I have long argued that government has an important role to play in fostering economic growth and creating safe and fair work places, but on this one, I have concerns. I had plenty of experience with agency announcements when I was chief economist for the U.S. Labor...
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In the News
We need public television to power our democracy
An op-ed by professor emerita Linda Stamato explains why public television has a critical role in both promoting and supporting informed participation by citizens in our democracy, as well as why the need for well-sourced information has never been greater. Opinion by...
Affordable Care Act before Supreme Court puts health coverage at risk for 800,000 in NJ
“The aircraft carrier that is the U.S. health care system has made a sweeping turn,” said Joel Cantor, founding director of the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University. He said it would be difficult to change course once again after the myriad of...
N.J. cities are hotter than ever. Racism is as much to blame as climate change
New Jersey just experienced its second-hottest summer on record, yet another sign of how climate change has intensified temperatures across the Garden State. But people in urban areas — which tend to lack greenery to break up the concrete landscapes — are more...
Opportunities after the pandemic
An op-ed from Linda Stamato and Sandy Jaffe explores the possibilities for policy development following the pandemic. They note that states should work together to embrace as many aspects of our regional existence as possible in order to aid, rather than inhibit, the...
NJ economy is recovering from COVID, but don’t hold your breath
A new report finds it will take years for the New Jersey economy to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. But a complete job-loss rebound could take decades. According to Michael Lahr, a professor of planning and public policy and director of the Rutgers...
Political polarization distorts risk perception
Academic research has shown that perceptions of risk of COVID-19 varies with the level of support for President Trump. It doesn’t require much of a leap of imagination that perceptions of risk regarding other highly politicized issues such as crime and...
Walking Is Increasingly Deadly, and Not Because People Are on Their Phones
That’s what makes the data-driven approach to saving lives so problematic, says Charles T. Brown, a senior researcher and professor at the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers, who wrote the book’s foreward and served as Schmitt’s technical adviser. “What...
Changing the Federal Reserve’s mandate could provide a down payment on ending racial inequality
An op-ed by William Rodgers discusses a Congressional proposal whereby the Federal Reserve would gain a new task: reducing racial inequality. Dr. Rodgers addresses how the proposal could tackle Black unemployment, provide Blacks with more opportunity for credit, and...
Physicians in certain racial/ethnic groups have lower burnout rates vs. white physicians
Physicians in underrepresented racial/ethnic groups exhibited lower rates of burnout vs. non-Hispanic white physicians, but more research is needed to confirm these findings, according to study results published in JAMA Network Open. In a related editorial, Joel C....