WashU Experts

Rebecca Lester, professor of sociocultural anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, offers advice for coping with the emotions brought on by COVID-19 anniversaries and moving forward.

Although brick-and-mortar companies like GameStop and AMC Theaters have given investors reason to count them out of stock market success, a huge surge via a “short squeeze” was both predicted and expected in recent research by an expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) has proposed providing at least $3,000 per child to millions of American families. The move could actually provide enormous future savings for the country, says one of the country’s foremost experts on poverty. “In earlier work, I’ve estimated that for every dollar we spend on reducing childhood poverty, we save anywhere […]

Sociologist John N. Robinson III says President Joe Biden’s executive orders are an important first step in the fight against systemic racism, but to keep fighting because there’s an “historic opportunity” before us.

Radhakrishnan Gopalan, professor of finance at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, says President Joe Biden’s plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour is too aggressive. His research shows raising the minimum wage now could slow job growth.

David Cunningham, chair of sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, says Biden’s administration can and should make every effort to defeat the rise of political extremism and white supremacy, but should also be aware of unintended consequences.

Faculty experts from across Washington University in St. Louis draw upon their research, their instruction, their experience and their thought leadership to proffer insight and ideas for the new administration, the new beginning.

Dr. Karen Joynt Maddox expects the new Biden/Kamala Harris administration to retool and reinforce Obamacare, rather than the previous administration’s failed attempts to repeal and replace. She offers areas ripe for both quick and gradual change: reinstating health discrimination protection, investing in insurance enrollment, creating the “public option,” and broadening competition in insurance markets.

Geophysicist Michael Wysession, professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, teaches a popular undergraduate course called “Energy and the Environment.” He breaks down President-elect Joe Biden’s 9-point Energy Plan, point-by-point.

As Donald Trump prepares to leave the presidency Jan. 20 in the wake of being accused of fomenting the riot at the U.S. Capitol, he is reportedly considering an unprecedented move: the self-pardon. While no president has ever pardoned himself, the act might be more trouble than its worth for Trump, notes Dan Epps, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis.