Faculty Viewpoints

In the New York Times, Professor Robert Shiller writes that the United States should reduce government subsidies for homeownership, while finding another way to promote household saving.

Can laws created to rein in the monopolies of the industrial age still work in the information age? After spending a year as the top antitrust economist at the U.S. Department of Justice, Professor Fiona Scott Morton describes the state of antitrust regulation today.

In a New York Times op-ed, Professor Robert Shiller writes that President Obama’s proposal to change how inflation is measured in Social Security benefit calculations “…solves the wrong problem, and, in doing so, undermines the integrity of the Social Security system.” One alternative, suggests Shiller, is to link retirees’ benefits to GDP per capita, in current dollars, which would align the interests of the retired with those of society as a whole.

Professor Rodrigo Canales discusses his research into the trade-offs inherent in social enterprises and argues that people interested in the field should pay closer attention to the challenges of achieving both social good and market success.

In a New York Times op-ed, Senior Associate Dean Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes about the call to separate the chairman and CEO roles at JPMorgan Chase. “While the model can work on occasion, it is surely no panacea that ensures good economic results or good governance,” he argues.

In an excerpt from his Policy Modeling class, Prof. Edward Kaplan walks through how statistical models can clarify questions about the best ways to fight terror plots.

How can business leaders cultivate the broad understanding and strategic agility they need to build successful organizations? Charles Hill, an accomplished diplomat and co-founder of the Studies in Grand Strategy course at Yale, talks about how ideas from great thinkers—from Herodotus to Clausewitz—can improve business decision making.

As housing, unemployment, the stock market, and the overall economy show signs of recovery, Professor Robert Shiller writes in the New York Times that we understand little about how people’s confidence affect these major turning points. "…[P]ublic thinking is inscrutable. We can keep trying to understand it, but we’ll be puzzled again the next time the markets or the economy make major moves."

The Federal Reserve’s policy of open-ended quantitative easing emphasizes short-term tactics over longer-term strategy, writes Stephen Roach. “The focus, instead, should be on accelerating the process of balance-sheet repair, while at the same time returning monetary and fiscal policy levers to more normal settings.”

Senior Associate Dean Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes that Carnival CEO Micky Arison is a vivid example of the public’s growing skepticism about leaders.