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US Secretary of State Replacement? with William Burke-White and Alan Henrikson
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The New York Times reported Rex Tillerson may be on his way out as Secretary of State as the White House looks to tap CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace him. Tillerson has faced heavy criticism lately as career diplomats are leaving in droves and many important State Department jobs go unfilled. Host Dan Loney talks with William Burke-White, Professor at Penn Law and Inaugural Director of Perry World House, and Alan Henrikson, Professor of Diplomatic History Emeritus at Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy join us to discuss the latest speculations on Knowledge@Wharton.
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Affordable Care Act Subsidies, Coverage Losses, and What Comes Next
10:37|Professor Emeritus of Healthcare Management at the Wharton School, Mark Vincent Pauly, analyzes the consequences of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced subsidy expiration, its effects on insurance coverage and costs, and the potential implications of proposed reforms allowing individuals to choose plans using direct government funding.
The Unintended Consequences of Affordable Housing Lotteries
12:04|Judd Kessler, Wharton Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy and author of Lucky by Design, tells how affordable housing lotteries function, why they generate hidden markets, and how better design could improve outcomes for renters.
Inside Saks Global’s Bankruptcy and the Future of Luxury Retail
12:39|Barbara Kahn, Wharton Professor of Marketing, discusses Saks Global’s bankruptcy, the strategic missteps behind it, and how luxury department stores can rebuild through experiential retail, omnichannel integration, and elite customer relationships.
How AI Is Reshaping Skills, Hiring, and Education
13:46|Eric Bradlow, Vice Dean of AI and Analytics and Professor and Chair of the Marketing Department at the Wharton School, discusses new research with Accenture that empirically measures the skills gap and explores how AI is redefining education, hiring, and the future labor market.
The Fed Chair Transition and the Future of Central Bank Independence
13:37|Wharton Associate Professor of Financial Regulation, Peter Conti-Brown, analyzes the end of Jerome Powell’s term, the potential next chair, and why Federal Reserve independence is central to monetary policy, regulation, and the U.S. economy heading into 2026.
Six AI Trends Shaping Business, Education, and Markets in 2026
09:46|Stefano Puntoni, Wharton Marketing Professor and Co-Director of Wharton Human-AI Research, explores six major AI trends for 2026, including model specialization, agentic systems, everyday consumer AI, monetization, regulation, and the implications for business education and the future workforce.
Regulating Foreign Insider Trades on U.S. Stock Exchanges
13:56|Dan Taylor, Professor of Accounting at the Wharton School, discusses how his research helped shape new legislation requiring foreign company executives to disclose stock trades and protect U.S. investors from opportunistic insider selling.
Faculty Prediction Series: Residential and Commercial Real Estate Trends for 2026
09:57|Susan M. Wachter, Albert Sussman Professor of Real Estate at the Wharton School, discusses the outlook for housing and commercial real estate, focusing on inflation trends, interest rates, inventory challenges, and what these forces mean for markets in the year ahead.
Faculty Prediction Series: Assessing Inflation, Jobs, and Markets Heading Into 2026
10:13|Jeremy Siegel, Wharton Emeritus Professor of Finance and Senior Economist at WisdomTree, shares his perspective on the state of the U.S. economy, analyzing recent rate cuts, inflation progress, employment data, tariff uncertainty, and what they could mean for markets and growth in 2026.