A panel of experts convened by UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and its affiliated Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise will be offering a press briefing via webinar on the effects of COVID-19 on the healthcare system, its providers and supply chains. Join tomorrow, Tuesday, April 14, at 11 a.m. EDT.
The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 exemplifies a worst-case scenario for federal, state, and local disaster preparedness planning and illustrates some of the United States’ fundamental public health infrastructure flaws. While stay-at-home orders and economic shutdowns initially depressed disease spread, they harmed businesses and organizations, threatened individuals’ livelihoods, and negatively impacted community well-being. National standards for COVID-19 management tools and protocols were not available when needed, and state, local, and federal guidance differed, and often conflicted, in ways that confused the public and created economic uncertainty.
On January 20, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will become the 46th president of the United States. In this Kenan Insight, we look at what the Biden administration might mean for the economy and business activity in 2021, including what Biden's highest priorities are, what we can expect in both his and Congress's first 100 days and what we can learn from the divisiveness of the elections and the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
COVID-19 brought heightened focus to paid sick leave policies – a benefit to which roughly 25% of civilian workers don’t have access in the U.S. After sick leave mandates were temporarily implemented during the pandemic, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School researchers found employment increased, particularly among low-skilled workers and in industries that previously had little access to paid sick leave. In this week's Kenan Insight, our experts explore possible drivers behind this finding as well as potential policy and business implications.
Consumers will long associate the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic with seemingly apocalyptic searches for toilet paper, hand sanitizer and PPE. But even now, amid continued surges of the Delta variant, many global supply chains continue to experience disruptions at record rates. This week’s Kenan Insight invites our experts to weigh in on the immediate impact of these disruptions for business and society, the longer term effects across industries and the roles government and emerging tech should be playing to drive solutions.
Cryptocurrency has its critics, but it’s becoming an increasingly mainstream option for retail and institutional investors alike. In this Kenan Insight, we share some thoughts from former Co-president of Morgan Stanley Zoe Cruz and Rethinc. Labs Faculty Director Eric Ghysels on whether crypto has reached a tipping point for adoption by individual investors.
As part of President Joe Biden’s efforts to refocus the Federal Reserve Board, the Senate conducted confirmation hearings for several nominees this past week. While these hearings traditionally raise spirited exchanges about the nominees’ views on monetary policy and bank supervision, a new and more controversial topic involves the extent to which the Federal Reserve should internalize climate risks into its purview. Before wading into central bank wonkishness, it is important to make clear that climate change represents a serious risk to not only the U.S. economy but to humanity itself. Nevertheless, we need to be very deliberate in the assessment of the available policy tools, with an eye to where unintended consequences may reside.
Elon Musk’s bid to purchase Twitter for $44 billion appears to have fallen apart, but the reality of what nearly happened, and still may, will probably be with us for good. Before attempting to terminate the deal, Musk spoke with Twitter employees and discussed his vision to turn the social media platform into the world’s town square. The wealthiest person in the world wanting to own space where people gather to mobilize, to call out injustices and criticize powerful organizations and governments, and to coo at the latest cat videos?
A panel from this year's Alternative Investments Conference discusses how venture capital is playing catch-up on ESG investing, "knowing what levers you can pull," and the opportunity for huge growth in this week's Kenan Insight.
...label and sponsored advertising to generate additional revenue. This raises the question of when and why a platform may seek to give preference to its private label in sponsored advertising,...
Nuclear power’s star has dimmed in recent years, diminished by the rise of solar, wind and natural gas as well as the 2011 disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant. Now many nations, suddenly in need of a secure, clean energy source, have plans to reopen or extend the lives of their existing facilities.
Economists and investors traditionally see uncertainty as a bad thing that suppresses growth and valuations, but new research shows that downstream uncertainty from customers in the U.S. supply chain can foretell expansion for firms and the economy.
China’s remarkable economic transition was going to face slowing growth at some point, but misallocation of resources and the country’s zero-COVID policy further complicate the picture.
Kenan Institute Chief Economist Gerald Cohen discusses the power of productivity and what that means for the U.S. economy.
UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Professor Mark McNeilly discusses how ChatGPT and other AI tools will change the workplace - as well as how workers can best prepare themselves for these changes.
Kenan Institute Chief Economist Gerald Cohen explains why we're doubling down on our recessionary forecasts.
Generative AI such as ChatGPT holds the potential to alter many kinds of work, but analysis of a new report shows the occupations most likely to be affected are populated by more women than men.
Chief Economist Gerald Cohen outlines three possible paths for the U.S. economy in coming months, as well as the indicators to keep an eye on.
This work examines the effects on worker psychological well-being and productivity of highly publicized negative identity-related societal events, such as the 2020 murder of George Floyd, mass shootings like the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting that targeted LGBTQ+ individuals, and the 2021 Atlanta area Spa shootings that targeted individuals of Asian descent.