4.2
Michele W. Berger
Science News Officer
mwberger@upenn.edu
Economics
Confronting COVID-19: Why firms need to tap nonprofit partnerships
Confronting COVID-19: Why firms need to tap nonprofit partnerships
Wharton management professor Aline Gatignon argues that firms have an important role to play in the response to COVID-19, and should consider the unique ability of the nonprofit sector to serve hard-to-reach populations during disasters.
Wharton expert examines U.S.’s record number of unemployment claims
Wharton expert examines U.S.’s record number of unemployment claims
Diane Lim of the Wharton School explains what the U.S.’s record number of unemployment claims means to the current economy amid the coronavirus crisis.
How far could the Fed go in responding to COVID-19?
How far could the Fed go in responding to COVID-19?
Wharton’s Peter Conti-Brown discusses the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s effort to protect households, businesses and the economy from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The risk coronavirus poses to our tenuous, complex supply chain
The risk coronavirus poses to our tenuous, complex supply chain
A disruption to any single link, from factories overseas to the truck driver delivering goods the final mile, could have a ripple effect, according to researcher Steve Viscelli.
How emotional contagion exacts a toll
How emotional contagion exacts a toll
From “Purell panic” to sold-out face masks, Wharton’s Sigal Barsade discusses how widespread panic is an emotional contagion amidst the coronavirus epidemic.
Containing the coronavirus: What’s the risk to the global economy?
Containing the coronavirus: What’s the risk to the global economy?
On Feb. 24, stock indices tumbled, spooked by reports that the coronavirus outbreak which emerged in China is spreading to countries including Italy, Iran and South Korea.
The politics of health inequality
The politics of health inequality
The eight major Democratic candidates for president agree that Americans need expanded and more affordable health care. According to Julia Lynch, none of their proposed plans will solve the problem of heath inequality in the U.S.
Illuminating interactions between decision-making and the environment
Illuminating interactions between decision-making and the environment
With a unifying model based in game theory, Andrew Tilman, Joshua Plotkin, and Erol Akçay of the School of Arts and Sciences inform dynamics in fields as diverse as ecology and economics.
The state of the auto industry in the 2020s
The state of the auto industry in the 2020s
The Wharton School’s Professor of Management John Paul MacDuffie names current trends in the auto industry and where it’s headed in the future.
Vincent Reina on housing, barriers, and what we need from housing policy
Vincent Reina on housing, barriers, and what we need from housing policy
New challenges to the housing market and its policies are “unprecedented,” say the Penn Design professor. He outlines potential improvements to the country’s largest affordable rental housing programs and the possibility of retrofitting housing to help reduce utility cost burdens.
Media Contact
In the News
MarketWatch
Man who called Dow 20,000 at end of 2015 says these are the 4 steps needed for a bona fide stock-market recovery
Jeremy Siegel of the Wharton School said the stock market may have hit its bottom last week. Indicators of recovery include fiscal stimulus, flattening the curve, vaccine developments, and deadlines for economic normalcy.
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The New York Times
Fed could bolster groups of businesses and localities with funds in G.O.P. bill
Peter Conti-Brown of the Wharton School said the Federal Reserve should avoid helping specific industries with emergency funding. The banking system has a “convenient set of easy tools that allow policymakers and politicians to skip the burden of their own accountability,” said Conti-Brown. “It’s the kind of set the Fed does not want to make today—which is to pick winners and losers.”
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Newsweek
Coronavirus paid sick leave bill ‘does not go far enough’ and leaves many workers unprotected, economists warn
Ioana Marinescu of the School of Social Policy & Practice spoke about the role of paid sick leave in preventing the spread of COVID-19. “Not paying sick leave may allow some businesses to stay afloat, instead of laying off everybody and therefore lowering employment,” she said. “But on the other hand this would spread the epidemic more, further compromising the economy and threatening the same businesses.”
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Coronavirus cash: Is now the time to ‘go big’ with a basic income relief package?
Amy Castro Baker of the School of Social Policy & Practice spoke about the cash-assistance program proposed by the Trump administration. “There has been a body of research that’s being built up in the policy space for a long time around the idea of cash transfers,” she said. “We know that’s the most efficient way to respond to natural disasters.”
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CBS News
Driverless trucks being tested right now on public roads
Steve Viscelli of the School of Arts and Sciences spoke about the impact of driverless trucks on the trucking industry. “I’ve identified two segments that I think are most at-risk. And that’s refrigerated and dry van truckload. And those constitute about 200,000 trucking jobs,” he said. “And then what’s called line haul, and they’re somewhere in the neighborhood of 80,000-90,000 jobs there.”
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Vice
This is how we’ll live when the government gives us all a basic income
Ioana Marinescu of the School of Social Policy & Practice compared the effects of a system of universal basic income to the lives of lottery winners, who often receive their winnings in installments. “Whether in the U.S. or Sweden, most of [the winners] kind of keep doing what they were doing before but feel more comfortable. Most people keep working, take a bit more vacation, feel more financially secure, and that’s about it,” she said. “It suggests that the changes are not enormous, except for the fact of feeling more financially secure.”
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