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Three Questions

  • How Is the Pharmaceutical Industry Responding to COVID-19?

    As pharmaceutical companies work to develop potential vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, they are operating under extreme pressure—as well as the restrictions on movement and interaction that are affecting all of us.

    Dr. Sonia Macieiewski and Dr. Nita Patel at a Novavax lab in Rockville, Maryland, on March 20. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images.
  • Making Sense of A Record-Breaking Wave of Unemployment Claims

    A greater share of Americans filed for unemployment insurance in the week ending March 21 than in any prior week in American history. We asked Yale SOM's Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham for his perspective on this alarming statistic.

    Jessie Morancy, a former wheelchair and customer service agent at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, filing unemployment benefits on March 27 after being laid off. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images.
  • Economic Competition in a Time of Crisis

    What will the sudden economic shock mean for competition and antitrust policy? We asked Yale SOM’s Fiona Scott Morton, an economist who served in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, for her perspective.

    An office building with an illuminated interior
  • Crashes and COVID-19 in Historical Context

    The stock markets are reeling as fear and uncertainty about the global pandemic grow. We asked Yale SOM’s William Goetzmann, whose research includes financial history, to put the volatility into historical perspective.

    John Poole, president of the Federal American Bank, reassuring a crowd of anxious depositors in February 1931. Photo: Popperfoto via Getty Images.
  • Why a Pandemic Leads to Panic Buying

    We asked Yale SOM’s Nathan Novemsky, an expert in the psychology of judgment and decision-making, for his thoughts on how consumers are behaving during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they’re likely to view companies’ actions in the aftermath.

    A shopper confronting empty shelves at a grocery store in Wassenaar, The Netherlands, on March 14, 2020. Photo: Michel Porro/Getty Images.
  • What the Plunge in the Stock Market Means for Individual Investors

    We asked Yale SOM’s James Choi, who has examined the implications of academic research for personal finance, what studies say about how to respond to a market crash.

    A display at the New York Stock Exchange at the end of trading on March 12, 2020. Photo: Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images.
  • Why the WHO Was Afraid of Crying ‘Pandemic’

    Yale SOM’s Saed Alizamir, with Francis de Véricourt of ESMT and Shouqiang Wang of the University of Texas at Dallas, recently published a study that uses game theory to play out the tradeoffs that the WHO and other public agencies face as they try to give timely warnings while maintaining their credibility.

    Bruce Aylward, assistant director general of the World Health Organization, at a press conference in Beijing on February 24, 2020. Photo: Kyodo News via Getty Images.
  • Is the U.S. Healthcare System Ready for Coronavirus?

    We asked Yale’s Howard P. Forman, a practicing radiologist and expert in healthcare management, what’s likely to happen with coronavirus in coming days and whether the U.S. healthcare system is prepared.

    Coronavirus testing kit
  • Can Jeff Bezos’s $10 Billion Climate Pledge Make a Difference?

    We asked Todd Cort, co-director of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment and an expert on sustainable finance, if Bezos’s money was a significant step toward a solution.

    An illustration of rising seas being held back by a wall of money
  • Should We Worry about the Trillion-Dollar Deficit?

    We asked William English, a professor in the practice of finance and a former economist at the Federal Reserve, how the deficit and the ballooning national debt affect the economy and the ability of Congress and the Fed to fight future recessions.

    A pile of bound copies of the federal budget