In the News
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September 19, 2023
U.S. Census Bureau data released last week showed that real median income fell last year, while poverty increased dramatically. “We saw big increases in poverty across every sociodemographic group. The biggest was among children. We saw child poverty more than double,” said Luke Shaefer, professor of public policy and social work, and faculty director of Poverty Solutions.
Marketplace -
September 19, 2023
“The American free market economy has taken this to such high levels,” said Cindy Schipani, professor of business law, who doubts that CEO-worker pay ratios will go down anytime soon, since top executives are paid based on market demands and the average worker doesn’t have much leverage when it comes to bridging the gap.
National Public Radio -
September 18, 2023
“I do think a lot of the membership are really tired of sacrificing, especially in a lower tier. It’s been building and, as you see these people at the top just making hand over fist money, doing well financially,” said Michelle Fecteau, director of the Center for Labor and Community Studies at UM-Dearborn, about the striking UAW autoworkers.
MLive -
September 18, 2023
“It’s like a guerrilla warfare tactic. All traditions, all bets are off,” said Erik Gordon, clinical assistant professor of business, on the United Auto Workers’ decision to stop work at only certain facilities run by the three automakers they’re negotiating with — a strategy that could inflict wider damage on the companies and allow the union to strike for longer.
The New York Times -
September 18, 2023
“Both short-run and long-run expectations for economic conditions improved modestly this month,” said Joanne Hsu, director of the Surveys of Consumers. “Though on net, consumers remain relatively tentative about the trajectory of the economy.”
The Wall Street Journal -
September 15, 2023
Financial advisers and relationship counselors suggest couples plan regular “money dates” to better manage their spending, saving and investing. “Pair the want with the should in order to entice you to do the should,” said Scott Rick, associate professor of marketing. “Open the nice bottle of wine. Say, ‘This is the night we order in from the best restaurant in town.’”
The Wall Street Journal -
September 15, 2023
Although the vast majority of Americans already have some protection against COVID-19 — thanks to prior infections and vaccinations — many health experts would still like to see everyone who’s eligible get boosted. “It’s no fun to be sick. It’s no fun to miss school and work, and being vaccinated is likely to make whatever illness you get less severe,” said Preeti Malani, professor of medicine and infectious diseases.
National Public Radio -
September 15, 2023
While many Republicans today deny man-made climate change, there was a time that the GOP worked with Democrats to fight an environmental crisis. “The passage of amendments to the Clean Air Act … happened in 1990 during the Bush administration,” said Rachel Rothschild, assistant professor of law.
Salon -
September 14, 2023
“Foods that are very high in fat and carbohydrates in a kind of an equal ratio — they don’t exist naturally. It’s something that’s designed by food scientists in a laboratory to look a certain way, feel a certain way in your mouth, smell a certain way when you open the package,” said Ashley Gearhardt, professor of psychology.
Scientific American -
September 14, 2023
To help alleviate Michigan’s labor shortage, the state should consider financial incentives to draw retirees back into the labor force, such as tax breaks to make up for Social Security benefits that could be lost from wage income, says economist Don Grimes of the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics: “This (problem) is real, and it’s not going to go away. We’re going to need people like we’ve never needed people before.”
Bridge Michigan
