Does the drop in discussions of sustainability on earnings calls represent a real shift in companies’ activity, or just a change in emphasis in their public statements? Let’s dive into the structure of an earnings call. The call usually begins with some prepared remarks by the company and then Q&A for investors. Sustainability topics tend to be strategic and not a major part of the quarterly reporting (if sustainability is…
Howie and Harlan are joined by Alexi Nazem, a Yale-trained internist who co-founded the healthcare staffing company Nomad Health and now leads healthcare investments at AlleyCorp. Harlan reports on new research from the American College of Cardiology meeting; Howie examines the consequences of vast staffing cuts in the federal healthcare infrastructure. Links: Research from the American College of Cardiology Meeting “Semaglutide and walking capacity in people with symptomatic peripheral artery…
Consumers who want to submit a complaint to an agency such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau face a task that, for some, can be daunting: they must fill out a form that requires them to explain the issue, clearly and convincingly, in their own words. Those who are not native English speakers or simply don’t regularly communicate in writing may lack the skills needed to convincingly make their cases.…
In 2013, the state of Washington gave the aerospace company Boeing a massive subsidy package worth $8.7 billion, including tax breaks and reimbursements for worker training costs. That eye-popping price tag isn’t typical—the Boeing subsidy is believed to be the largest in U.S. history—but state subsidies have become more common over the last couple of decades, as government officials try to lure firms to set up shop in their area…
Hosted by Blake Eskin A few weeks ago, I got a message from my bank. Hello, this is Fraud Prevention Services. You know the kind. More than $1,000 charged in three different states in less than an hour. And I am not a sneakerhead. It is important that you call us back at your earliest convenience. Thank you and goodbye. I canceled my debit card, and the bank promised to…
What if the challenges you’re facing aren’t obstacles—but invitations to grow? In this episode, Heidi Brooks and leadership expert Jennifer Garvey Berger explore how we grow through uncertainty, not just survive it. They also discuss why change is essential for leaders, how to turn everyday challenges into opportunities for growth and why embracing imperfection might be the key to thriving in an anxious world. Sharing insights from her book Changing…
Howie and Harlan check in on health issues in the news, including the big bet that went wrong for Walgreens, prohibited words at federal health agencies, the weaknesses of a much-discussed study suggesting that people age in bursts, and the long-term impact of the HPV vaccine. Links: Walgreens “Walgreens to Be Bought by Private Equity Firm in $10 Billion Deal” “Walgreens is heading down a risky path” “Walgreens to Be…
I work on trying to understand the motivations and the drivers of investors’ preference for green investment. I try to understand how can investors use the financial insurance that they have access to better ensure themselves against potential climate change damages or damages from regulation of climate change. I think, by now, most people realize that climate change could have potentially very large implications for the economy, and financial…
Unlike parents in many other high-income countries, American parents are largely on their own until their kids are old enough for kindergarten when it comes to childcare and schooling. But over the past two decades or so, municipalities around the country have started rolling out public pre-kindergarten that is available to all children, usually at age three or four, regardless of income level—what has become known as universal pre-kindergarten (UPK).…
What is the role of federal funding for nonprofits? Andrea Levere: Since we’ve been doing this work, one of the constant themes we hear from philanthropy, despite how much philanthropy has grown, is that what they are able to do to address key issues doesn’t come close to matching the spending of the federal and state and local governments. We are working with a whole range of organizations that are…
Inflation has fallen dramatically since its high point in 2022, although it has crept up in recent months. Why has progress on inflation slowed? Prior to the new administration, the Fed was projecting that the economy would stay fairly stable over the next couple of years, with output and employment near their maximum sustainable levels and inflation falling gradually back to its 2% target—a soft landing. A natural question,…
Creative expression is essential for everyone—to think differently, connect deeply and thrive through uncertainty. In the Season 4 premiere of Learning Through Experience, Heidi Brooks welcomes Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen, co-authors of Your Brain on Art, for a thought-provoking conversation about how engaging with art can help shape the way we learn, collaborate and navigate life’s complexities. Ivy and Susan share their personal journeys into the worlds of art…
This commentary originally appeared in Time. The views expressed are the author’s own. On Inauguration Day, President Trump saluted Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky’s desire for peace and noted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unwillingness to end his assault on its peaceful nation. We congratulated Trump for seeing through Putin’s diplomatic propaganda and economic bluffs. From peace negotiations to economic partnership, Trump has reverted to trusting the devil. Now as Putin is…
Welcome to a new season of Learning Through Experience! This season will explore something that resonates deeply with everyone right now: facing uncertainty. My conversations are with a diverse array of exceptional guests who will talk with us about how they see and experience uncertainty through their lens. Together, we’ll dig into the mindsets, practices and environments that allow us to learn, adapt and thrive, even in—perhaps especially in—these uncertain…
Think about the teams you’ve been a part of. A cross-functional department tasked with launching a new product. The family and friends who helped you pull off another great Thanksgiving dinner. Or maybe it was your high school swim team. I swam the 50 freestyle, the 100 freestyle, and the 100 butterfly. That’s Julia DiBenigno, a professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management. I was part of…
How does an Academy Award nomination or win affect a film’s profitability? Are studios right to spend heavily to get them? Studios do spend heavily, investing millions of dollars and sometimes tens of millions of dollars, in Oscar campaigns promoting their films, going back to the notorious (for other reasons) Harvey Weinstein and Miramax. It is not just about the immediate effect of winning on the movie or actor or…
This commentary originally appeared in Newsweek. The views expressed are the author’s own. Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency is not about reforming anything. It’s about cutting costs indiscriminately and gaining control over all the levers of government power. The result is that vital activities are being hastily cut alongside superfluous ones. Understandably, change is needed across the federal government, and not just to address the budget deficit. But…
On a scale of one to five, how was your omelet? Your car rental experience? Your dentist, your doctor? How was your water bottle purchase? Your shoe purchase? Your microwave purchase and your home purchase? “These ratings are not only ubiquitous but take many forms,” says Prof. Tristan Botelho. But he has doubts that evaluators use different rating scales in a consistent way. “You have to do a lot…
This commentary originally appeared in Fortune. The views expressed are the authors’ own. With reports of widespread business uncertainty and confusion leading to an unanticipated 10-year record plunge in January dealmaking, air is rushing out of business’s balloon of early euphoria for the Trump agenda. President Trump’s language of schoolyard bullying and vindictiveness toward our closest allies undermines those moves where his lieutenants at the Treasury and Commerce Departments may…
This essay was originally published in Newsweek. The views expressed are the authors’ own. MAGA pillars such as Steve Bannon and Laura Loomer have been raising alarms over Elon Musk's blurring of public and personal business interests, with Bannon going so far as to call Musk "a truly evil person." They appear to be channeling deeper-rooted concerns within the Republican base: according to a new poll out from The…
This commentary was adapted from episode 161 of the Health & Veritas podcast. The views expressed are the author’s own. Subscribe to Health & Veritas for weekly doses of expert insight on health and the healthcare industry. Congress is in the midst of considering massive tax and spending changes, and many of these may codify some of the changes recently made by executive order, including those related to USAID, the…
This essay originally appeared in Fortune. With relevance to current life science companies, the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, often labelled “the father of modern medicine,” advised almost 3,000 years ago “healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.” That counsel rings especially true for a pair of ostensibly beleaguered drugmakers, Pfizer and Merck, both of whose stocks have been battered this week despite…
This commentary originally appeared in Time. New survey data shows that Notre Dame’s legendary president Father Theodore Hesburgh’s wisdom for college presidents from 55 years ago is still relevant today. “My basic principle is that you don't make decisions because they are easy; you don't make them because they are cheap; you don't make them because they're popular; you make them because they're right,” he advised. Our fresh polling data…
Q: Why do museums matter? Art is elemental. Civilizations across the planet and across time have used art to tell stories, construct identity, and help us to understand our place in the world. Human beings have also created and stewarded collections of art, in various ways, going back to the very beginnings of the human condition. Caves had paintings in them before societies had language or agriculture. In the 17th…
Howie and Harlan discuss a breakthrough pain medication, studies on AI-assisted medicine, the explosion of sports gambling, and the health consequences of the shutdown of USAID. Links: A First-in-Class Painkiller “F.D.A. Approves Drug to Treat Pain Without Opioid Effects” “FDA Approves Novel Non-Opioid Treatment for Moderate to Severe Acute Pain” “Peripheral Sodium Channel Blocker Could Revolutionize Treatment for Nerve Pain” “Alabama to Beijing… and Back: The Search for a Pain…
This commentary originally appeared in the Hartford Courant. In the last week, financial markets and the tech sector experienced a convulsive shock akin to the Russian Sputnik surprise of 1957. While recent advancements—honestly achieved or not—by DeepSeek have leaders reconsidering their approach to the development of artificial intelligence, it is also a reminder of how much America must supercharge its efforts in the space to remain globally competitive. Just as…
Personality characteristics have long been thought to predict a wide range of personal outcomes, including career success: being conscientious, for example, will take you further professionally than, say, being neurotic. However, because personality has primarily been measured through surveys, obtaining large-scale, detailed data on personality traits has been challenging. Furthermore, these surveys are often given in high-stakes situations, such as when applying for a job, and people may be…
This commentary originally appeared in Time. President Donald Trump revealed on his first day that he may be closer to delivering on a campaign promise than skeptics believed. As we show in our new, original economic analysis, Trump has the levers to force Vladimir Putin to end the Russia-Ukraine war promptly if he dispenses with the Biden Administration’s tepid, inconsistent economic pressure. On Trump’s first day in office, he publicly…
Harlan Krumholz: Welcome to Health & Veritas. I’m Harlan Krumholz. Howard Forman: And I’m Howie Forman. We’re physicians and professors at Yale University and we’re trying to get closer to the truth about health and healthcare. Our guest today is Dr. Susan Mayne, but first we’re always checking in on the hot topics in health and healthcare. What do you have for us today, Harlan? Harlan Krumholz: Hey, Howie, you…
Investors use estimates of a stock’s future price, set by finance industry analysts, as one tool to assess the asset’s value in coming months and decide whether to buy or sell. At first blush, very high “consensus” analyst target prices—that is, the average of financial analysts’ individual target prices—may look appealing to investors and tempt them to buy. But hidden in the widely available numbers is a cautionary tale, according…
This commentary originally appeared in Time. With Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos joining the CEO of TikTok as guests of President-elect Donald Trump at Monday’s Inauguration, many have noticed how differently some tech titans are greeting the second Trump presidency. This follows the many CEOs racing to Mar-a-Lago to dine with Trump, contributing to a narrative that has emerged that “corporate America is going MAGA,” and that “Trump’s…
This commentary originally appeared in Chief Executive. Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, like Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, faced staff revolts, prominent resignations and thousands of readers canceling their subscriptions when his paper suddenly decided to drop political endorsements. CEOs do make bold choices and reverse prior positions as market conditions and business priorities shift. As PepsiCo’s CEO, Indra Nooyi boldly shifted the company’s product mix to be more…
This commentary originally appeared in Corporate Board Member. As the 2025 proxy season launches, dual-class shares may once again become a common target of proxy ratings firms and activist investors. These reflexive critics miss the reality that dual-class shares can often be a vital protector of shareholder value and allow vital structural advantages such as: More efficient capital allocation: Unlike virtually every peer, Berkshire Hathaway under Warren Buffett has never…
Q: How does Harrison Street approach investing? Harrison Street is a traditional investment manager in the sense that we raise capital that we deploy by executing real estate strategies. What differentiates us is our demographic focus. Instead of the traditional commercial real estate sectors—office, retail, multi-family, industrial, or lodging—we look at areas with relatively inelastic demand tied to people moving through cycles in their life. Instead of multifamily, we invest…
Think local and escape echo chambers Todd Cort, Senior Lecturer in Sustainability; Faculty Director, Sustainability Program, MBA for Executives; Faculty Co-Director, Yale Center for Business and the Environment In 2025, I anticipate that climate action will go local. Sometimes we rely on national governments too much to take on the “big challenges” like climate change. I expect that we will see another wave of local and regional efforts to “green”…
This commentary originally appeared in Newsweek. As the media has been blanketed with well-deserved praise for President Jimmy Carter’s noble life, it feels as though everything has now been said... but perhaps just not yet by everybody. While I didn’t serve in the Carter campaign or in his administration, for a dozen years—from 1989 to 2001—I worked with him on various projects after he left office. He wanted to expand…
Thank you for tuning in this season on the Learning Through Experience podcast! In this season 3 reflection episode, I take a step back to reflect on the key themes, conversations, and experiences that shaped the show. This season featured several insightful and impactful conversations. I highlight discussions with guests like Lisa Lahey on overcoming change, Mark Brackett on emotional intelligence and attunement, Liliana Milkova and Jenny Frederick on the…
Writing has the power to transport us to the depths of the human experience – to illuminate the joys, sorrows and complexities that make us who we are. In this captivating final episode of Learning Through Experience Season Three, Amy Bloom and I explore the transformative power of the written word. Amy, an acclaimed writer and psychotherapist, shares a poignant reading from her memoir "In Love," which provides a deeply…
This commentary was adapted from episode 155 of the Health & Veritas podcast. Subscribe for weekly doses of expert insight on health and the healthcare industry. It’s our last episode of the calendar year and in the spirit of the season, I thought I would share some positive news. In our Thanksgiving episode, I offered thanks for some of the many successes of the past year, and there are many…
The world is facing a “polycrisis”—a confluence of environmental and social issues that risk destabilizing the vital systems of human civilization. Our survival hinges on building resilience—the ability of systems to bounce back from shocks and ideally emerge stronger—within our ecological and social as well as economic and financial systems against the ramifications of the interconnected and mutually reinforcing challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution on one hand…