A literature review, published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research and authored by D. Mark Anderson of Montana State University and Economics Professor Daniel I. Rees, covers The Public Health Effects of Legalizing Marijuana . This working paper focuses on studies from leading economics, public policy, public...

Findings from a first-of-its-kind study by Associate Dean and Professor of Economics Laura Argys show light pollution can increase the likelihood of preterm birth. She said, "We discovered that increased light pollution is linked to some pretty severe health challenges, In pregnant women, this includes a higher chance of delivering...

President Joe Biden said a $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan would cut child poverty in half, which would be the largest reduction in recent history. “This seems reasonable,” said Chloe East, Assistant Professor of Economics. “If all these things Biden proposed passed, we might expect [poverty reduction] to be even...

“I think the levels of hardship we see right now, in terms of food insecurity and other measures, is at historic highs,” said Chloe East, Economics Assistant Professor. Additionally, because unemployment benefits are based on pre job loss earnings, unemployment insurance is smaller for people who were earning less. Unemployment...

“We've been seeing traffic accidents and spending continuing to crawl up during a time period where cases were crawling up at the same time,” said Andrew Friedson, Associate Professor of Economics, whose work has increasingly focused on the effect of COVID-19 on consumer behavior. “So it's a little unclear to...

UnitedHealth and other insurers set rates prior to the pandemic and are the happy recipients of gobs of cash resulting from fewer claims being filed. “I see this as a case where insurance companies may have been handed a windfall, as money in was based on a high projection of...

New research from a team, including Economics Professor and Associate Dean Laura Argys, shows that living in a flight path can increase the chance of having a child born underweight by approximately 20%. “For people who live right on along the runway…and experienced increases in exposure to airplane noise, there’s...

In a report published by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, titled “ The Contagion Externality of a Superspreading Event: The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and COVID-19 ,” Economics Associate Professor Andrew Friedson, along with collaborators, describes the impacts of the August 7-16, Sturgis, South Dakota, motorcycle rally as a superspreader...

“The best thing John Hickenlooper did for the Colorado economy was stay out of its way,” said Andrew Friedson, Assistant Professor of Economics. “And I think you could probably say the same thing for Cory Gardner.” He went on to say, “I find it very hard to believe that either...

In the midst of fluctuating regulations, Assistant Economics Professor Philip Luck speculated that if some international students won't be allowed in the US they could have issues with Internet access and censorship and won't be able to connect with peers. "It’s not as though you can just say, 'Oh, well...