This Week in Business

We're featuring a series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and continue with a look at impending changes to US tax law and policy. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act went into effect in 2018 and the majority of us will feel its impact when we file our taxes in the coming weeks or months. However it's already left a mark on the federal budget deficit. Although the Trump administration said the tax plan would "pay for itself," that has not happened, instead the deficit went up by 17 percent from the year before. The small boost it gave to the economy may be a temporary effect. In the meantime, the IRS is dealing with the partial government shutdown and it's unclear whether tax refunds will be sent out on time, even though the deadline to file remains the same. Host Dan Loney is joined by Michael Knoll, Co-Director of the Center for Tax Law and Policy as well as Law Professor at the Univ. of Pennsylvania Law School, and Daniel Hemel, Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago Law School, to discuss how these tax policies might play out in 2019. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're featuring a series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and continue with a look at the future of Latin America. In the last 12 months leadership has changed in Latin American countries including Brazil, Cuba and Mexico. Brazil elected a far right president, Jair Bolsonaro, while Mexico has its first leftist president in seven decades, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. And for the first time in over 50 years, the leader of Cuba is not a Castro, it's Miguel Diaz Canel. In the meantime Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in last week for his second term, even though his reelection is being called illegitimate and the country is in economic turmoil. Host Dan Loney examines many of these issues with William Burke White, Director of The Perry World House and Law Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Benjamin GEDAN, Senior Advisor to the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University and a former South America Director of the National Security Council at The White House.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ruth Zukerman, Co-Founder of SoulCycle and FlyWheel and current Creative Director at FlyWheel, joins host Laura Zarrow to discuss her inspirational founders story and journey from dance to cycling on Women@Work. Ruth's new book is called "Riding High: How I Kissed SoulCycle Goodbye, Co-Founded Flywheel, and Built the Life I Always Wanted". Book: https://www.amazon.com/Riding-High-SoulCycle-Co-Founded-Flywheel-ebook/dp/B072DTR4GX Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vikram Dewan, CEO of the Philadelphia Zoo, President of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, and Wharton alum, joins hosts Sandi Hunt and Sherryl Kuhlman to discuss the Philadelphia Zoo's many impact programs that span from the community here in Philadelphia to the wildlife all over the world with efforts in Conservation, Sustainability, Social Impact, Education, and more on Dollars and Change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charles Best, Founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org, joins host Nicolaj Siggelkow to talk about how the nonprofit website, which enables anyone to help a classroom in need, is making a real life impact in education on Mastering Innovation. To date, teachers at more than 80% of all the public schools in America have created classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org, and more than 3 million people have given to those projects! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Few books can credibly claim to offer a way to save the world, but this one does." That's the eye-catching first sentence in forward to the new book A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and The Rest Can Follow. The authors, Joshua Goldstein, Professor Emeritus of International Relations at American University, and Staffan Qvist, Energy Engineer, join host Dan Loney to discuss how they believe a combination of nuclear and renewable energy is the path to slow down climate change on Knowledge@Wharton. Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CWQ65FG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're featuring a series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and continue with a look at retail in the US. In 2018, 13 retail companies filed for bankruptcy protection, which is about half as many as 2017. While some like David’s Bridal and Mattress Firm may be able to reorganize their debt and find a way out of financial trouble, Sears Holdings looks like it will follow the path of Toys R Us and close its doors soon. Consumers have been spending more money, but as e-commerce is taking a large share of that, brick and mortar stores need to continue to find better ways in which to compete. To discuss how these retail trends will carry out in 2019, host Dan Loney talks with Barbara Kahn, Professor of Marketing at the Wharton school, and Mark Cohen, Director of Retail Studies at Columbia University Graduate School of Business and former CEO of Sears Canada, Lazarus Department Stores and Bradlees, Inc., on Knowledge@Wharton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're featuring a series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and continue with a look at immigration. The current government shutdown is linked to immigration - President Trump is demanding over $5 billion dollars to build a wall along the U.S. southern border with Mexico. There are also tens of thousands fleeing the violence in Central American countries asking for US asylum, questionable current border practices with family separations and child safety investigations, and the Dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought to the US as minors, who are still in limbo as lawmakers continue to argue their fate. Host Dan Loney talks with Sarah Paoletti, Director of the Transnational Legal Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania, and Stephen Yale-Loehr, Professor of Immigration Law Practice at Cornell University, to discuss how these tenuous situations may or may not resolve in the coming year on Knowledge@Wharton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're featuring a series this month called “2019: A Look Ahead” and continue with a look at the current labor markets. 2018 ended with very positive news: the economy added around 2.6 million jobs in 2018, and wages grew by 3.2 percent. The labor participation rate climbed over 63 percent, meaning more people were coming back into the workforce, which also nudged the unemployment rate up a bit to 3.9 percent. As 2019 starts, 20 states and around two dozen cities are raising the minimum wage. However, the country is now feeling the effects of the government shutdown, the current trade war, and a shaky Wall Street. So, what can we expect to see this year? Host Dan Loney is joined by Peter Cappelli, the Director of the Center for Human Resources and Professor of Management at the Wharton school, and Iwan Barankay is an Associate Professor of Management and Associate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at Wharton, to discuss their projections for the labor market in 2019 on Knowledge@Wharton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we continue our “2019: A Look Ahead” series, we focus on the financial markets, which have been on a roller coaster of ups and downs the last few months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a decline over 10 percent and both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 saw significant declines as well. The factors that lead to some of this uncertainty are still in place, including the U.S. trade war with China and President Trump's open disagreement with the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates. Host Dan Loney talks with Jeremy Siegel, Finance Professor at the Wharton School, and Gad Allon, Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions and Director of the Management and Technology Program at the Wharton School, to discuss what these trends mean for the future market trends of 2019 on Knowledge@Wharton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.