Faculty Viewpoints
On COVID-19 Vaccines, Big Pharma Knows to Just Say ‘No’
In the face of pressure from President Donald Trump, nine major pharmaceutical companies have signed a pledge to complete testing before submitting vaccines for approval. Yale's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Dr. Albert Ko write that the drugmakers’ caution may help provide badly needed confidence in the eventual vaccine.
Rethinking Police Organizations
Prof. Rodrigo Canales has spent his career investigating how to transform the institutions that shape our lives. Effective police reform, he says, begins with shifting the focus from deterring crime to helping the whole community feel safe.
Holding Up a Mirror to the First Global Stock Bubble
Yale SOM’s William Goetzmann, an expert in art and finance history, showed us satirical prints documenting the first global stock bubble, three centuries ago.
Can Government Contain the Economic Crisis?
Prof. Andrew Metrick, director of the Yale Program on Financial Stability, says that fighting a crisis is different from economic policymaking in normal times; governments need to be exceptionally generous and not get bogged down in stringent processes that keep money from getting to those in need.
Please Mr. Postman
Some have defended cutbacks to the United States Postal Service, weeks ahead of the election, by citing the USPS’s financial struggles. But the postal service was created to provide a public service, writes Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, not to turn a profit.
Departures from Convention
With the Democratic National Convention taking place online, Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld reflects on other conventions Americans have abandoned, and the traditions we’ve let go of, during this tumultuous time.
Can We Make Recycling Work?
The ubiquitous blue bin for single-stream recycling obscures a set of tradeoffs and challenges, including contamination that complicates processing and lowers the value of recyclable materials.
In Estimating COVID-19 Infection Risk, Frequency of an Activity Is Key
With proper precautions, the risk of a day at work, a ride on the bus, or a workout at the gym may be acceptable, write Yale SOM’s Arthur J. Swersey and his co-authors. But that risk compounds dramatically when an activity is repeated day after day.
John Lewis’s Last Lesson for Leaders
Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld reflects on the lessons he learned from the civil rights pioneer and congressman John Lewis about voice, courage, integrity—and the dangers of being too patient.
The Wealth Gap Facing Black Americans Is Vast—and Vastly Underestimated
For every $100 in wealth held by a White family, a Black family has just $10. But studies by Yale’s Jennifer Richeson and Michael Kraus show that Americans believe that the disparity is much smaller.
