In the News
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September 8, 2020
“In general, the risks associated with in-person shopping have led many people to shop around less, or to switch to more expensive online or delivery options, and they’re often also adding a healthy tip. As a result, the cost of living for many families has risen in ways that the Consumer Price Index fails to capture,” wrote Justin Wolfers, professor of economics and public policy.
The New York Times -
September 8, 2020
“This is an abuse of authority. This is supposed to be an apolitical civil rights statute … and what the signs point to is that it’s being used to embarrass the president’s political opponents,” said Margo Schlanger, professor of law, on the Justice Department’s use of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act to investigate four Democratic-led states that required nursing homes to accept for readmission residents with COVID-19.
The Hill -
September 8, 2020
“You have politicians and other elites increasingly willing to endorse and spread these claims even when they have no particular evidence for them. What it does is, it takes the wacky that exists out there in the fringes and legitimates it, and that can be really dangerous,” said Josh Pasek, associate professor of communication and media, and faculty associate at the Center for Political Studies, on the growing number of Republican politicians giving credence to QAnon.
NBC News -
September 4, 2020
Building a cohesive work culture in the COVID era — especially for new employees working at home — will be hard but can be done, says Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, professor of management and organizations: “Culture is going to be more fragmented when you start off remote — full stop. If I were to go to your organization and ask, ‘What are the three most important norms and taboos?’ I’ll get different answers than if I go to a group of employees who work together on a regular basis.”
Forbes -
September 4, 2020
“Democratic mayors don’t govern as Democrats for the most part,” said Elisabeth Gerber, professor of public policy and of political science, noting that about 85 percent of all cities have nominally nonpartisan elections. “Partisanship isn’t the story either in electoral politics, or in position-taking, or in messaging. It’s not like they’re running as Democrats.”
The New York Times -
September 4, 2020
“The Korean economy is very much an export-led economy since the 1960s, and culture is very much the hot item of the 21st century,” said Youngju Ryu, associate professor of modern Korean literature, on South Korea’s economic strategy to export culture, whether it’s soap operas, film or K-pop — a multibillion-dollar industry that rivals the American pop music machine.
Marketplace -
September 3, 2020
Betsey Stevenson, professor of public policy and economics, says that as a result of child care and K-12 schools shuttering due to the pandemic, kids are potentially losing 5 percent to 10 percent of their future income over the course of their lives: “I think that we all need to realize that this problem, this fact that we are basically abandoning our children for some period of time right now, not giving them the education they deserve, is going to be with us for the next 20 or 30 years.”
CBS News -
September 3, 2020
“If I were to consider the consumer situation right now, in a strange way, they may have more disposable income, if they kept their job. Of course, we’re facing mass layoffs, but the bulk of people have maintained their wages and earnings,” said Nirupama Rao, assistant professor of business economics and public policy, commenting on a growing demand for “splurge” items like Nike Air Max sneakers, Lululemon yoga pants and Louis Vuitton handbags.
Reuters/The New York Times -
September 3, 2020
People who are old, chronically ill and Black are more likely to die from COVID-19 than any other group in the country, yet they are perishing quietly, out of sight. “People are talking about the race disparity in COVID deaths, they’re talking about the age disparity, but they’re not talking about how race and age disparities interact: They’re not talking about older black adults,” said Robert Joseph Taylor, professor of social work and director of the Program for Research on Black Americans at the Institute for Social Research.
CNN -
September 2, 2020
“In the past, people thought that stuttering was due to that person having some anxiety issues, lack of IQ, bad parenting and things like that. Now, scientists know that genes play some role in stuttering, but there are still so many misconceptions,” said Soo-Eun Chang, associate professor of psychiatry. Treatment, she said, now focuses less on “trying to be necessarily fluent, but becoming better communicators.”
U.S. News & World Report
