be illegal.”

Professor Christopher Capozzola, head of MIT History, reflects on yesterday’s violent events in Washington: “What made us think that this could never happen in the United States? ... This is going to be a moment of soul-searching for America.”

A new survey by researchers from the MIT Election Data and Science Lab found that long waiting times were more common for early voters during the 2020 presidential election than than they were on Election Day, reports Kevin Quealy and  Alicia Parlapiano for The New York Times. The researchers found “14 percent of Election Day voters waited more than 30 minutes to vote, an increase from 2016.”

Prof. Kieran Setiya talks with Kate Kent of Wisconsin Public Radio about what we can learn about ourselves and our world from this hard year.

Writing for The Washington Post, Prof. Alan Lightman notes the importance of movie theaters and the need to ensure they survive the Covid-19 pandemic. “Although movies will undoubtedly still be made and streamed into private homes, if theaters do not survive, something irreplaceable will have been lost,” writes Lightman. “We are social creatures. No matter how comfortable our living rooms and sophisticated our technology, we need community, we need physical contact with one another.”