If all politics is spectacle in the era of Donald Trump, few episodes illustrate this more vividly than that created by Republican governors who bused asylum-seeking immigrants from their states into Northern cities during Joe Biden’s presidency. Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida ensured that in the run-up to Trump’s 2024 reelection […]
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The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT has awarded funding to eight new research studies to understand how artificial intelligence innovations can be used in the fight against poverty through its new Project AI Evidence. The age of AI has brought wide-ranging optimism and skepticism about its effects on society. To realize […]
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The 2026 Times Higher Education World University Ranking has ranked MIT first in three subject categories: Arts and Humanities, Business and Economics, and Social Sciences, repeating the Institute’s top spot in the same subjects in 2025. The Times Higher Education World University Ranking is an annual publication of university rankings by Times Higher Education, a leading British […]
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Through the MITx MicroMasters Program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy, Munip Utama strengthened the skills he was already applying in his work with Baitul Enza, a nonprofit helping students in need via policy-shaping research and hands-on assistance. Utama’s commitment to advancing education for underprivileged students stems from his own background. His father is […]
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This primacy has long benefited the American economy. A French official once said that the dollar’s status as the global reserve currency amounted to an “exorbitant privilege” for the United States. At the very least, it comes with some significant perks. Because there is high demand for Treasury assets, the U.S. can borrow money at […]
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M.H.: And also because I think in the field of economics, we’ve focused so heavily in modern economics on efficiency, and we really have done a disservice in terms of helping the larger society understand issues of initial endowments. And you know, if you’re born into a family in poverty, it’s not going to be […]
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“Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” he posted on Truth Social. “This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United […]
Read MoreEverywhere you look, Trump’s foreign policy is driven by his instincts as a developer. Last February, he posted an AI-generated video showed Gaza, then in rubble due to Israel’s genocidal post–October 7 military campaign, transformed into a glitzy resort: “Trump Gaza.” “It acts as a synthesis of Trump’s old identity as a failed casino owner […]
Read MoreThe James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work officially launched on Nov. 3, 2025, bringing together scholars, policymakers, and practitioners to explore critical questions about economic opportunity, technology, and democracy. Co-directed by MIT professors Daron Acemoglu, David Autor, and Simon Johnson, the new Stone Center analyzes the forces that contribute to growing […]
Read MoreWhen the MIT Human Insight Collaborative (MITHIC) launched in fall 2024, it was designed to elevate scholars at the frontiers of human-centered research and education, and to provide them with resources to pursue their most innovative and ambitious ideas. At the inaugural MITHIC Annual Event on Nov. 17, 2025, faculty from across the Institute shared the progress […]
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Two current MIT affiliates and seven additional alumni are among those named to the 2025 cohort of AI2050 Fellows. Zongyi Li, a postdoc in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, and Tess Smidt ’12, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science (EECS), were both named as AI2050 Early Career Fellows. Seven […]
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Clinton did have some progressive wins, such as expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit and raising taxes on the rich. And of course, the general economic indicators, especially during his second term, were impressive: Median household income shot up, as did median wages. And for deficit hawks, we got the first budget surpluses in three […]
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The countries named in the ban were Afghanistan, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Partial restrictions were placed on Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela, with citizens of those countries barred from entering the United States permanently or receiving specific visas. The […]
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The justices appear to be headed toward the second path. All three of the court’s liberal justices were hostile to the administration’s argument that Trump’s tariffs were legal under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. Multiple conservative justices also expressed deep skepticism. Among them was Justice Neil Gorsuch, who raised concerns about the […]
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Good management of aid projects in developing countries reduces violence in those areas — but poorly managed projects increase the chances of local violence, according to a new study by an MIT economist. The research, examining World Bank projects in Africa, illuminates a major question surrounding international aid. Observers have long wondered if aid projects, […]
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The MIT Human Insight Collaborative (MITHIC) is a presidential initiative with a mission of elevating human-centered research and teaching and connecting scholars in the humanities, arts, and social sciences with colleagues across the Institute. Since its launch in 2024, MITHIC has funded 31 projects led by teaching and research staff representing 22 different units across MIT. […]
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The U.S. opioid crisis has varied in severity across the country, leading to extended debate about how and why it has spread. Now, a study co-authored by MIT economists sheds new light on these dynamics, examining the role that geography has played in the crisis. The results show how state-level policies inadvertently contributed to the […]
Read MoreMIT, you probably heard, is in the news because on Friday it became the first to reject Trump’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” which was sent to nine research universities: Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt University, the University of Virginia, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas, and the […]
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The recent poll shows that voters also don’t have a lot of confidence in Democrats even on issues consistent with the party’s messaging. For instance, a minority of respondents believe Democrats want to fix a broken system, stand up to corporations who take advantage of people, stand up to corruption, or want to eliminate government […]
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But what if you could keep the government shut down long enough to prevent BLS from collecting the data it will need to report the consumer price index on October 14? Then the Fed would have less information than otherwise to judge whether inflation is too high! The Fed’s preferred inflation metric is the Commerce […]
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Whitney Zhang ’21 believes in the importance of valuing workers regardless of where they fit into an organizational chart. Zhang is a PhD student in MIT’s Department of Economics studying labor economics. She explores how the technological and managerial decisions companies make affect workers across the pay spectrum. “I’ve been interested in economics, economic impacts, and […]
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MIT has placed second in U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings of the nation’s best universities, announced today. As in past years, MIT’s engineering program continues to lead the list of undergraduate engineering programs at a doctoral institution. The Institute also placed first in five out of 10 engineering disciplines. U.S. News placed MIT first in […]
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The shiniest, newest path toward salvation, many Democrats believe, is the Abundance movement, which celebrated its second annual conference in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. Though the message of Abundance, the book by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, wasn’t explicitly centrist, its call to cut red tape, including some of the environmental reviews and diversity […]
Read MoreThis spring, J-PAL North America — a regional office of MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) — launched its first ever Learning Lab, centered on climate action. The Learning Lab convened a cohort of government leaders who are enacting a broad range of policies and programs to support the transition to a low-carbon economy. […]
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“In 1991, there was something that he did when I was there initially training me to do massage, as he had trained a very dear friend who trusted him, spoke highly of him and directed me to him,” Michaels said, identifying herself as one of Epstein’s earliest known survivors. “And during that time where he […]
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In reality, they “are seizing people using firearms, physical violence, and warehouse detentions,” and whisking away American citizens as well. Further, she wrote, Kavanaugh incorrectly places the burden of proof during immigration stops not on law enforcement but on “an entire class of citizens to carry enough documentation to prove that they deserve to walk […]
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The court even included a reference to Chief Justice John Roberts’s landmark ruling in 2012 that upheld the Affordable Care Act. Tariffs, in practical terms, are a tax paid by individuals and companies on foreign-made goods at the time of import. “Contrary to the government’s assertion, the mere authorization to ‘regulate’ does not in and […]
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Prior to his decision to leave, Shroyer said, “Alex had been coming into my show [War Room], and talking about how I’m negative and calling me a pessimist, and all this other stuff, which is fine.” Shroyer said. “He says I’m too negative, he says I’m a pessimist, whatever, I’m too anti-Trump.” Shroyer decided to […]
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During a Thursday CNN appearance, Daskalakis advised senators to ask Kennedy at his appearance before the Senate Finance Committee next week: “Has he been ever briefed by a CDC expert on anything—on, specifically, measles, Covid-19, flu?” Asked whether RFK has indeed ever received such a briefing, Daskalakis replied, “The answer is no. So no one […]
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During a Thursday CNN appearance, Daskalakis advised senators to ask Kennedy at his appearance before the Senate Finance Committee next week: “Has he been ever briefed by a CDC expert on anything—on, specifically, measles, Covid-19, flu?” Asked whether RFK has indeed ever received such a briefing, Daskalakis replied, “The answer is no. So no one […]
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In an unhappy coincidence, the Covid-19 pandemic and Angie Jo’s doctoral studies in political science both began in 2019. Paradoxically, this global catastrophe helped define her primary research thrust. As countries reacted with unprecedented fiscal measures to protect their citizens from economic collapse, Jo MCP ’19 discerned striking patterns among these interventions: Nations typically seen […]
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