Category: op-ed

Tariffs aren’t enough: America needs a semiconductor revolution

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April 7, Macabe Keliher, SMU Dallas history professor and co-author Dev Gupta, for an op-ed that advocates the U.S. must regain a lead role in semiconductor production. Published in The Hill under the heading Tariffs aren’t enough: America needs a semiconductor revolution: https://tinyurl.com/nhztkz37 ​

 

The debate over U.S. tariffs has been mired in politics and is now causing market disruptions. But the real stakes are even higher: The future of American manufacturing. President Trump’s tariffs regime is not just about rebalancing trade or punishing some countries; it is very much about “reprioritizing U.S. manufacturing” and and bringing about “the day American industry was reborn,” as Trump put it.

Yet tariffs alone can’t revive an industrial base hollowed out by decades of offshoring and underinvestment. If America wants to lead again, it must go beyond trade wars and build a real manufacturing ecosystem — starting with semiconductors, the linchpin of modern industry.

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SMU economist: Stocks are tanking. Here’s what to do — and not — with your retirement savings.

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April 7, Michael Davis, economics professor at the Cox School of Business, SMU Dallas, for a commentary advising American investors how to react to the Market downturn of recent days. Published in the Houston Chronicle under the heading SMU economist: Stocks are tanking. Here’s what to do — and not — with your retirement savings: https://tinyurl.com/3txuuz4v ​

 

Whenever there is horrific economic news and the markets tank, people want to know what they should do with the money they’ve been saving for retirement. 

I’m an economist at SMU Dallas. Here’s my answer: Do nothing. Don’t worry about adjusting your stock portfolio. Worry about adjusting your lifestyle.

This is, of course, not what you want to hear. When you’re, say, five years from retiring, you get nervous. When bad stuff happens you get really nervous. You’re desperate to grab your smartphone, click a few buttons on your 401K account and make everything better.

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With agentic AI, we’re unleashing magic we don’t fully understand or control

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 March 23, Robert Hunt, director of global theological education at the SMU Dallas Perkins School of Theology, for a commentary outlining the unknowns and unintended consequences regarding agentic artificial intelligence tools. Published in the Austin American-Statesman under the heading With agentic AI, we’re unleashing magic we don’t fully understand or control:  https://tinyurl.com/255fb3w3 ​

 

In Walt Disney’s classic animated film Fantasia, Mickey Mouse is a sorcerer’s apprentice. He casts spells from a book of magic he barely understands. With a wave of his wand, brooms and mops become autonomous. Great! Until they get out of hand and make a soggy, flooded wreck of the kitchen.

Mickey’s agents became a destructive train wreck because he didn’t know what he was unleashing with his wand. He could start the magic. He just couldn’t stop it.

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SMU law school marks 100-year anniversary

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March 9, Jason Nance, Dean of SMU Dedman School of Law, for a commentary celebrating and commemorating the centennial of Dedman Law School and its community service initiatives. Published in the Dallas Morning News under the heading SMU law school marks 100-year anniversary: https://tinyurl.com/32msjzpt ​

 

This spring, Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law is kicking off a year-long celebration honoring its 100th year of legal education. What began in 1925 with two professors and a roster of students that could barely fill a single classroom in iconic Dallas Hall has now become a leading center of legal thought, instruction and hands-on educational experiences.

The first graduating class of 10 men and one woman in 1928, likewise, has evolved into a full-blown alumni network nearly 17,000 strong, known for its prominent judges, partners in renowned law firms, U.S. attorneys, CEOs, entrepreneurs and general counsel of major corporations.

Although Dedman Law is among the top law schools in the nation and has a global reputation, it has long had a special partnership with its hometown Dallas. Side-by-side, the two have grown in size and prestige.

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AI is all brain and no ethics

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March 2, Robert Hunt, director of global theological education at the SMU Dallas Perkins School of Theology, for a commentary pointing out that while Artificial Intelligence is a promising tool it does not come equipped with ethics or any semblance of a moral compass. Published in FoxNews under the heading AI is all brain and no ethics: https://tinyurl.com/y8y843zb ​

A February 2025 report by Palisades research shows that AI reasoning modelslack a moral compass. They will cheat to achieve their goals. So-called Large Language Models (LLMs) will misrepresent the degree to which they’ve been aligned to social norms.

None of this should be surprising. Twenty years ago Nick Bostrom posed a thought experiment in which an AI was asked to most efficiently produce paper clips. Given the mandate and the agency, it would eventually destroy all life to produce paper clips.

Isaac Asimov saw this coming in his “I, Robot” stories that consider how an “aligned” robotic brain could still go wrong in ways that harm humans.

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Ill-advised tariffs? Don’t blame the president

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Feb. 24, Michael Davis, economics professor at the Cox School of Business, SMU Dallas, for an op-ed explaining why Congress, more than The President, is most responsible for allowing tariffs to become executive branch policy tools. Published in The Dallas Morning News under the heading Ill-advised tariffs? Don’t blame the president: https://tinyurl.com/mvemsdpy ​

 

There’s something satisfying about mixing a good analogy with a good cliché. Try this one: “Imposing tariffs is like shooting yourself in the foot.”

I’m pretty sure some other economist said it first, but it’s still spectacular. The tariffs being proposed would be a nasty, self-inflicted wound. They’ll leave us limping and howling in pain. These tariffs will throw people out of work, reduce our GDP and make things more expensive.

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As AI becomes more human-like, what will happen to humanity?

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Feb. 16, Robert Hunt, director of global theological education at the SMU Dallas Perkins School of Theology, for a commentary considering how artificial intelligence already is impacting our humanity. Published in The Hill under the heading As AI becomes more human-like, what will happen to humanity?  https://tinyurl.com/yxx3dyya ​

 

It’s looking increasingly likely that 2025 will be the year “My people will talk to your people” becomes “My AI will talk to your AI.” Are you ready?

OpenAI recently introduced an artificial intelligence model that emulates human-like reasoning about complex problems. It even shows the steps in its reasoning, so that humans (or other AIs) can check its work.

This advance was quickly emulated by other AI developers. What then followed was “agentic AI,” where AI agents can be given a complex goal, use their new reasoning power to work out the complex steps necessary to achieve that goal, and then, if given control of a computer, do what is necessary to achieve the goal.

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Tariffs won’t bring back American manufacturing

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Feb. 7, Macabe Keliher, an associate professor in the Clements Department of History at SMU Dallas, for a commentary that cautions that the implementation of tariffs and loss of international partners will expose U.S. inadequacies in manufacturing. Published in The Hill under the heading Tariffs won’t bring back American manufacturing: https://tinyurl.com/33vchhww ​

 

Tariffs targeting China, Canada and Mexico reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the American economy — and especially America’s manufacturing challenges. While the proposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico have been paused for 30 days, those on China remain, and there is little hope they will revive American manufacturing.

The uncomfortable truth is that we can’t simply tax our way back to industrial dominance — we’ve lost not just factories but the entire ecosystem that once made American manufacturing great.

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Tariffs are a ruse to give our economy an excuse to avoid global market competition

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Feb. 7, Michael Davis, economics professor at the Cox School of Business, SMU Dallas, for an op-ed analyzing the tool of tariffs and highlighting some of the negative outcomes. Published in the San Antonio Express-News under the heading Tariffs are a ruse to give our economy an excuse to avoid global market competition: https://tinyurl.com/yw3maw6p ​

 

 America is in pretty good shape despite the negativities left over from the last election.

Our economy is growing faster than economies in Europe, Japan and almost every other developed country. We have significantly lower unemployment rates than China, Canada and the entirety of the European region. Americans have a higher level of disposable income than any other nation.
 
Sure, we could be doing better — that’s always true.

So why do our politicians act like America can’t compete? Of course, they never say that. They flatter us by telling us how we’re all wonderful. But if they really believe American business and American workers are so great, why do they want to put us in a bubble that makes it harder to compete against the rest of the world?

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Young people are abusing ADHD drugs with dangerous consequences

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Dec. 29, Neely Myers, professor of anthropology at SMU and adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern, for an op-ed about how abusing ADHD drugs could lead to psychotic episodes. Published in the San Antonia Express-News under the heading Young people are abusing ADHD drugs with dangerous consequences: https://tinyurl.com/2s3trcy9 ​

 

A few years ago, a student in my college-level medical anthropology class at SMU Dallas wrote a paper about how students at her Title 1 high school who could not afford a psychiatrist to prescribe “study drugs” were at a disadvantage.

 When did access to performance-boosting prescriptions become a sign of privilege?

A lot of young people use and misuse Adderall to meet cultural expectations of achievement and productivity, and to have fun. At the same time, the misuse of prescription drugs has been on the rise, especially for people who are young, white, male and socially active.

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