Peterson on Move to Freeze Federal Spending

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Mark A. Peterson, professor of public policy at UCLA Luskin, commented in a Los Angeles Times article on a Trump administration memo ordering a halt to an array of federal financial aid and spending programs. A federal judge blocked the order, finding that it could potentially cause “irreparable harm” to Americans, and several states and nonprofits launched challenges. Subsequently, the administration revoked the directive. The original memo was without precedent and left “extreme ambiguity as to what it affects and how it applies,” or how long it applies, said Peterson, a senior fellow at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research who also holds appointments in political science, health policy and management, and law. “Anything that has … the aroma of dealing with equity or inclusion issues could be put under threat,” Peterson said, adding, “there’s so much misunderstanding about what those issues are.”

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Peterson on Complications Surrounding ‘Buy American’ Policies

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Public policy professor Mark Peterson was interviewed on LAist’s Airtalk about the possibility of creating policies to encourage buying products made in America. “It’s complicated because we have entered a globalized world in which the United States is one of the most advanced economies and therefore also one of the most expensive workforces in the world, and also a country that has been trying to lead on things like climate change and environmental interventions,” he said. If businesses move their operations to places where the cost of labor is low but employee health and environmental concerns are not a priority, this would be to the detriment of workers in the United States. Peterson supported the idea of organizing the global system in a different way in order to reap the benefits of free trade.

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