5/2
Penn in the News
A round-up of Penn mentions in local, national, and international media.
Filter Stories
Penn In the News
Off-the-grid homes are coming to your neighborhood, as climate change creates suburban survivalists
Benjamin Keys of the Wharton School said off-the-grid features like solar panels are increasingly popular with homeowners. “It’s not just for extremists. I think you’re going to see more and more people looking for ways in which they can protect themselves as there are increased risk from storms, more utility disruptions, and more need for resiliency,” he said.
Penn In the News
Dr. Zeke Emanuel on why the U.S. should consider a vaccine mandate
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel talks about why a vaccine mandate for some types of workers may be a necessary last resort in establishing herd immunity. “I don’t think the risks of the vaccine compare to the risks for the country of the coronavirus is really at issue,” he said.
Penn In the News
Many colleges will require the COVID vaccine—here are some of the challenges ahead
Eric Feldman of the Law School weighed in on COVID vaccine requirements at colleges and universities. “The question is, at Rutgers, for example, where students exercise the exemptions that they’re allowed to exercise, either religious or medical and don’t get back to vaccinated then will they be allowed back on campus?” he asked. “Or will they not be allowed on campus? And what’s Rutgers’ legal responsibility to provide accommodation for them?”
Penn In the News
Employees could be heading back to the office sooner than they think
Peter Cappelli of the Wharton School spoke about the shift to remote work, which he views as an impermanent arrangement. “My bet is, within a year, things will retreat back to normal,” he said. “It’s hard to change workplace behavior.”
Penn In the News
Short sellers help stocks find their true values and expose fraud, despite the hate they receive
Sasha Indarte of the Wharton School weighed in on the practice of short selling, which has been sometimes blamed for drops in the stock market. “I think the main reason people dislike short selling is that something just feels bad about profiting from someone else’s failures,” she said. “Short sellers gain when someone else loses. It’s like if you took out an insurance policy against your neighbor’s home, and your neighbor’s home was destroyed.”
Penn In the News
U.S. prepares for worst four months of the pandemic as it stares down the ‘darkest’ days yet
Lewis Kaplan of the Perelman School of Medicine said many experienced doctors and nurses are experiencing pandemic-related burnout. “We rely on having those seasoned individuals when we stand up novel ICUs again and have people who don’t normally work in the ICU work alongside them. The floor nurse is now going to provide critical care under the guidance of the seasoned ICU nurse,” he said. “What happens when that seasoned ICU nurse says, ‘I’ve had enough.’ That’s a potentially very scary future.”
Penn In the News
As the presidential election approaches, experts warn ‘risks are definitely on the horizon for investors’
Nikolai Roussanov of the Wharton School spoke about how November’s election will affect the stock market. “I only see more uncertainty ahead, because this election is probably going to be close and the result is not going to be settled for quite some time,” he said. “I would say the risks are definitely on the horizon for investors.”
Penn In the News
$300 unemployment benefits end in at least 9 states as stimulus hopes fade
Ioana Marinescu of the School of Social Policy & Practice spoke about the absence of a second stimulus detail and its impact on unemployed Americans. “This is going to be hardest on more disadvantaged, lower-income individuals and communities of color because they’ve been disproportionately impacted by job loss,” she said. “Also, a dollar means more to a poor person than a rich person. Losing those precious dollars is really a meaningful loss for those people.”
Penn In the News
Republicans call the $600 unemployment boost a disincentive to work. Many experts disagree
Ioana Marinescu of the School of Social Policy & Practice weighed in on claims by Republican lawmakers that a $600 weekly unemployment benefit deters people from seeking work. “It doesn’t matter in the current state of the labor market,” she said. “It’s focusing on the wrong thing. It’s not relevant at all in the current context.”
Penn In the News
A second Great Depression? Unemployment crisis hits big cities hard
Ioana Marinescu of the School of Social Policy & Practice spoke about the pandemic’s effects on the economies of major U.S. cities. “Los Angeles, sadly, is going through a new health crisis,” she said. “New York isn’t. And yet, the unemployment numbers are still so bad. That shows to me how scarring the effects of the coronavirus are.”