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A far-reaching economic policy that impacts countless lives can start with something as small as a grain of rice. Linh Do ’18 is spending her summer working on a research project titled, “Vietnam’s Economy in Transition,” which aims to analyze the effects of the Renovation Policy on Vietnamese rice production. Her project, undertaken with economics professor Erol Balkan, is supported by a Levitt Center Summer Research grant.

Titled “Russian elites are more expansionist, militaristic, and anti-American than at any point since 1993,” an analysis published in the Washington Post’s blog, The Monkey Cage, by Associate Professor of Government Sharon Werning Rivera affirms the article’s title.  The July 22 piece was written by Rivera with students in her Levitt Research Group – James Bryan ’16, Emma Raynor ’18, and Hunter Sobczak ’17.

In the late 1990s, many Latin American countries turned away from the democratization and free market economies promoted by the United States. Instead, leaders such as Hugo Chávez, Lula da Silva and Evo Morales inaugurated a new era of left-leaning social movements and policies known as the Pink Tide. Over the past five years, many have surmised that Latin America is turning away from the values of the Pink Tide. A Levitt Summer Research Group is now researching the extent to which that’s true.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Government Sam Rosenfeld was interviewed on two CTV News broadcasts about aspects of the Republican National Convention on Thursday, July 21. CTV is Canada’s most-watched television network.

As a guest on WHYY’s Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane, Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Professor of Government, discussed a wide range topics related to this week’s Republican National Convention. Comparing past party conventions – particularly those in 1964 and 1968 – to 2016, he noted the shift in purpose of the four-day events.

Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Professor of Government, was quoted in a Globe and Mail article titled Dallas shootings: Lasting consequences for race relations, policing and the election on July 11. In a discussion of violent events in 1968 especially those related to party conventions and predictions of what might occur this summer in Cleveland and Philadelphia, Klinkner observed, “The real wild card here is Trump. We’ve never had a major-party nominee who’s been willing to fan these flames” using nativist, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric. 

Beginning with his submission published in Vox titled The easiest way to guess if someone supports Trump? Ask if Obama is a Muslim, Professor of Government Philip Klinkner’s research has been referenced in articles in Salon, Fusion, New York Magazine, The Washington Post, The Guardian and DailyKos and in an MSNBC broadcast.

In her seventh interview on American Public Media’s Marketplace program in a year, Ann Owen, the Henry Platt Bristol Professor of Economics, discussed the recent surge in consumer spending in April. The increase was the largest in more than six years, due in large part to hefty spending on durable goods. Owen said that the “glass half full interpretation” would be that people are feeling more confident and are willing to make big purchases.

“You can ask just one simple question to find out whether someone likes Donald Trump more than Hillary Clinton: Is Barack Obama a Muslim? If the answer is yes, 89 percent of the time that person will have a higher opinion of Trump than Clinton.” So began an analysis of results from the 2016 American National Election Study (ANES) pilot survey by James S. Sherman Professor of Government Philip Klinkner published by Vox on June 2.

A May 17 American Public Media Marketplace broadcast titled “Why did inflation increase in April?” featured an interview with Ann Owen, the Henry Platt Bristol Professor of Economics. Responding to a U.S. Department of Labor report that the consumer price index or CPI rose in April, Owen pointed out that energy prices are increasing, although they still were not as high as they were a year ago.