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This Week in Business
Dissecting A Business's Right to Refuse Service Based on Politics
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White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a small restaurant in Virginia last week and she and President Trump tweeted criticisms of the restaurant's refusal of service. This incident had followed a series of other occasions where people had approached and yelled at Trump Administration Officials while they were out to eat. Host Dan Loney talks with Eric Orts, Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the Wharton School, and Elizabeth Sepper, Professor of Law at Washington University, to look at the legal questions surrounding the restaurant's decision and impact the public backlash is having against the Trump Administration on Knowledge@Wharton.
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How Geopolitics Is Hitting Local Gas Stations
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Why Hiring Has Slowed Without Mass Layoffs
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Stablecoins Explained: Bridging Digital Assets and Traditional Finance
10:56|Kevin Werbach, Wharton Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, discusses the Stablecoin Toolkit and how clearer definitions, regulatory frameworks, and emerging use cases could position stablecoins as a bridge between digital assets and the traditional financial system.
Super Bowl Advertising Trends, Creative Strategy, and Brand Competition
12:19|Dr. Americus Reed, II, Wharton Professor of Marketing, breaks down the strengths, themes, and competitive dynamics of this year’s Super Bowl ads, including the role of nostalgia, humor, artificial intelligence, and long-term brand storytelling.
The Economic Reality Behind Billionaires Taxes and State Budgets
10:15|Kent Smetters, Faculty Director of the Penn Wharton Budget Model and Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the Wharton School, analyzes the origins of billionaire and wealth taxes, explains why they consistently underperform revenue expectations, and explores their economic distortions at both the state and national level.
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13:00|Stefano Puntoni, Wharton Professor of Marketing and Co-Director of the Wharton Human-AI Research Program, discusses OpenAI’s move toward advertising, its implications for monetization, consumer experience, and the future of digital advertising.
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11:42|Jeremy Siegel, Wharton Emeritus Professor of Finance and Senior Economist at WisdomTree, analyzes the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold rates, the significance of dissenting votes, the outlook for future cuts, shifting market leadership, and how AI-driven productivity may shape the economy and labor markets heading into 2026.