News & Research
November 8, 2018 News from Brown
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren stopped by Brown last night for the Taubman Center's Governor Frank Licht '38 Lecture series, speaking on the central question of "Who does government work for?"
October 15, 2018 WNYC's On the Media
This episode of On the Media looks at the story of money, from its uncertain origins to its digital reinvention in the form of cryptocurrency, and features political economist Mark Blyth discussing the history of money and how cryptocurrency could shape the future of money.
October 1, 2018 Newsmax
Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg in Newsmax, "Without the filibuster as a counter-weight against totally majority-driven procedures, Chairman Grassley (R-IA) and his majority were able to ignore fundamental demands. The minority was helpless to insist that all the necessary documents be produced to the committee."
October 1, 2018
In collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau, Opportunity Insights, a research and policy institute formed by Harvard and Brown University economists including Associate Professor John Friedman, released an interactive mapping tool called "The Opportunity Atlas." The Atlas helps predict how neighborhoods influence the trajectories of the children who grow up there.
October 1, 2018 The New York Times
In collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau, Opportunity Insights, a research and policy institute formed by economists from Harvard and Brown Universities, including Associate Professor John Friedman, released an interactive mapping tool called "The Opportunity Atlas." The Opportunity Atlas helps predict how neighborhoods influence the trajectories of the children who grow up there.
September 18, 2018 WNYC Studios On the Media
Political economist Mark Blyth joined WNYC's On the Media to discuss the collapsing of the Lehman Brothers and the 2008 financial crisis.
September 12, 2018 Cleveland Plain Dealer
Economist John Friedman said the dream of faring better than one's parents has been dwindling every year since the 1960s. "Friedman is working with Ohio State and more than 300 other colleges nationwide to find out what's helping people advance and holding them back."
August 21, 2018 American Public Media
Colleges have long offered a pathway to success for just about anyone -- but new research shows that they're not doing enough to help students from poor families achieve the American dream. Economist John Friedman said children of well-to-do families are likely to stay that way, while children of poor families are likely to stay poor -- and "I think that's led to a real feeling that the American dream is slipping away from them."
July 30, 2018 LiveMint
In an article on the world's fastest-growing major economy, Professor Ashutosh Varshney has drawn a striking analogy between contemporary India and the United States in the late 19th century, a time similarly characterized by a heady cocktail of growth, inequality and corruption.
July 23, 2018 Market Watch
The Mega Millions jackpot is now $493 million ahead of Tuesday's draw at 11 p.m., the fifth largest jackpot in history. A study by economist Emily Oster found that the lottery jackpot only becomes "progressive" -- meaning high earners spend more on tickets than low earners -- when the jackpot is at least $806 million.
July 21, 2018 The Indian Express
Ashutosh Varshney discusses James Crabtree's book The Billionaire Raj and how India is living out the same "gilded age" as America did in the 1800s.
July 5, 2018
A new study by the Costs of War Project investigates the United States' government spending in wars since the War of 1812, addressing the relationship between war-related debt and societal inequality.
June 28, 2018 TomDispatch.com
A new study by the Costs of War Project examines the relationship between the United States' war-related debt and societal inequality.
June 12, 2018
An article co-written by Mark Blyth and published in the American Political Science Association, was recently named "Best Paper" by the journal's European Politics and Society organized interest group for 2018.
May 23, 2018 Marketplace
Economist John Friedman said that while attending college is an "incredible boost to upward mobility," the path to higher education can have pitfalls for lower-income and minority students, who often leave college saddled with unsustainable debt after earning a degree that may not boost their income or upward mobility.
April 24, 2018 The Hechinger Report
Stories of upward mobility were once a key feature of American life. Children born in the 1940s were almost guaranteed to grow up and earn more than their parents did. But upward mobility has stalled, according to economist John Friedman.
April 17, 2018 Quartz
Americans' tax records are the best dataset for assessing income inequality and the odds that a child born poor can become rich. The IRS still only accepts a small number of applications for studies every year, and a list put together by economist John Friedman shows they are almost all from elite schools.
March 12, 2018 GoLocalProv
Economist John Friedman spoke with GoLocalProv in a live video about how children's opportunities to climb the income ladder later in life depend heavily on where they grow up and how big data can play a role in designing place-based public policy.
February 13, 2018 BBC Business Matters
Political Economist Mark Blyth joins BBC's Business Matters to discuss President Trump's budget among other things.
February 5, 2018 U.S. News & World Report
Research by economist John Friedman looks at 10,000 students who had been admitted to a CUNY program called SEEK that helps academically borderline, low-income students complete a four-year degree.