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Politics and Policy

How the Business Community Turned Back Tariffs—for Now

Objections from business leaders played a key role in pushing the Trump Administration to reverse course on recently announced “reciprocal” tariffs, according to Yale SOM leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and co-author Stephen Henriques. It’s a win for business, they write, but the business community remains concerned about uncertainty around economic policy.

A container ship in the open ocean
  • Yes, We’re Confident, but Who Knows Why

    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 Language We Speak Predicts Saving and Health Behavior

    Languages differ in how much they distinguish between the present and the future. Professor Keith Chen found that speakers of languages that do not rely on the future tense make more future-oriented choices, including saving more money, retiring with more wealth, and smoking less.

  • Immigration and Innovation

    As legislators negotiate comprehensive immigration reform, Professor Mushfiq Mobarak explains, in a commentary in the New York Times, the importance of skilled foreign workers in sustaining the United States’ comparative advantage in science and innovation.

  • Medical School Gift Restriction Policies Affect Doctors' Prescribing Behavior

    Professor Marissa King compared the prescribing patterns of doctors who graduated before and after their medical schools introduced conflict-of-interest policies that restrict industry gifts. Her research showed that doctors who experienced gift restrictions during medical training are less likely to prescribe newly marketed medications.

  • What is environmental security?

    A country runs out of drinkable water. What's its next move? And how will its actions affect neighboring countries? The national security community has developed data, expertise, and plans for responding to threats caused by environmental problems.

  • Should the government subsidize alternative energy?

    When solar panel manufacturer Solyndra went bankrupt after receiving millions in federal loan guarantees, some said that the government should stop interfering in energy markets. Nancy Pfund and Ben Healey show that the U.S. government has a long history of subsidizing emerging forms of energy, dating back to the 19th century.

  • What has happened to the labor market in the Great Recession?

    With 14 million people out of work in the U.S., labor markets are receiving a lot of attention. Yale SOM's Lisa Kahn did groundbreaking work on the impact of graduating into a bad economy. She offers her take on what's happening now and what to expect.

  • Are our institutions up to the job?

    The massive problems associated with sustainability, from climate change to resource preservation, require coordinated, society-wide responses. Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom argues for the importance of giving local institutions enough power to better manage common resources—though it’s not easy.

  • Do you need a nudge?

    Richard Thaler outlines how principles from behavioral economics can help policymakers and managers achieve better outcomes.

  • How do we manage disasters?

    Healthcare is a field known for its complexity and fragmentation. Managing a massive cross-sectoral healthcare project is always a challenge. Coordinating the healthcare response to a disaster puts a strained system under even more pressure. John Piescik ’81 looked into the way the healthcare system responds to disaster for MITRE a not-for-profit company that operates three federally funded research and development centers. His findings may have implications well beyond healthcare, providing a means to manage solutions to some of the complex problems facing society.