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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.

Low-income Philadelphians to receive no-strings-attached cash in antipoverty experiments

Low-income Philadelphians to receive no-strings-attached cash in antipoverty experiments

Vincent Reina of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design and Stacia West, the co-founder and director of Penn’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research, spoke about the benefits of guaranteed income programs. Reina is helping design a pilot program for Philadelphia that will focus on housing outcomes.

To win on inflation, Biden may first need two fix supply chain crisis and worker shortage

To win on inflation, Biden may first need two fix supply chain crisis and worker shortage

Itay Goldstein of the Wharton School said labor and supply chain issues caused by the pandemic are driving inflation. "At the end of the day, when you have a shortage of supply, prices also go up because a lot of people want to buy the same thing, but if it's not available, then prices start to go up," he said.

Stock market dips may be on horizon as Feds look to interest rate hikes to curb inflation

Stock market dips may be on horizon as Feds look to interest rate hikes to curb inflation

Itay Goldstein of the Wharton School spoke about the Federal Reserve’s efforts to curb inflation by increasing interest rates. "The steps that they need to take in order to bring inflation down are going to hurt the stock market and then potentially directly hurt the real economy with hiring, investments, and so on. It's really just finding the path that is going to cause the least accumulative damage," he said. "It's a highly sort of treacherous road ahead."

Kazakhstan unrest, explained
Protesters and riot police stand on a street in Almaty, Kazakhstan, as smoke rises in the background

Riot police block protesters in the center of Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. (Image: AP Photo/Vladimir Tretyakov)

Kazakhstan unrest, explained

Philip M. Nichols of the Wharton School and the Russia and East European Studies program in the School of Arts & Sciences offers some background on the protests and violence and why what happens in Kazakhstan matters to the region and the world.

Kristen de Groot

Why borrowers resist using their homes as collateral
Two adults and a child watch a housepainter painting shutters on the front of the house.

Why borrowers resist using their homes as collateral

A Wharton study examines some of the aversion homeowners have to posting their homes as collateral, even when having trouble making mortgage payments.

From Knowledge at Wharton