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Justin de Benedictis-Kessner

Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
I am an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. My current research focuses on some of the most important policy areas that concern local governments, such as housing, transportation, policing, and economic development. My research also examines how citizens hold elected officials accountable, how representation translates the public's interests into policy via elections, and how people’s policy opinions are formed and swayed. I also teach in Harvard's MPP program on politics and ethics, and lead elective courses on urban politics and policy. These classes include an experiential field lab that partners student teams with cities and towns to work on applied urban policy problems. You can view my full CV here.

My work has received the Clarence Stone Emerging Scholar Award and the Norton Long Young Scholar Award from the American Political Science Association, and has been published in peer-reviewed journals including the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. I have also received funding for this research from the MIT Election Data + Science Lab, Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences (TESS), the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, and the Boston Area Research Initiative. Prior to joining Harvard, I was an assistant professor at Boston University, and before that a postdoctoral researcher at the Boston Area Research Initiative. I received my PhD from the Department of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and my B.A. in Government and Psychology from the College of William & Mary.

Economy

Chinese Yuan Edges Higher but Faces Biggest Weekly Drop in Over a Year Amid Strong Dollar

Chinas yuan edged slightly higher against the U.S. dollar on Friday but remained on track to end a historic winning streak, as global investors reacted to a stronger dollar driven by escalating tensions in the Middle East....

Asian Stocks Slide as Middle East Conflict and Rising Oil Prices Shake Global Markets

Asian stock markets were mixed on Friday but remained on track for steep weekly losses as escalating tensions in the Middle East and surging oil prices weighed heavily on investor sentiment across the region. Ongoing...

ADB: Short Strait of Hormuz Closure Would Have Limited Impact on Developing Asia Growth

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) says the economic impact on developing Asia would likely remain limited if tensions in the Middle East and any potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz last only about a month. According...

Gold Prices Steady in Asian Trade as Strong Dollar and Rising Yields Weigh on Bullion

Gold prices remained largely steady during Asian trading on Friday after posting losses in the previous session, as a stronger U.S. dollar and rising Treasury yields continued to pressure the precious metal. Despite...

Dollar Gains as Middle East Conflict Boosts Safe-Haven Demand, Oil Prices and Inflation Concerns Rise

The U.S. dollar remained broadly steady in early Asian trading on Friday and is heading toward its strongest weekly performance in more than a year as escalating tensions in the Middle East push investors toward safe-haven...

Politics

Shell Signs Oil and Gas Agreements With Venezuela to Advance Dragon Gas Project

Energy giant Shell has signed multiple oil and gas agreements with the Venezuelan government, marking a significant step toward expanding energy development in the region. The deals include offshore natural gas development...

U.S. State Department Expands Charter Flights as Americans Struggle to Leave Middle East Amid Iran Conflict

The U.S. State Department announced it is increasing charter flight operations from the Middle East as thousands of American citizens remain stranded following the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. The move...

Israel Orders Evacuation of Beirut’s Southern Suburbs as Tensions With Hezbollah Escalate

Israel warned residents to evacuate Beiruts southern suburbs on Thursday, signaling a potential escalation in the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah. The warning targeted densely populated areas of the Lebanese capital known...

Ukraine to Assist U.S. in Countering Iranian Shahed Drones in the Middle East

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that Ukraine will assist the United States in defending against Iranian Shahed drones in the Middle East following a request from Washington. The decision highlights...

Trump Says Iran Seeking Deal After U.S.-Israel Strikes as Washington Eyes Measures to Ease Oil Prices

President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran is attempting to open negotiations with the United States following recent U.S. and Israeli military strikes targeting Tehrans military capabilities. Speaking at a White House...

Science

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency

The U.S. Senate has officially confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman as the new NASA administrator, making him the 15th leader in the agencys history. The confirmation, which took place on Wednesday, marks...

Technology

SoftBank Seeks Up to $40 Billion Loan to Fund Major Investment in OpenAI

SoftBank is reportedly pursuing a loan of up to $40 billion to support a large investment in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. According to a Bloomberg News reporter who shared the update on X (formerly Twitter) on...

Foxconn Sees Strong Growth Ahead Despite Limited Impact From U.S.–Israel–Iran Tensions

Foxconn, the worlds largest electronics manufacturer and a major supplier of AI servers for Nvidia, says geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel, and Iran are having only a limited impact on its...

California Court Rejects xAI Bid to Block AI Data Transparency Law

Title: Elon Musks artificial intelligence company xAI has failed to secure a temporary court order that would block Californias new AI data transparency law. A federal judge in California ruled that the company did not...

Pentagon Labels Anthropic AI a Supply-Chain Risk, Restricting Use in U.S. Military Projects

The U.S. Pentagon has officially designated artificial intelligence company Anthropic as a supply-chain risk, a move that immediately restricts government contractors from using the companys AI technology in projects tied...

Amazon Website Outage Disrupts Thousands of U.S. Shoppers Before Services Recover

Amazons e-commerce platform experienced a significant outage on Thursday that temporarily disrupted online shopping for tens of thousands of users across the United States. According to Downdetector, a website that tracks...