Harvard Kennedy School

Ideas from Harvard Kennedy School

Protestor wearing mask and holding sign that reads "Unemployment benefits are a lifeline for working people."

Demonstrators participate in a protest asking U.S. Senators to support the continuation of unemployment benefits on July 16, 2020 in Miami Springs, Florida. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

EDUCATION, TRAINING & LABOR

HKS study finds that unemployment benefits did not reach most people during U.S. lockdowns, causing major hardships

New research co-authored by Harvard Kennedy School Professor Daniel Schneider and Professor Kristen Harknett of the University of California found that only one quarter of service sector workers laid off or furloughed during pandemic lockdowns had received unemployment benefits. The findings were based on a survey conducted in April and May of 2,500 laid-off workers from 110 of the largest service sector companies in the United States involved in the retail, food service, hospitality, grocery, pharmacy, fulfillment, and hardware sectors. “Recent debates over the appropriate amount of unemployment insurance benefits often assume that unemployed workers will actually receive these benefits,” Schneider says. “Our research shows that was far from the case, and the consequences were catastrophic for working families.” The researchers also found stark differences between state programs and practices, leading to hunger and other major hardships for those who could not secure timely assistance. The research was conducted by the Shift Project, a collaboration between the Kennedy School’s Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy and the University of California, San Francisco.

WHAT WE'RE HEARING

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Because of the differences in outcomes across countries and regions during the pandemic, many people have a renewed understanding of how much we need good governance and public leadership to work together effectively.”

—Dean Doug Elmendorf in recent remarks about the role of the Kennedy School in the world

BUSINESS & REGULATION

Professors Lawrence Summers and David Cutler predict total U.S. COVID-19 pandemic costs will exceed $16 trillion

Calling COVID-19 the “greatest threat to prosperity and well-being the U.S. has encountered since the Great Depression,” Harvard Kennedy School Professor Lawrence Summers and Professor David Cutler of Harvard’s economics department predict the total costs of the pandemic will exceed $16 trillion. In an essay in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the authors calculated the total cost based on both the loss of gross domestic product as a result of economic shutdowns and pandemic-related health costs, including deaths, long-term impairments, and mental illness. The authors say the scale of the pandemic-related costs exceeds those from normal economic recessions or the Iraq War, and are more on par with the long-term costs of climate change. Summers and Cutler also write that the “immense” financial loss from COVID-19 “suggests a fundamental rethinking of the government's role in pandemic preparation” away from acute care and toward more infrastructure and public health services.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

Adjunct Lecturer Joan Donovan testifies before a U.S. House Intelligence Committee virtual open hearing on misinformation and conspiracy theories online. Donovan also recently wrote an essay in Scientific American tracing the evolution of the social media ecosystem from its early promise to the current reality.

DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE

New U.S. Election 2020 page highlights insights and research of Harvard Kennedy School faculty as historic choices loom for voters

U.S. voters have already been streaming to the polls—in some cases waiting hours in long early-voting lines—and tens of millions of others will participate in a pivotal national election in less than three weeks. Experts say those voters are facing historic uncertainty about the state of our democracy and the fairness of the electoral process, as well as stark choices about policy responses to delivery of healthcare amid a deadly pandemic, deepening economic inequality, a worsening climate crisis, urgent questions about systemic racism, and the nature of public safety. Harvard Kennedy School faculty are drawing from their research and expertise to provide ideas and analysis on these issues and we share some of their insights on the HKS U.S. Election 2020 page.

WHAT WE'RE Reading

Professor Dani Rodrik writes that so-called “stakeholder capitalism” has failed in an essay titled “The Public’s Business” published in Project Syndicate. Now instead of trying to have private firms fill the vacuum created by the decline of traditional government regulation, he argues, “the only viable solution is to make business itself more democratic.”

UPCOMING ONLINE EVENTS

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IN THE NEWS

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How to promote trust in the 2020 election [Nancy Gibbs] Washington Post

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Biden's tax plan would spur economic growth [Jason Furman] Wall Street Journal

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Let's make voting a party [Matthew Bunn] The Hill

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Act now to prevent a tragic economic ending [Megan Greene] Financial Times

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Are influence campaigns trolling your social media feeds? [Meysam Alizadeh] Washington Post

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Why Trump’s viral flu tweet proves America is losing the battle against COVID misinformation [Joan Donovan] NBC News

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COVID-19 might not change the world [Joseph Nye] Foreign Policy

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How we teach U.S. History [Khalil Gibran Muhammad] WBUR