Wharton Business Radio Highlights

Charles Best, Founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org, joins host Nicolaj Siggelkow to talk about how the nonprofit website, which enables anyone to help a classroom in need, is making a real life impact in education on Mastering Innovation. To date, teachers at more than 80% of all the public schools in America have created classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org, and more than 3 million people have given to those projects! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"Few books can credibly claim to offer a way to save the world, but this one does." That's the eye-catching first sentence in forward to the new book A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and The Rest Can Follow. The authors, Joshua Goldstein, Professor Emeritus of International Relations at American University, and Staffan Qvist, Energy Engineer, join host Dan Loney to discuss how they believe a combination of nuclear and renewable energy is the path to slow down climate change on Knowledge@Wharton. Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CWQ65FG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We're featuring a series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and continue with a look at retail in the US. In 2018, 13 retail companies filed for bankruptcy protection, which is about half as many as 2017. While some like David’s Bridal and Mattress Firm may be able to reorganize their debt and find a way out of financial trouble, Sears Holdings looks like it will follow the path of Toys R Us and close its doors soon. Consumers have been spending more money, but as e-commerce is taking a large share of that, brick and mortar stores need to continue to find better ways in which to compete. To discuss how these retail trends will carry out in 2019, host Dan Loney talks with Barbara Kahn, Professor of Marketing at the Wharton school, and Mark Cohen, Director of Retail Studies at Columbia University Graduate School of Business and former CEO of Sears Canada, Lazarus Department Stores and Bradlees, Inc., on Knowledge@Wharton. See acast.com/privacy

We're featuring a series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and continue with a look at immigration. The current government shutdown is linked to immigration - President Trump is demanding over $5 billion dollars to build a wall along the U.S. southern border with Mexico. There are also tens of thousands fleeing the violence in Central American countries asking for US asylum, questionable current border practices with family separations and child safety investigations, and the Dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought to the US as minors, who are still in limbo as lawmakers continue to argue their fate. Host Dan Loney talks with Sarah Paoletti, Director of the Transnational Legal Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania, and Stephen Yale-Loehr, Professor of Immigration Law Practice at Cornell University, to discuss how these tenuous situations may or may not resolve in the coming year on Knowledge@Wharton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We're featuring a series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and continue with a look at the current labor markets. 2018 ended with very positive news: the economy added around 2.6 million jobs in 2018, and wages grew by 3.2 percent. The labor participation rate climbed over 63 percent, meaning more people were coming back into the workforce, which also nudged the unemployment rate up a bit to 3.9 percent. As 2019 starts, 20 states and around two dozen cities are raising the minimum wage. However, the country is now feeling the effects of the government shutdown, the current trade war, and a shaky Wall Street. So, what can we expect to see this year? Host Dan Loney is joined by Peter Cappelli, the Director of the Center for Human Resources and Professor of Management at the Wharton school, and Iwan Barankay is an Associate Professor of Management and Associate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at Wharton, to discuss their projectio

As we continue our “2019: A Look Ahead” series, we focus on the financial markets, which have been on a roller coaster of ups and downs the last few months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a decline over 10 percent and both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 saw significant declines as well. The factors that lead to some of this uncertainty are still in place, including the U.S. trade war with China and President Trump's open disagreement with the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates. Host Dan Loney talks with Jeremy Siegel, Finance Professor at the Wharton School, and Gad Allon, Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions and Director of the Management and Technology Program at the Wharton School, to discuss what these trends mean for the future market trends of 2019 on Knowledge@Wharton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We're featuring a series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and continue with a look at the banking sector. Overall, banks have done well under the Trump administration that has worked on cutting regulations. But, some banks found themselves in trouble last year, such as the Deutsche Bank which was involved in a tax evasion scandal. With the economy still going strong, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates several times to make sure the economy doesn’t overheat and lead to more economic problems. This move has drawn criticism from President Trump who claims it's hurting the economy. Host Dan Loney speaks with Peter Conti Brown is an Assistant Professor of Business Studies and Legal Ethics at the Wharton school and Lisa Cook is an Associate Professor of Economics and International Relations at Michigan State University, to discuss what might be in store for the Fed and the banks in 2019 on Knowledge@Wharton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out infor

As the partial government shutdown continues, American farmers who were already impacted by the trade war with China are now facing even more complications. The billions of dollars bailout they were promised to make up for losses due to the trade war are on hold. The offices of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are closed, creating a backlog of loan applications, among other things. Host Dan Loney talks with Steffen Schmidt, Endowed Professor of Political Science at Iowa State University and Joseph Outlaw, Professor, Extension Economist, and Co-Director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University, to find out more about these shutdown repercussions on Knowledge@Wharton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A little over a week ago, Dr. Kevin Hassett, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, commented on the Penn Wharton Budget Model (PWBM) analysis of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That's the legislation that began in 2018 to cut taxes on corporations and most Americans. Dr. Hassett, speaking before the American Economic Association, disputed many of the claims made by the PWBM. The PWBM’s assessment of the impact of the tax cut plan included a slight increase in GDP and an increase in the Federal Deficit. Host Dan Loney talks with Richard Prisinzano, Senior Economist with the PWBM, who also spent 13 years in the Office of Tax Analysis at the Treasury Department, and Kimberly Burham, Managing Director of Legislation and Special Projects with the PWBM, to respond to the Chairman's criticism on Knowlege@Wharton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Host Christian Terwiesch talks with Tanya Thompson, Director of Global Product Acquisition at Hasbro, and Archit Bhargava, Head of Global Product Marketing at Niantic Inc., about the future of playing games, both physical and virtual, on Work of Tomorrow. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In 2016, U.S. intelligence found evidence of foreign attempts to hack into the country’s electric grid - one of the most crucial parts of American infrastructure. The perpetrators planted malware on online publications they knew utility employees read and emailed resumes with tainted attachments to get into secured systems. Last year U.S. officials publicly blamed Russia's government for this cyberattack, and is now looking at severe penalties against outside entities who try to breach our power system. Host Dan Loney talks with The Wall Street Journal’s energy reporter Rebecca Smith about how she pieced together the steps the Russians took to be able to do all of this in a new investigative piece on Knowledge@Wharton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees the approval of new drugs and oversees around 80 percent of our food supply, is among the agencies that are impacted by this partial US government shutdown. Last Wednesday, FDA commissioner, Dr. Scott Gottlieb announced routine inspections would be temporarily suspended as hundreds of agency inspectors have been furloughed. This raises the risk of contaminated food products turning up in stores, restaurants and other locations. So how worried should we be? Host Dan Loney is joined by Marion Nestle, Professor Emerita of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at New York University as well as a Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, and Craig Hedberg, Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and co-director of the Minnesota Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellenc

It’s day 24 of the partial government shutdown and so far there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight. Last week, dozens of aviation industry groups sent a letter to President Trump and congressional leaders yesterday urging an end to the partial government shutdown and stressing the harm it's doing to their industry. Transportation Security Officers (TSA), border protection agents, and air traffic controllers have been forced to work without pay, new planes and new air routes have been sidelined. TSA workers have been calling in sick, and unions report all air traffic controller training has been suspended. Host Dan Loney talks with Roger W. Clark, Founding Member and Managing Partner of The Clark Law Group, Dr. Clinton Oster, Professor Emeritus at Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and Jeffrey Price, Professor in the Department of Aviation and Aerospace Science at Metropolitan State University, to discuss more about these complications and how they have affec

The partial US government shutdown has started to impact one aspect of Wall Street – the IPO market. The Securities and Exchange Commission has been partially closed, which means that companies planning to list shares on the stock market this month have to delay their plans. Host Dan Loney talks with David Zaring, Assistant Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the Wharton school, and James Cox, a Law Professor who specializes in corporate and securities law at Duke University, on Knowledge@Wharton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It is now day 24 of the partial US government shutdown and so far there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight. We take a look back at President Donald Trump's speech last week for his first prime-time Oval Office address to the nation to make his case for a wall at the southern border with Mexico. The President said the partial shutdown of the government will continue until he receives the funding for a steel barrier and other border security measures. To look at this political move and the impact of the shutdown, Host Dan Loney is joined by Rogers Smith, Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania and President of the American Political Science Association, and Bill Schneider, Professor of Public Policy at the Schaefer School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, on Knowledge@Wharton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Scott Cowen, President Emeritus and Distinguished University Chair of Tulane University, joins hosts Mike Useem and Anne Greenhalgh to discuss his 16-year tenure of leadership at Tulane, including navigating the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, on Leadership in Action. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We're featuring a series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and continue with a look at the future of the Affordable Care Act. In the first two years of the Trump Administration and a Republican-controlled Congress, the ACA was challenged on a variety of fronts including the tax bill. Passed just over a year ago, the bill removed the health insurance mandate leading to the recent ruling by a federal judge in Texas that the ACA was unconstitutional. A coalition of 17 Democratic State Attorneys General is appealing that ruling and the new Democrat-controlled House is looking at ways to protect the healthcare law. Host Dan Loney examines all sides of the arguments with Mark Pauly, Health Management Professor at Wharton, Eric Clemons, Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions at Wharton, and Robert Field, Professor of Law and of Health Management and Policy at Drexel University, on Knowledge@Wharton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy an

We're featuring a series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and continue with a look at the current situation in China. The second biggest economy in the world is in the midst of a trade war with the United States that's starting to have a palpable impact as recently Apple reported its iPhone sales were lower than expected in China. And auto sales declined in 2018, which demonstrates the first retreat for that sector in two decades. And numerous other companies are pulling back on their growth forecasts as well. The U.S. and China called a 90-day ceasefire on imposing new tariffs that started in December, and have announced they will hold ministerial level talks in Beijing next week. If no agreement is reached by the March deadline, the U.S. could proceed with new tariffs and China will likely retaliate. Host Dan Loney talks with Minyuan Zhao, Associate Professor of Management at Wharton, and Jacque DeLisle, Professor of Law and Professor of Poli

We're featuring a series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and continue with a look at the Mueller Investigation into the Russian meddling in the 2016 US Presidential election. Thirty-three people have either been indicted or have pled guilty so far, including five former advisers to the president. We don't yet know whether President Donald Trump himself, or anyone within his inner circle, colluded with Moscow. Media outlets report that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is almost done with his investigation and could turn in his report to the Justice Department within the next several weeks. Host Dan Loney talks with Philip Nichols, Professor of Social Responsibility in Business and Legal Studies in Business the Wharton School, and William Black, Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, white collar criminologist and former financial regulator, about what impact this report could have on the White House and where the investigation

Knowledge@Wharton on Business Radio is featuring an interview series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and begin with a look at Brexit, the United Kingdom's move to leave the European Union. Prime Minister Theresa May had worked out a deal with the EU but couldn't get a majority within her own party to support it, particularly among the hardline “Brexiteers.” A new vote is expected in the coming weeks. Host Dan Loney talks with Brendan O’Leary, Political Science Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Michelle Egan, Professor in the School of International Service at American University and Global Fellow at The Wilson Center, to discuss the current trajectory of Brexit in 2019 on Knowledge@Wharton.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.