Challenges Conventional Theory: Research Sheds New Light on the Origin of Civilization
The research sheds new light on the mechanisms by which the adoption of agriculture led to complex hierarchies and states. By theoretical arguments and empirical…
Economics News
Economists Show International Trade Can Worsen Income Inequality
Using Ecuador as a case study, economists show international trade widens the income gap in individual countries. International trade intensifies domestic income inequality, at least…
Researchers Say Immigrants Are 80% More Likely To Start a Company Than U.S.-Born Citizens
Compared to native-born American citizens, immigrants are more frequently involved in founding companies at all scales. Immigrants to the United States are more likely to…
Identifying Global Poverty From Space – Estimating Worldwide Economic Wellbeing
Despite successes in reducing poverty globally in the last two decades, almost one billion people still live without access to reliable and affordable electricity, which…
National Economic Burden of PTSD Is “Staggering” – More Than $230 Billion in Annual Costs
U.S. civilian, military populations combine for more than $230 billion in annual costs. A new study finds that the national economic burden of PTSD goes…
COVID-19 Treatment Remdesivir Dominated Hospital Drug Spending in 2021
Clinic and hospital drug spending increased due to higher usage and new drugs; price increases remained below inflation. The COVID-19 treatment remdesivir dominated hospital drug…
High Prices, Low Value: 112 Million Americans Struggle To Afford Healthcare
High prices, low value — Two new composite scores from West Health and Gallup illustrate America’s healthcare cost crisis. An estimated 112 million (44%) American…
Barred From Employment: Most Unemployed Young Men Have Criminal Records
Findings suggested new approach needed to aid the unemployed. More than half of unemployed American men in their 30s have a history of being arrested…
MIT Experts Design and Test Technical Research for a Hypothetical Central Bank Digital Currency
Collaboration with Federal Reserve Bank of Boston yields progress in understanding how a digital currency might be developed in the future. In collaboration with a…
Preventing Pandemics Costs Far Less Than Controlling Them – “Prevention Really Is the Best Medicine”
Tens of billions spent on habitat and surveillance would avoid trillions of annual costs. We can pay now or pay far more later. That’s the…
People May Not Always Want Help Sticking to Their New Year’s Resolutions
To Keep or Not To Keep Those New Year’s Resolutions? New research suggests that people may not always want help with sticking to their New…
MIT Startup Exchange Program: Creating Powerful Synergies
A program within MIT Corporate Relations has become the largest university-based platform for startups to connect with corporations. Most successful entrepreneurs know it is not…
COVID Lockdowns Saved Lives of the Old and Sick, While Sacrificing the Young
Lockdowns during the early pandemic saved lives, but it’s not a go-to strategy moving forward. The U.S. pandemic lockdown in 2020 caused a $2.3 trillion…
Trillion Dollar Future “Space Economy” Threatened by Debris
The space economy is on track to be valued at a trillion dollars by the end of 2030, according to Piyush Mehta, assistant professor of…
MIT Lays Out Strategy To Help the U.S. Regain Its Place as a Semiconductor Superpower
Reasserting U.S. Leadership in Microelectronics MIT researchers lay out a strategy for how universities can help the U.S. regain its place as a semiconductor superpower….
Pricing Carbon, Valuing People: Ways To Optimize US Climate Policy
New research suggests ways to optimize US climate policy design for a just energy transition. In November, inflation hit a 39-year high in the United…
Highway Delays Can Cause Economic Losses of Up to $250 Million in a Single Day
Researchers analyze the economic cost of disruptions to a critical transportation network in Virginia, including a hurricane evacuation. The shutdown of the Colonial gas pipeline…
Why Moderna Won’t Share COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Rights With the U.S. Government, Which Paid for Its Development
A quiet months-long legal fight between the U.S. National Institutes of Health and drugmaker Moderna over COVID-19 vaccine patents recently burst into public view. The…
