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This Week in Business
US Employment and Labor 2019: A Look Ahead
We're featuring a series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and continue with a look at the current labor markets. 2018 ended with very positive news: the economy added around 2.6 million jobs in 2018, and wages grew by 3.2 percent. The labor participation rate climbed over 63 percent, meaning more people were coming back into the workforce, which also nudged the unemployment rate up a bit to 3.9 percent. As 2019 starts, 20 states and around two dozen cities are raising the minimum wage. However, the country is now feeling the effects of the government shutdown, the current trade war, and a shaky Wall Street. So, what can we expect to see this year? Host Dan Loney is joined by Peter Cappelli, the Director of the Center for Human Resources and Professor of Management at the Wharton school, and Iwan Barankay is an Associate Professor of Management and Associate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at Wharton, to discuss their projections for the labor market in 2019 on Knowledge@Wharton.
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Markets React to Iran Tensions and Rate Uncertainty
12:14|Jeremy Siegel, Wharton Emeritus Professor of Finance and Senior Economist at WisdomTree, explains how Iran-related tensions, Federal Reserve uncertainty, and continued AI sector expansion are influencing market resilience, investor sentiment, and the outlook for interest rates and equities.
Measuring the Impact of Europe’s Conservation Targets and Policies
14:00|Arthur van Benthem, Wharton Professor of Business, Economics and Public Policy examines how European Union land protection policies—despite meeting ambitious coverage targets—may fall short in delivering meaningful biodiversity and ecosystem restoration impacts.
Why Reverse Morris Trust Deals Demand Strategic Discipline
12:26|Emilie Feldman, Wharton Professor of Management, discusses how reverse Morris Trust transactions influence merger strategy, tax efficiency, and value creation through scale-driven synergies.
How AI Is Reshaping Blue-Collar Work and Skills
11:59|Lynn Wu, Associate Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions at the Wharton School, discusses how AI is driving a shift in blue-collar work, reshaping job responsibilities, and creating new opportunities for human judgment, adaptability, and problem-solving in an evolving workforce.
How Credit Scores Shape Homeowners Insurance Costs Nationwide
12:10|Ben Keys, Wharton Professor of Real Estate, discusses new research revealing how credit scores can impact homeowners insurance premiums more than climate risk, raising important questions about fairness, policy, and financial inequality.
Scaling a Local Favorite: The Strategy Behind Wawa’s Growth
11:35|Z. John Zhang, Wharton Professor of Marketing, discusses how brands like Wawa scale beyond their regional roots by leveraging innovation, customer loyalty, and strategic expansion into competitive new markets.
How School Cell Phone Bans Are Changing Student Behavior
14:07|Angela Duckworth, Wharton Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions and Co-Director of the Behavior Change for Good Initiative, discusses new findings from the Phones in Focus study on how school phone restrictions influence academic engagement, teacher satisfaction, and student wellbeing.
Inside the Business Models of Today’s Top AI Platforms
12:49|Stefano Puntoni, Wharton Professor of Marketing, analyzes how OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic are pursuing distinct business models and growth strategies to compete in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence market.
How Geopolitics and AI Are Influencing Today’s Financial Markets
12:31|Jeremy Siegel, Emeritus Professor of Finance at the Wharton School and Senior Economist at WisdomTree, discusses how the Iran conflict, Federal Reserve decisions, and artificial intelligence are shaping market performance and long-term economic expectations.