EDULOG (an initiative by the Belmiro de Azevedo Foundation, which aims to contribute to the construction of a reference education system) and researchers from the Nova SBE Economics of Education Knowledge Center and from the University College London developed for the first time a study that allows evaluating the influence that a professor has on the evolution of students learning in public schools, through the Teacher Added Value (VAP). The study shows that if all teachers had the impact of their best peers on the students, their grades could improve significantly. This positive effect is most evident in Mathematics, rather than Portuguese, the other discipline analized. The study was reported in Público, among other media.

Pedro Brinca was interviewed by Dinheiro Vivo on the state of the Portuguese economy and the impact of the European funds. "Countries like Germany provided much more public funding to the economy than countries like Portugal, which invested more in support programs for deferral payments – programs that help to manage liquidity, but do not solve solvency problems", he said. To Diário de Notícias he commented on the adoption of Bitcoin by El Salvador. The fact that “we are facing an asset of enormous historical volatility shows its possible ineffectiveness as a currency”, he stresses. “Portugal should not generally adopt cryptocurrencies. I don't believe we are willing to give up monetary policy as an instrument of economic policy", predicts Pedro Brinca.

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Pedro Freitas gave an interview to Explicador (Rádio Observador Podcast) about the plan for the recovery of learning after the pandemics. According to the researcher of the Nova SBE Economics of Education Knowledge Center, "we still need to know in detail how the plan is going to be put in place. The most important measures are the extension of tutorial support in small groups and the 3300 teachers announced as reinforcement, even though I think that the number of teachers presented may not be enough”, he said.

Carlos Daniel Santos and Sofia Franco's study about the impact of Airbnb on housing pricing in Lisbon's most prominent touristic neighborhoods was largely cited and referenced in a news article by Visão magazine about the real estate market in Lisbon. The study assessed the impact of local accommodation on the price of houses sold in the most touristic areas and found that property prices exceeded 30% in areas with the highest demand for tourists.

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Susana Peralta spoke at the Botequim program (TSF) about the impact of the pandemic on women's physical, mental and financial health. To Jornal de Negócios she pointed out the need for an urgent debate on "what is the public health objective? She raised doubts about the focus being, at the moment, on the number of COVID-19 cases:" Being zero is highly costly for the economy and public health. People don't die just from covid", she added.

Are cryptocurrencies and NFT's the easiest way to make money these days? Hugo van der Ding and Cátia Batista clarified the issue in another Impertinente, a podcast by the Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos. Also in this podcast, Cátia Batista spoke about the threats to the planet's survival and about whether the 'degrowth' of countries is the solution.

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Pedro Pita Barros, the holder of the BPI | Fundação "la Caixa" Chair in Health Economics, launched The Access to Health Care – Citizens' Choices 2020 Report. It analyzed healthcare access in Portugal by focusing on the citizens' first-contact decisions regarding the healthcare system. It also explored possible limitations and potential (unjustified) inequalities, especially given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report was cited in TSF, TVI, Diário de Notícias, SIC Notícias, Expresso and RTP, among others. Pedro Pita Barros participated in Cruzamento podcast (Público)  to spoke  about Health Economics, and about his role as member of the European Commission's Cancer Mission.

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João Marques Gomes, researcher from the Nova SBE Health Economics and Management Knowledge Center, presented the results of the study Valorização do Desempenho do Farmacêutico Hospitalar with the support of the Associação Portuguesa de Farmacêuticos Hospitalares (APFH). “Hospital pharmacists should have more clinical intervention and have greater availability for integration into the health team, and this is only possible with more professionals”, says the study. The study was cited on Diário de Notícias, Jornal Económico, RTP and Porto Canal, among others.

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Daniel Traça participated in the XVIII Executive Digest Barometer, which demonstrates that Portuguese entrepreneurs are not  confident in the help that may come from the State. “Even with the pandemic shifting into a new phase as a result of vaccination, the expectations of the barometer panel remain less than optimistic, with 50% of the entrepreneurs expecting a turnover growth of less than 10%. This scant optimism is evident in the expectation for GDP growth: 70% expects less than 4%, which is the latest Banco de Portugal estimate. Perhaps for this reason, the plans for investment are consider to growth less than 10% to 65% of the panel’s estimate.

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Pedro Brinca was interviewed by Expresso about the prospects for inflation dynamics in the US and Eurozone. “The US budgetary response was much stronger than in the eurozone, reaching around 19% of GDP, already including some new measures by President Biden.” Also to Expresso he commented on the early indicators that suggest GDP recovery to be under way and on what we can expect for the next few months. Capa à Contracapa (Rádio Renascença e Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos) interviewed him on the future of remote work, work relations and new challenges resulting from post COVID-19 dynamics.

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