Economics | Penn Today

Entrance to the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services building.

How immigrants expand the U.S. economy

Wharton’s J. Daniel Kim discusses his research, which draws on census data to draw an accurate picture of immigration and entrepreneurship in the U.S.

white man in front of ladder next to Black man in front of ladder missing rungs

Flipping the pyramid: Steps companies can take to close the opportunity gap

With the pandemic exposing and widening the income and digital access gap among communities in the U.S., two Wharton experts outline ways companies can innovate to close the digital, health, and economic gap in minority communities.

Behind the buzzwords: Big Data

Frank Diebold of the School of Arts & Sciences shared the origins of the phrase “Big Data,” which he initially referenced in a 2003 academic paper.

Republicans call the $600 unemployment boost a disincentive to work. Many experts disagree

Ioana Marinescu of the School of Social Policy & Practice weighed in on claims by Republican lawmakers that a $600 weekly unemployment benefit deters people from seeking work. “It doesn’t matter in the current state of the labor market,” she said. “It’s focusing on the wrong thing. It’s not relevant at all in the current context.”

Chalkboard with a bar graph decreasing and a human figure on the last bar spiking in red

Wharton economist talks ensuing coronavirus stimulus bill

Richard Prisinzano of the Penn Wharton Budget Model discusses the competing bills being debated in Congress while extended unemployment benefits stand in limbo.

Tax health insurance coverage to make it more affordable? That’s Greek to me

Mark V. Pauly of the Wharton School commented on a New Jersey proposal to impose a 2.5% tax on health insurance. “They want to tax insurance for middle-class people to subsidize it for low-income people? It would be much fairer to tax the income of higher income people than to tax their insurance, since spending on insurance does not grow that rapidly with income,” he said.

‘This is health care moonshot time’: Pandemic pulls Biden, Dems further left

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel said, of public support for universal health care, “There’s been a shift toward more receptivity to bigger solutions to both of our biggest problems: coverage and affordability. But people’s thinking hasn’t caught up with the dire situation we’re in.”

Older couple sitting on a couch looking at a laptop, one partner holds papers in their hand.

Post-pandemic retirement: Can we build more resilient systems?

A report by the Penn Wharton Budget Model finds that the Social Security Trust Fund in the U.S. would run out of money in 2032 or 2034—between two to four years earlier than pre-pandemic projections.

Sandwich board on a city sidewalk that reads “Sorry we’re closed due to COVID-19”

Will coronavirus bailouts save the U.S. economy?

A new paper by Wharton professor Tim Landvoigt weighs four policy scenarios for government relief measures in the wake of pandemic bankruptcies.

A second Great Depression? Unemployment crisis hits big cities hard

Ioana Marinescu of the School of Social Policy & Practice spoke about the pandemic’s effects on the economies of major U.S. cities. “Los Angeles, sadly, is going through a new health crisis,” she said. “New York isn’t. And yet, the unemployment numbers are still so bad. That shows to me how scarring the effects of the coronavirus are.”

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