Harris Insights Week in Review: Week of April 6

This weekly media coverage round-up showcases how members of the Harris community are working to understand and make an impact on the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis. 

Recent News Stories:

• The CARES Act: On the Freakonomics Radio podcast, Dean Katherine Baicker emphasized the importance of centering health in improving the economy long-term. 

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  Helping to make and communicate Chicago's big decisions: As the Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner, Dr. Allison Arwady (CLA'18) not only speaks at press conferences alongside the mayor but also determines the best case of action. 
• Matching jobs with applicants: As the CEO of Skills for Chicagoland’s Future, Marie Trzupek Lynch, MPP'96, helps employers fill openings and coaches applicants to find employment.
• Federal response to COVID-19: Professor William Howell spoke with U.S. News & World Report about President Trump's reaction to the coronavirus pandemic, noting his combative approach.
• The monetary benefit of social distancing: Professor Michael Greenstone found that even moderate social distancing measures would benefit the economy by $8 trillion dollars, or $60,000 per person. As he put it in a discussion with Rolling Stone, "it's very rare for there to be opportunities for any policy to provide such large benefits."
• Electricity and coronavirus recovery: Assistant Professor Steve Cicala was featured in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, making the case for why economic policy makers should be attuned to electricity data.
• Temporary school closures and opportunity gaps: Assistant Professor Austin Wright co-wrote a New York Daily News op-ed, using personal experience as well as professional insight to argue that protecting children from the consequences of months without in-person school is "a moral imperative."
• Unemployment benefits for self-employed and gig workers: In an Associated Press piece that was picked up by 230 outlets, Assistant Professor Dmitri Koustas suggests that the jobless benefits contained in the federal stimulus package will arrive later than both the government and workers would hope. More insight can be found in our conversation with Koustas.
• Social distancing compliance: In work featured in The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, Poverty Lab Postdoctoral Fellow Guglielmo Briscese found that Italians who thought the social distancing measures would be in place for shorter than they expected were more likely to follow the guidelines than those who found out they had been too optimistic.