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Education, Business, & Law
How a simple change can protect crowdfunding backers from fraud
How a simple change can protect crowdfunding backers from fraud
Crowdfunding can attract a host of unwanted behaviors. New research shows that a few simple changes to a crowdfunding platform’s design could strengthen protections for those contributing, and make everyone better off.
Prepare for a slowdown, not a recession
Prepare for a slowdown, not a recession
According to Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel, a recession is inevitable, but when? Historic indicators of a recession are present, but demographic shifts make predictions less reliable.
Game-changing approach to a better U.S. criminal justice system
Game-changing approach to a better U.S. criminal justice system
Through its emphasis on data-driven, systemic solutions to errors afflicting the criminal justice system, the Law School’s Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice has become a national leader in reform efforts.
In Hong Kong, a new round in the long-standing clash over law, autonomy, and democracy
In Hong Kong, a new round in the long-standing clash over law, autonomy, and democracy
Political scientist Jacques deLisle explains what spurred the latest conflict, and whether the desire to end it could prompt mainland China to intervene with force.
Gutmann, Moreno op-ed details ‘ethical mess’ of health care system
Gutmann, Moreno op-ed details ‘ethical mess’ of health care system
“Surely our fellow Americans with life-threatening diseases of all sorts are also worth saving,” they write.
Easing the transition from summer to school
Easing the transition from summer to school
Penn GSE’s Linda Leibowitz has a few suggestions for parents and caregivers who are keen to smooth their kids’ transition from summer back to school.
A wearable new technology moves brain monitoring from the lab to the real world
A wearable new technology moves brain monitoring from the lab to the real world
The portable EEG created by PIK Professor Michael Platt and postdoc Arjun Ramakrishnan has potential applications from health care to sports performance.
What are the long-term costs of the China-U.S. trade war?
What are the long-term costs of the China-U.S. trade war?
Wharton experts Marshall Meyer and Efraim Berkovich discuss the escalating trade war with China, and argue that U.S. households must brace for higher prices that won’t come down.
Equifax breach and how credit agencies must change how they manage data
Equifax breach and how credit agencies must change how they manage data
Wharton’s David Zaring analyzes the Equifax settlement, struck last week between the credit reporting firm and federal regulators over a massive data breach in 2017, and the call for stronger legislation and regulatory restraints to protect consumers.
Will Amazon’s plan to ‘upskill’ its employees pay off?
Will Amazon’s plan to ‘upskill’ its employees pay off?
Wharton’s Matthew Bidwell discusses Amazon’s $700 million plan to retrain its workforce with “pathways to careers” in machine learning, manufacturing, robotics, and computer science, while facing mounting personnel and safety issues and concerns at its warehouses.
In the News
The Washington Post
The GAO told the government in 2015 to develop a plan to protect the aviation system against an outbreak. It never happened
Howard Kunreuther of the Wharton School said good leadership is critical in preparing government agencies for catastrophic events. “You cannot deal with this at the level of just saying let each agency operate,” he said. “You need to have some way to bring them together and to indicate that this is a problem, which cannot be solved by one agency alone. That is something that leadership is going to have to suggest—‘This is the way to do it’—and we don’t have that right now.”
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The Chronicle of Higher Education
Will coronavirus close your college for good?
Robert Zemsky of the Graduate School of Education spoke about the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the financial health of higher education.
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Reuters
Delivery drivers face pandemic without sick pay, insurance, sanitizer
Matthew Bidwell of the Wharton School spoke about the pandemic-related changes to working conditions for contract employees. “It’s very sad because three weeks ago we were in a historically tight labor market,” he said. “It was forcing employers for the first time in a long time to offer more perks and more benefits. They no longer have that pressure.”
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The New York Times
Businesses face a new coronavirus threat: Shrinking access to credit
Krista Schwarz of the Wharton School spoke about how businesses are coping with the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. “Everyone is just trying to get by day to day at the moment,” she said. “Right now is not the time to grow the company—it’s the time to stay solvent.”
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The New York Times
A conservative agenda unleashed on the federal courts
Stephen Burbank of the Law School spoke about trend by recent presidents to draw the federal judiciary into policy debates. “The problem as I see it is not that judges differ ideologically—of course they do—nor is it that a Republican president would look for someone with congenial ideological preferences,” he said. “It’s that in recent decades the search has been for hard-wired ideologues because they’re reliable policy agents.”
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