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Public Policy

How price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life
Car parked between pumps at a gas station in the 1970s beneath a sign reading STANDARD OIL COMPANY.

How price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

Teens who experienced gas price shocks of the 1970s drive less in later years, according to experts at Wharton and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

From Knowledge at Wharton

Course shows students how Washington really works
students walk in front of the capitol building before class

(Homepage image) Penn students took Amtrak to Washington every Friday for the class, held at the Penn Biden Center, across from the U.S. Capitol.

Course shows students how Washington really works

Penn and George Mason University students traveled to Washington, D.C. every Friday this spring for a class that gives the inside scoop on policymaking inside the Beltway.

Kristen de Groot

Islands on the climate front line
Four people sit on a stage at Perry World House.

Island ambassadors to the United Nations speak at the Perry World House Global Shifts Colloquium event moderated by Michael Weisberg (fourth from left).

Islands on the climate front line

Perry World House’s Global Shifts Colloquium looked at how islands can protect their people, build resilient communities, and safeguard their environment in the climate crisis.

Kristen de Groot

Anti-LGBTQ measures
Marchers waving gay pride flags make their way long a boardwalk with the skyline of St. Petersburg, Florida, in the background

Marchers make their way toward the St. Pete Pier in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Saturday, March 12, 2022 during a march to protest the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill passed by Florida's Republican-led legislature and now on its way to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk. (Image: Courtesy Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Anti-LGBTQ measures

Penn Law’s Tobias Wolff discusses the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill and a Texas directive on transgender children.

Kristen de Groot

Belief in vaccination misinformation predicts attitudes toward vaccinating children
Gloved hand holding a vaccine vial and needle extended toward a parent holding their hands up to deny the shot.

Belief in vaccination misinformation predicts attitudes toward vaccinating children

The survey data come from the fifth wave of the Annenberg Science Knowledge survey, a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults empaneled by the Annenberg Public Policy Center in April 2021 to track attitudes and behavior in the pandemic.

Nearly 4 million U.S. children were pushed into poverty when the child tax credit expansion ended

Nearly 4 million U.S. children were pushed into poverty when the child tax credit expansion ended

Pilar Gonalons-Pons of the School of Arts & Sciences said the immediate impact of letting the child tax credit expire proves that “keeping children in poverty is a policy choice.” “When we use these tools, the damaging experience of poverty among children can be remedied. When we don’t, we allow it to continue,” she said.

A pilot project to address the affordable housing crisis in Philly hits delays and opposition

A pilot project to address the affordable housing crisis in Philly hits delays and opposition

Benjamin Keys of the Wharton School said a pilot program that uses a land trust model to create affordable housing units in Philadelphia could help residents. “I think of it as one more financing tool in the toolkit, and one that should absolutely be explored and tested,” he said.

Cash aid to poor mothers increases brain activity in babies, study finds


Cash aid to poor mothers increases brain activity in babies, study finds


Martha J. Farah of the School of Arts & Sciences commented on a study that found alleviating maternal poverty with cash assistance increased brain activity in babies. “It’s proof that just giving the families more money, even a modest amount of more money, leads to better brain development,” she said.