Dr. Arthur Brooks

Nonpartisan institutions that rely on facts and research to shape public understanding are being left behind — not because they lack insight, but because they lack presence where it matters most. Today’s media ecosystem rewards authenticity, resonance, and networked participation — not credentials, citations, or carefully crafted op-eds. Institutions can’t afford to treat audience engagement as an afterthought. Renee DiResta and I just published a new paper with the Carnegie Endowment: "For Expertise to Matter, Nonpartisan Institutions Need New Communications Strategies." We argue that the old top-down comms playbook — press releases, Sunday shows, reports behind paywalls — isn’t just outdated, it’s increasingly speaking only to a niche audience. So we offer alternatives strategies for building trust, networks, and long-term partnerships, in a call-to-action for funders, think tanks, and public interest institutions: Read the whitepaper here. And if you're experimenting with new ways of connecting with audiences, we'd love to hear about them: https://lnkd.in/eHvKNaBN

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Christy Romer: Lessons on fiscal & monetary policy coordination from American history/ When does rowing together work out well and when doesn't it. From her survey of the history, she draws four lessons: Lesson 1: Policy coordination is not sufficient to ensure good economic outcomes. Lesson 2: Economic ideas matter. Lesson 3: Because policy mistakes occur, the independence of central banks is vital. Lesson 4: Successful policy coordination demands accurate data and honest information on the federal budget.https://https://lnkd.in/epTiUntV. via The Brookings Institution

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A review of recent developments, both micro and macro, in formal theory on stratification economics, with a focus on racial disparities, efficiency, and social welfare, from Brendan Brundage, Dan J. McGee, and Daniele Tavani https://lnkd.in/enX3Bgbe

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NEW: Over 130 research institutions, data organizations, companies, child welfare advocates and others are asking the Department of Health and Human Services to stop its planned restructuring of the research arm at the Administration for Children and Families. The changes, which would put much of the work under the purview of political appointees, risk undermining the credibility of the office’s research, the groups say. https://lnkd.in/erK3WRYc

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Delighted to share a new paper with NYU colleagues Xiao Liu and Rubing Li that shows how platform-led interventions can be a positive-sum alternative to government-led minimum pay regulation. In a large-scale field experiment, we studied the rollout of Lyft's February 2024 earnings commitment which guaranteed drivers a weekly pay floor while also making transparent who got what from each trip fare. Analyzing 47 million trips across two six-month windows, we found positive causal economic reactions across the ecosystem. Drivers put in more hours; this supply increase improved matching and "ride production" leading to more rides per hour and higher platform revenue; in parallel, rider ratings rose and wait times went down in high demand areas. In the paper, we also unpack some interesting countervailing distributional effects and summarize a new approach to running counterfactual experiments about rideshare supply reallocation. The bottom line: platform-led earning floors can serve as a viable substitute for externally imposed minimum wage policies that constrain the extent to which the market mechanism shapes pricing and allocation. Our research points to a natural alternative to such minimum pay laws, and we hope it informs future debates on gig worker protections by offering a hybrid solution that balances equity objectives with operational practicality. https://lnkd.in/eu5SDT9a

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Interesting article from Sarah Mervosh (The New York Times) about the workforce implications of declining aptitude in math and reading, with a cameo by Guild CEO Bijal Shah: "In the last two years, the company has gotten more requests for 'foundational learning,' which includes math and helping non-English speakers become more comfortable with the language, Guild’s chief executive, Bijal Shah, said. 'It goes back to things like customer service,' she said." https://lnkd.in/gpVKisEf

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Professor Emily Jackson features in a new LSE video exploring the future of fertility and embryo model research. From stem cell breakthroughs to CRISPR, developmental biology could transform how we treat infertility, but it also raises profound legal and ethical questions. As Professor Jackson explains: 'Developmental biology is raising issues that are just as significant as AI, where the social, ethical, legal, cultural implications are just as important, and we need social scientists to be thinking about those.' 🔗 Watch the film here: https://lnkd.in/ej3UiAht #LSELaw #Bioethics #ReproductiveLaw #LawAndScience #Fertility

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