Public Policy | Penn Today

America’s headed for an interest payment crisis

Kent Smetters of the Wharton School says that interest payments will likely overcome the amount the U.S. spends on national defense within a couple years.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu speaks at Penn's Perry World House.

‘A New Age of Nuclearity? Great Powers and Greater Consequences’

Perry World House’s 2023 Global Order Colloquium took a deep dive into current nuclear issues, looking at how the world will manage nuclear threats amid growing geopolitical tension, climate change challenges, and international conflict.

How headlines about the RSV antibody injection could cloud parents’ decision-making

In a co-written Op-Ed, Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that attention-grabbing headlines could conflate the new RSV antibody injection with anti-vaccine sentiment.

Antitrust deal cops to peek at worker abuses, stirring backlash

A 2021 paper co-written by Ioana Marinescu of the School of Social Policy & Practice found that local industry wage increases are associated with decreases in the prevalence and severity of labor-rights violations caught by federal agencies.

Do higher deficits cause inflation? Not this year

Kent Smetters of the Wharton School says that rising deficits can pose economic problems but that the connection between inflation and fiscal factors has often been overstated or misunderstood.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson on civics education and bridging political divides

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center discusses the importance of civics education as a tool to bridge political divides.

Person checking their receipt at a grocery store with a cart full of groceries.

More than 2 million additional Americans faced food insufficiency following SNAP benefits drawdown

A study from Penn Medicine finds that after discontinuing pandemic-related food assistance benefits, Americans faced a substantial increase in food insufficiency, which can contribute to chronic diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.

A teacher listens to a young student at their desk.

What policymakers can learn from the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program

A new Wharton study finds a new student loan debt forgiveness program for teachers program “broken,” and raises broader issues on how student aid programs could backfire.

‘Unluckiest generation’ falters in boomer-dominated market for homes

Joseph Gyourko of the Wharton School says that high interest rates for mortgages are a burden on young people who don’t have the higher salaries of some older Americans.

A doctor prepping a vaccine for a pregnant person.

To increase acceptance of an RSV vaccine, explain the FDA’s vaccine approval process

A new report by Penn’s Annenberg Public Policy Center shows a need for more public visibility of the FDA’s rigorous review process to sway public opinion about the safety of vaccines and maternal health during pregnancy.

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