School of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences

Prof. Simon Johnson speaks with Reuters reporter Mark John about the impact of AI on the economy. “AI has got a lot of potential – but potential to go either way,” says Johnson. “We are at a fork in the road.”

Forbes reporter John C. Goodman spotlights “We’ve Got You Covered,” a new book co-authored by Prof. Amy Finkelstein and Stanford economist Liran Einav, which explores the idea of offering universal health insurance coverage with no increase in government spending. “An important argument made by Finkelstein and Einav is that Americans are paying about twice as much as we really need to pay for medically necessary health care,” writes Goodman. “So, if we gave the government’s share to people directly, they would be able to buy essential coverage with that money alone." 

In a new working paper, researchers at MIT and UCLA examined a group of newly hired data entry workers in India and found that “workers randomly assigned to work from home full-time are 18% less productive than those in the office,” reports Jo Constantz for Bloomberg. As Constantz notes, “The new research underscores the challenges inherent in productivity research. Since the workers in the trial were newly hired, their outcomes may differ from employees who switch to fully remote only after first spending significant time on-site.”

Prof. Jon Gruber speaks with NPR hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan about the idea of a ‘soft landing’ for the U.S. economy. “All economies are cyclical,” says Gruber.  “They go through good times and bad times. And we define good times and bad times based on two variables: inflation and unemployment.”

Writing for The Los Angeles Times, Prof. Simon Johnson and Oleg Ustenko, economic advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, emphasize that “the governments of poorer countries need to demand that Ukrainian grain be allowed to flow freely. The Black Sea corridor must be reopened and kept open as a top priority for all parties working to defeat Putin.”

Prof. Amy Finkelstein speaks with Marketplace’s David Brancaccio about her new book “We’ve Got You Covered: Rebooting American Health Care,” which outlines a way to rethink health care in the U.S. “What every other high-income country does is have universal basic coverage with the ability to buy additional supplemental coverage for people who can afford and want more than that basic coverage,” explains Finkelstein. “And that’s what we need to do.”

In a letter to the editor of The Economist, Prof. David Autor makes the case that while pursuing industrial policy has substantial risks, “forswearing industrial policy has equally many risks, especially when our chief economic and strategic competitors are currently using it to great effect.”

Writing for The Washington Post, research affiliate Bina Venkataraman emphasizes that “if biomedical breakthroughs are to benefit the millions of children afflicted with rare diseases, genetic testing of babies needs to expand.” Venkataraman adds: “By screening newborn genomes for currently known genetic diseases, patients and scientists could gain insights that lead to the treatment and prevention of thousands of illnesses that currently lack cures.”

Forbes reporter Marco Annunziata spotlights Prof. Amy Finkelstein’s new book, “We’ve Got You Covered.” Annunziata writes that “the book underscores the stunning absence of a health care budget," adding that the authors "do a great job at highlighting how the current setup poses no limit to expenditures and encourages doctors and providers to run up larger bills.”

Writing for The New York Times, MIT Prof. Amy Finkelstein and Stanford Prof. Liran Einav note that health insurance coverage for the Americans "who are fortunate enough to have insurance is deeply flawed.” Finkelstein and Einav make the case that the solution to health insurance reform is “universal coverage that is automatic, free and basic.”

Researchers from MIT have found that using generative AI chatbots can improve the speed and quality of simple writing tasks, but often lack factual accuracy, reports Richard Nieva for Forbes. “When we first started playing with ChatGPT, it was clear that it was a new breakthrough unlike anything we've seen before,” says graduate student Shakked Noy. “And it was pretty clear that it was going to have some kind of labor market impact.”

Prof. Daron Acemoglu and graduate student Todd Lensman have created “the first economic model of how to regulate transformative technologies,” like artificial intelligence, reports Tim Fernholz for Quartz. “Their tentative conclusion is that slower deployments is likely better, and that a machine learning tax combined with sector-specific restrictions on the use of the technology could provide the best possible outcomes,” writes Fernholz.

Wall Street Journal reporter Emily Bobrow spotlights Laurel Braitman PhD '13 for her work teaching writing and communication skills to healthcare workers. “We need people who are trained in science and medicine to be able to tell stories about what matters in public health in a way that makes people listen,” says Braitman. “But to do that, they have to be in touch with what they really feel.”

Prof. Jon Gruber speaks with Boston Public Radio hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagen about the economics behind the Ozempic phenomenon, an antidiabetic drug being used to manage weight loss. “This is very new phenomenon and I think we are just starting to grapple with it,” says Gruber. “I think one positive aspect… it will put pressure on Congress to once again think more seriously about broader price of drug reform.”

MIT has been selected as the world’s best university in the 2024 QS World University Rankings, reports Cecilia Rodriguez for Forbes. MIT has secured “the top position for the 12^th consecutive year,” writes Rodriguez.