Public Policy
How Property Tax Foreclosure Accelerates Gentrification and Magnifies the Racial Wealth Gap
Non-white homeowners are at disproportionate risk of losing their homes over unpaid property taxes, shows new research from Yale SOM’s Cameron LaPoint.
Can Big Data Fight a Pandemic?
The COVID-19 crisis has intensified the debate over big data and privacy. Governments are pulling together data from public and private systems in order to predict and counter the spread of COVID-19. But setting aside privacy protections in a time of crisis could lead to new, permanent norms.
What Happens When a Billion Identities Are Digitized?
The success of India’s Aadhaar, a biometrically secured national identification system, has ignited a debate over whether any entity, public or private, should have the ability to pool our full digital profiles.
Study Suggests That Local Chinese Officials Manipulate GDP
A study by Yale SOM’s Frank Zhang suggests that local Chinese governments often push through projects without long-term economic value, or fabricate numbers outright, in order to meet GDP targets.
Should We Worry about the Trillion-Dollar Deficit?
We asked William English, a professor in the practice of finance and a former economist at the Federal Reserve, how the deficit and the ballooning national debt affect the economy and the ability of Congress and the Fed to fight future recessions.
Aspiring to Be the Next Silicon Valley? Think Twice
A study by Yale SOM researchers suggests that when venture capital funding in a metropolitan area increases, industries with customers outside the region suffer and income inequality widens.
Should Government Run on Rules or Principles?
Janhabi Nandy ’09, an official at the Treasury Board of Canada, makes the case that a nuanced, principle-based approach can make government more effective.
How Meritocracy Worsens Inequality—and Makes Even the Rich Miserable
Yale Law School’s Daniel Markovits argues that rather than democratizing American society, meritocracy has contributed to increasing inequality and the decline of the middle class.
Three Questions: Prof. Andrew Metrick on Paul Volcker’s Legacy
Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, died on December 8 at age 92. Prof. Andrew Metrick reflects on Volcker’s contributions to the Fed and economic policy.
Three Questions: Prof. Jacob Hacker on Tax Rates for the Rich
A recently published book argues that the richest Americans now pay lower tax rates than any other income group. We asked Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker to explain how this situation developed and why it’s proved politically difficult to raise taxes on the rich.
For a Path to a Decarbonized Economy, Look to the States
Robert Klee, a lecturer at Yale and the former commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, says that state-level approaches to the climate crisis provide a roadmap for a 10-year, trillion-dollar effort to put the U.S. on a path to decarbonization.
