In the News
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January 12, 2026
“One of the big, overarching patterns of 2025 was a broad deterioration in views and expectations for labor markets — a pretty substantial increase in people expecting unemployment to get worse in the future. Even if the consumer themselves is stable in their job, they talk about how hard the labor market is for a young person in their family, trying to look for a job right now,” said economist Joanne Hsu, director of ISR’s Surveys of Consumers.
Marketplace -
January 9, 2026
EV batteries could power a home while slashing energy bills and cutting emissions, said Parth Vaishnav, assistant professor of environment and sustainability, and doctoral student Jiahui Chen. “Putting vehicle batteries between the electricity grid and homes makes it possible for homes to buy electricity for all household uses when it is cheap and clean … and to store it in the car’s battery for later use,” Vaishnav said. “When people think of EV charging,” Chen said, “it’s usually thought of as a burden, a cost that is added to your electric bill. But, with this kind of technology integration, we can make charging an asset.”
The Cool Down -
January 9, 2026
“We have to get used to these relatively slow growth rates. Five percent unemployment, it’s still a relatively low unemployment rate in the grand scheme of things. We have a slow-growing population and an aging workforce. That’s going to put a speed limit on job growth,” said Gabriel Ehrlich, director of the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics, on Michigan’s combined jobless rate for October and November.
WEMU Radio -
January 9, 2026
“Our elected leaders decided that they wanted to move on from this challenge to democracy, and what that meant was it created a space for January 6 to become just another contested issue between the parties. And so instead of coming together to defend our democracy and our Constitution, what we have now is just division over this as every other issue in the United States between the parties,” said Samuel Bagenstos, professor of law.
Michigan Advance -
January 8, 2026
U-M Health has opened one of the first brain-computer interface clinics in the country, led by Matthew Willsey, assistant professor of neurosurgery and biomedical engineering: “This technology has developed rapidly … We’re at a point in the field where probably in the next five to 10 years, these devices will be available.” Aditya Pandey, professor of neurosurgery, said that “patients will be given as much detail as possible about the potential to receive recently approved neural interfaces … and participate in cutting-edge clinical trials for the newest BCI technology to treat their functional deficits.”
MLive -
January 8, 2026
“Optimism remains strong and expectations are still high, though this may be beginning to shift; we may soon be entering (a period) of disillusionment as educators and institutions more seriously grapple with the costs associated with AI use, including environmental and societal impacts,” said Rebecca Quintana, clinical associate professor of education. “At the same time, today’s AI-powered tools are still relatively underdeveloped and are likely to change rapidly in the months and years ahead.”
Inside Higher Ed -
January 8, 2026
“Every part of the federal government is aligned on the project of bringing private institutions to heel. … I cannot think of any prior presidential administration that has invested so much preparation and political capital on asserting control of institutions they perceive as hostile, often using extralegal means to do so,” said Don Moynihan, professor of public policy.
The New York Times -
January 7, 2026
“As healthy people perhaps fall out of the (ACA) exchanges, we’ll see more and more people who have higher medical needs, which will drive utilization and costs. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see if premiums actually rose in the commercial marketplace — that insurance you get from your employer — as well as some impact on the Medicare program,” said Mark Fendrick, professor of internal medicine and public health and director of the U-M Center for Value-Based Insurance Design.
WDIV Detroit -
January 7, 2026
“If I can give a person and their family more precise knowledge about what the future is going to hold for them, that is important. Even if it doesn’t lead to a cure or a therapy, it can help them plan for the future,” said Henry Paulson, professor of neurology and director of the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center, on the benefits of providing an early diagnosis of dementia.
Bridge Michigan -
January 7, 2026
“I think that most Venezuelans are actually very happy with this outcome. … For the Venezuelan people who are on the streets, clearly for them the major issue is democracy,” said Silvia Pedraza, professor of sociology and American culture, about the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
PBS NewsHour
