The safety net cushioned the U.S. economic fall remarkably well, suggest a panel of distinguished academics. Next recession it ought to deploy automatically, they add.

King’s College London’s Alexandre Afonso looks at the so-called marketization of higher education with disdain–not because of its advent but because it hasn’t gone far enough.

Addressing the value of social science, Skip Lupia argues it’s absolutely fair for Congress to hold the disciplines’ feet to the fire, and absolutely necessary for researchers themselves to come to their own defense.

In the past 15 years and across successive governments in the United Kingdom, the concept of value for money has been internalized throughout higher education. Here, the author of “Consuming Higher Education: Why Learning Can’t Be Bought” outlines why it is a problem to use student choice and value for money as a means of holding universities to account.

During the Great Recession government programs were supposed to shelter the worst-hit Americans from the worst of the crisis. Did they, and what’s been the fallout since? Join us for a live broadcast answering those questions.

A new U.S. senator, the founder of Institute for Women’s Policy Research and the director of the Center for the Study of American Politics are among seven distinguished scholars named 2014 fellows of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

The benefits for social science of the just passed U.S. government budget is less what it adds and more what it doesn’t subtract.

Ross Douthat wonders why it’s said social conservatives shun social science, while G Venkat Raman rhapsodizes on the beauty of the discipline.

A live-streamed panel discussion this week will officially launch a new effort to demonstrate the pocketbook benefits of social science in Britain and beyond.

Engineer Jeff Patmore, former Head of Strategic University Research & Collaboration at British Telecom, explains why in the lead-up to the January 29 launch event for the “Impact of Social Sciences: How Academics and their Research Make a Difference,” published by SAGE.

Much less is known about the development of the social sciences as a complete discipline group than about the science, technology, engineering and mathematics discipline group. Patrick Dunleavy, Simon Bastow  and Jane Tinkler set out some key findings from their new book, “The Impacts of the Social Sciences,” identifying five key trends that are causing the old social sciences versus physical science divide to dissolve.

AAPSS and Brookings will join to discuss the effects of the Great Recession in areas such as macroeconomic policy, politics, the job market and household wealth in a forum that will be live streamed here this Thursday.