12.1
Education, Business, & Law
Confronting inequities, sharing solutions
Confronting inequities, sharing solutions
At the annual meeting of the Global Water Alliance, faculty, students, and practitioners shared solutions and challenges around the issues of water access, sanitation, and hygiene in the U.S. and around the world.
U.S. debt: Is it the calm before the storm?
U.S. debt: Is it the calm before the storm?
The U.S. national debt has crossed $22 trillion. Wharton’s Kent Smetters and Joao Gomes discuss the nation’s long-term debt burden and what might be done about it.
The Ivy League’s first pre-professional LGBTQ club
The Ivy League’s first pre-professional LGBTQ club
Meet The Wharton Alliance, which, in its 16th year, continues its dual promise of cultivating a network of LGBTQ business students while considering the future of diversity in the workplace.
The math behind March Madness
The math behind March Madness
A Q&A with statistician Shane Jensen, who discusses the math behind sports team rankings, why March Madness has so many underdog victories, and how technology might change how analysts study sports teams in the future.
Negotiating a truce in the war on drugs
Negotiating a truce in the war on drugs
A Penn Law symposium brought together experts from the legal, law enforcement, social work, and policy camps to discuss how to refocus the decades-long fight to be less punitive and more protective.
Wharton School establishes the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance
The Wharton School announced the establishment of the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance with the support and partnership of 1991 undergraduate alumnus Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Holdings Group.
Going plastic neutral
Going plastic neutral
The winners of a 2018 Penn President’s Engagement Prize are launching a new venture to address the global problem of plastic waste.
Penn at SXSW
Penn at SXSW
This is the third year the Penn Center for Innovation has led a group of University-affiliated startups to participate in South by Southwest’s innovative arm, SXSW Interactive.
Higher ed as ‘hubs for common ground’
Higher ed as ‘hubs for common ground’
At the Wharton Global Forum in Shanghai, Penn President Amy Gutmann said high-quality higher education has the potential to transform lives, communities, and the world.
Gaining momentum by the minute
Gaining momentum by the minute
Michael Wong, the student behind startup InstaHub, chats about his path to Penn, his passion for entrepreneurship, and his plans after graduation in May.
In the News
Bloomberg
Wharton professor on turning responsible investing interest into sales
Cait Lamberton of the Wharton School discussed the decision-making behind sustainable investing. “At the end of the day, the question for the consumer has to be, ‘If I do this, what changes in the world? What will be different because I took this action?’ And it doesn’t even have to be something large; it has to be something concrete,” she said.
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Science
Medical groups push to save institute that helps doctors and patients choose the right treatment
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel said PCORI, a government-funded research institute, wasn’t “bold enough” in dealing with drug companies and went “way overboard” with its patient engagement efforts.
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The Washington Post
Corporate debt nears a record $10 trillion, and borrowing binge poses new risks
Krista Schwarz of the Wharton School said that the current state of affairs, in which corporations have taken on significant high-risk debt, will amplify any economic downturn. “It’s going to make everything happen faster, larger, worse,” she said. “The recession would just be that much deeper.”
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Quartz India
Can Paytm make every cent of its $1 billion funding round really count?
Kartik Hosanagar of the Wharton School said that Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of India’s fintech company Paytm, “likely has low equity holding on a percentage basis. But the company’s valuation is very high so his stake in Paytm is still worth a lot on paper.”
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Quartz
Three MBA admissions heads explain why record numbers of women are going to business school
Blair Mannix of the Wharton School spoke about the business school’s supportive environment. “People on the outside of the community and culture think it’s a competitive environment, but if you speak to anyone who’s a member of it, it’s extremely collaborative,” she said.
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