Maxwell Faculty News

Mitra discusses India's need for an effective rescue plan in ET

"As reviving the economy is not possible without restarting production, there needs to be a phased exit from the lockdown through extensive testing that identifies people who can go back to work with the confidence that they won’t contract the disease from others," says Devashish Mitra. His article "View: India needs structural reforms for growth to make a strong comeback," was published in the Economic Times.

Landes study on COVID-19 fatalities among people with IDD published

"Intellectual and developmental disability and COVID-19 case-fatality trends: TriNetX analysis," co-authored by Scott Landes, associate professor of sociology, was published in Disability and Health Journal. The authors found that COVID-19 appears to present a greater risk to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), especially at younger ages. The study was the focus of articles published in Forbes and Newsweek.

O'Keefe article on SpaceX's mission published by The Hill

"The Dragon spacecraft is the first wholly designed and developed commercial vehicle to deliver astronauts into space by a private company," writes University Professor Sean O'Keefe. "That opens a new opportunity not only to expand access to the space station for future NASA crews but inspires other entrepreneurial companies to expand opportunities for anyone on Earth to venture there." Read O'Keefe's full article, "SpaceX's mission: A new chapter in space exploration — and in humanity's age-old quest," published by The Hill.

Lovely weighs in on US-China trade deal targets, tensions on NPR

Professor Mary Lovely says targets for exports of farm goods, factory products, and crude oil were always going to be a stretch. And the coronavirus pandemic has made things worse. "The world has changed," Lovely says. "And clearly, China's purchases are going to be affected." Lovely was interviewed by NPR for the segment titled "U.S.-China Tensions Were Already High. Pandemic And Hong Kong Have Made Things Worse."

O'Keefe talks to CSM about commercial spaceflight

This week's final test of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft aims to kick off NASA’s new commercial crew program, in which private companies become the space agency’s ferry service. "It’s an important inflection point, if you will, of now seeing the opportunity for commercial transportation of humans into space," says University Professor Sean O’Keefe. "This is much akin to the transition when the first civil aviation aircraft took off decades ago after many decades of it being exclusively a public endeavor." O'Keefe was interviewed for the Christian Science Monitor article "Rocketing toward history: Why spaceflight still captivates America."

Lambright discusses SpaceX, NASA in Associated Press article

"You can’t explain SpaceX without really understanding how NASA really kind of nurtured it in the early days," says Harry Lambright, professor of public administration and international affairs and political science. "In a way, SpaceX is kind of a child of NASA." Read more in the the Associated Press article "First commercial space taxi a pit stop on Musk's Mars quest," in which University Professor Sean O'Keefe was also quoted.

Bennett discusses prejudice during NYC's cholera outbreaks in Truthout

David Bennett, professor emeritus of history, was interviewed for the Truthout article "What New York City’s Cholera Epidemics Can Teach Us in the Age of COVID-19." News about cholera breaking out among Asians on board ships from China and India en route to Europe and North America fueled stereotypes about infection, exacerbating anti-immigrant sentiment. According to Bennett, immigrants "drew hostility because of their poverty; the diseases they brought with them after the perilous ocean voyage; [and] the slum housing they were forced to live in."

Hou quoted in Bloomberg article on balanced-budget loopholes

"The rules are not ironclad," says Yilin Hou, professor of public administration and international affairs. "The simple reason being that state governments must operate to provide the services demanded by citizens, however harsh the rules are." Hou was interviewed for the Bloomberg article "All the Loopholes U.S. States Have to ‘Balance’ Their Budgets."

McDowell speaks to Al Jazeera about IMF bailouts due to COVID-19

"And now you're saddled with additional debt from the IMF. Then some sort of longer term plan or program is likely going to have to step in to help countries through that," says Daniel McDowell, associate professor of political science. He was interviewed by Al Jazeera for the segment "More than 90 countries request IMF bailout."

Harrington Meyer discusses grandparenting during a pandemic with KHN

"All the grandparents in the country are aching" says University Professor Madonna Harrington Meyer. "Some are aching because they can't see their grandchildren — and some are aching because they can't get away from them." Harrington Meyer was interviewed for the Kaiser Health News article "Too Little Or Too Much Time With The Kids? Grandparenting Is Tough In A Pandemic."

Jok discusses South Sudan's COVID-19 response in Daily Nation

"Up to this point, the country’s reaction to the pandemic has been a mixed bag of late response by the political leadership, despite early warnings by public health specialists; skepticism about the virulence of the disease, both at the level of some government officials and ordinary people, and disinformation," writes Jok Madut Jok. His article "South Sudan Covid-19 response: Skeptical, defiant and clumsy," was published in Daily Nation.

Lovely quoted in SBG article on COVID-19, US manufacturing

Professor Mary Lovely believes maintaining a globalized economy is more sustainable for the countries involved than moving manufacturing to the United States unnecessarily. "There’s this idea that there’s a fixed number of jobs to go around and we need to bring them back here for people to have," she says. "That’s not exactly true." Lovely was interviewed for the Sinclair Broadcast Group article "Pandemic exposes need to bring some manufacturing back to US."

Can Biden win over Sanders supporters? Reeher discusses in USA Today

Professor Grant Reeher says Biden could have a hard time getting enthusiastic support from former Sanders supporters due to his lengthy record – three decades of Senate votes and two terms in the White House as President Barack Obama's vice president. It's "not gonna rub a lot of these Bernie Sanders supporters particularly in the right way," with how Biden has portrayed his own record, he says. Read more in the USA Today article "How Joe Biden is working to win over progressive voters."

Mitra recommends AEZ model for India's economy in Economic Times

In his co-authored article titled "View: How a successful 'AEZ Model' can remove India's structural bottlenecks," Devashish Mitra, Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs, explains how the use of Autonomous Economic Zones (AEZs) can be helpful in accelerating the creation of well paying jobs in India. The piece was published in the Economic Times.

Reeher quoted in The Hill article on increasing polarization, COVID-19

The polarization of American life had been going on for years before Trump was even a political figure, says Professor Grant Reeher. But, "what is different now, and what gives this a sharper edge is the fact that emotions are running so high, first of all; second, that the stakes are really, really high; and third the fact that the president has made very strong statements about these things." Reeher was interviewed for The Hill article "The Memo: Virus crisis deepens dangerous divides."

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