All Insights Articles

Top marketing executives discuss big data and how today’s companies are using all of the information they’re collecting about customers.

Mercy Corps’ literacy program in Assam, India, works because it is local—designed and taught by staff with an understanding of the culture there. As a global organization, Mercy Corps needs to balance investment in a deep understanding of local issues with the imperative to make a difference in as many lives as possible.

The financial crisis of 2008 is a looming figure in current economic thinking. The global economy is still slowly recovering from the shock, and policymakers and academics continue to discuss the structural changes needed to prevent a recurrence. The stress of the last half decade has made two things very clear: A productive and innovative financial system is essential to the broader economy, but financial innovations made irresponsibly—without consideration of systemic risk and other impacts on society—can wreak havoc.

Was the 2008 financial crisis a one-time event or the first example of a new pattern? Professor Gary Gorton argues that the history of banking shows that there’s a real risk of future upheaval in financial markets.

Placing the right people in the right role lets companies innovate and grow. But there’s no surefire way of getting the perfect fit. Some companies are turning to big data to solve this problem; some go with the gut to find creativity and judgment. Beth Axelrod, eBay’s head of human resources, explains how the company goes about finding and retaining the talent it needs.

At the moment, the most visible parts of the Affordable Care Act are the newly launched—and glitchy—insurance exchanges, intended to extend coverage to millions of individuals. But healthcare reform also includes measures designed to slow the growth of healthcare spending and improve outcomes. In the coming years, the ACA will “transform how we deliver healthcare to individuals,” says Ezekiel Emanuel, a doctor, bioethicist, and advisor to the Obama administration.

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, remains a focus of heated political rhetoric—rhetoric that can obscure what’s actually happening in the healthcare system. A panel of Yale experts discussed what metrics we can look at to know if the law is increasing coverage and reducing costs as intended—and whether there are unintended effects on the larger economy.

The scale of urbanization in China is without precedent in human history. The transformation is also complex and nuanced, says Yale’s Karen Seto, with cities taking different approaches to environmental issues, pace of development, and global connections.

Nobel laureate Robert Shiller discusses some of the trends he currently sees in finance and the housing market.

Today’s political and cultural debates reflect a lack of consensus not just on policy but on the facts themselves—and on who is qualified to judge the truth. Robert C. Post, the dean of Yale Law School, argues for an approach to free speech that preserves the role of expertise.