Nearly 50 years ago, an idea took hold that had profound effects on the lives of convicted felons in the United States: Those in prison were largely unreformable. The many attempts at rehabilitation and re-entry introduced in the 1960s and 1970s were deemed a failure by many observers, and it was time to get tough. Incarceration rates soared in the coming decades, accompanied by a prison boom.

As students of all ages head back to school this fall, policymakers face unprecedented challenges as the COVID pandemic continues create disruption. University of Chicago economists have produced a wide range of research on early childhood development, K-12 education, and higher education that provide useful insights and findings. A sample of topics is below, in addition to our full library of working papers in education.

The economic news in 2007 and 2008 from Greece was alarming and sent ripples across...

If readers recall anything from their Econ 101 class, it is likely that the intersection of supply and demand curves reveals a product’s price and the quantity produced. Of course, there are many situations where those curves shift and complications arise within markets, but the general insight holds: the interaction of buyers and sellers informs prices and quantities.

In recent years, some central banks have added a new responsibility to their list of tasks: ameliorate the effects of climate change. This could mean monitoring the short- and long-term exposure of financial institutions to climate change, or it could mean actively directing regulated financial institutions to invest in certain industries. In either case, central banks will have to determine how best to anticipate the likely effects of climate change many years into the future.