Chicago Booth Review Podcast

Matt Notowidigdo, a healthcare finance and policy expert from Chicago Booth, discusses critical issues in the US healthcare system. He highlights the stark contrast in spending compared to other wealthy nations and the lack of universal coverage. The conversation dives into the complexities of healthcare quality assessment, the role of private insurance in enhancing health outcomes, and the intricacies of price transparency. Notowidigdo also addresses the challenges aspiring doctors face and innovative financial incentives like bundled payments that could transform patient care.

Andrew Leon Hanna, an author and adjunct assistant professor, dives into the global refugee crisis and highlights the inspiring stories of refugee entrepreneurs. He discusses the staggering numbers of displaced people and the challenges they face, particularly in accessing financial support. Hanna emphasizes the need for policy changes to recognize refugees as vital economic contributors, showcasing examples of successful initiatives like Kiva's zero-interest loans. The conversation urges a shift in narrative toward compassion and recognition of the positive impact refugees have on communities.

George Wu analyzes workplace scenarios where coworkers discover pay discrepancies. Topics include salary negotiation, fairness, addressing salary gaps, navigating feedback, and pitfalls of fine-tuning responses. Delve into the complexities of human behavior and generating hypotheses in challenging workplace scenarios.

Why is being frugal a virtue? And where exactly do we draw the line between being “frugal” and being “cheap”? In this episode, Chicago Booth’s John Paul Rollert traces the history of frugality from the 18th century to today, explaining why it continues to be relevant as a moral yardstick.

Many of us face snap decisions in which two of our core values come into conflict. We could get promoted, but only by spending less time with family, or be successful in the short term, but at the expense of long-term sustainability. Chicago Booth’s Lucia Annunzio calls these difficult decisions leadership “moments of truth,” and she advises executives that if they don’t have a plan on how they will make such decisions ahead of time, they might ending up regretting their choices.

In the US, 13 percent of refugees become entrepreneurs, compared to 9 percent of Americans born in the US. In this episode we hear from Andrew Leon Hanna, a Chicago Booth Adjunct Assistant Professor whose book 25 Million Sparks: The Untold Story of Refugee Entrepreneurs tells the stories of some refugees who started their own ventures. In the first of two podcasts about the book, he explained why he thinks refugees are so much more likely to become entrepreneurs.

Many of us think that our workplaces are not fair. Managers favor some employees over others, or give some people credit that’s due to someone else. Chicago Booth’s Lucia Annunzio warns that that can lead to resentment and even acts of sabotage. So how important is fairness, and how can you create an environment where people respect and understand decisions, even if they don’t like or agree with them?

Experts Matt Notowidigdo and Tal Gross discuss the high cost of US healthcare, including medical debt and expensive prescription drugs. They explore the value of insurance, the impact of Medicare payment systems on hospital behavior, and the effects of industry consolidation on consumers and innovation.

If you are married, you are statistically much more likely to report being happy than if you’re unmarried. In fact, Chicago Booth’s Sam Peltzman notes that the difference in terms of happiness is the same as either being in the top 10 percent of earners, or the bottom 10 percent. Having said that, his research also shows that the richer you are, the happier you are. In this episode, we talk with him about his research.

Companies in the US have faced a new kind of pressure in recent years from ‘stakeholder capitalism’ or ‘woke capitalism.’ How should corporations respond? In this episode, we bring you a conversation between Alison Taylor, a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business and the author of the author of Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World, and Chicago Booth’s John Paul Rollert. The conversation was recorded at an event co-sponsored by Chicago Booth Review, Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, and the Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.