Maxwell School News and Commentary

"It's just about all good," says Donald Dutkowsky, professor of economics, about the recently released jobs report.

"The two bullies in the room are basically running the show. The rest of the world is going to have to deal with the aftermath," says Mary Lovely, professor of economics.

"No economist providing policy prescriptions can ignore the political constraint of the inevitability of redistribution to the bottom 20-30 percent," writes Devashish Mitra, Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs. "Therefore, an important task before any policy economist is to suggest the most efficient form of this redistribution—one that hurts the rest of the society the least. Of course, it also has to be fiscally viable and responsible."

"Many men believe they themselves are not part of the problem, yet they continue to organize sessions without any women authors or discussants," says Mary Lovely, professor of economics. "And I still am present at meetings where women's views are heard and then trivialized." 

According to Professor of Economics Mary Lovely, "this is not a negotiating tactic. Trump is a true believer...He wrongly believes tariffs will help the U.S. auto industry."

"The economy has changed a lot since 1888 and in particular, when we think about who bears the burden of tariffs, we have to recognize the development of very complex supply chains for American companies," says Professor of Economics Mary Lovely. 

"The president looks at this [foreign tariffs] and says it's coming from foreigners," says Mary Lovely, professor of economics. "That's not technically correct. I mean, I go to Macy's and pay a sales tax. Macy's is the one that sends the check to the government, but that doesn't mean they're the ones that pay the tax. I am."

"So there's a great deal of uncertainty and firms are really in doubt as to what they should do because moving the supply chain is costly. Before you want to do that, you want to make sure that it's something that you really need to do," says Mary Lovely. professor of economics.