This Week in Business

What happens when a superstar athlete joins a new team? The impact goes far beyond the basketball court. Kenneth Shropshire, Professor Emeritus of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the Wharton School, examines the expectations surrounding LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers. From ticket sales and team culture to community engagement and special treatment for star players, Shropshire explain...

Why are young people putting money meant for retirement into sports betting? The answer may lie in how our brains respond to risk, excitement, and the promise of a big win. Michael Platt, Professor of Marketing, Psychology & Neuroscience at The Wharton School, explains the psychology behind the sports betting boom. He explores how dopamine, social influence, and the illusion of control draw pe...

What happens when a company’s social mission clashes with the priorities of its corporate owner? The legal battle involving Ben and Jerry’s raises important questions about who gets to control a brand’s values after a sale. Maurice Schweitzer, Wharton Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions, joins the conversation to examine the dispute between Ben and Jerry’s and its parent companies....

AI safety concerns are no longer just hypothetical. As AI systems become increasingly capable, the risks involving cybersecurity, biosecurity and unintended behavior are becoming harder to ignore. Kevin Werbach, Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the Wharton School, explains the different categories of AI risk and why companies alone may not be able to manage them. Werbach argues th...

Competition can bring out the best in individuals, but can it actually make an entire team worse? New research suggests that rivalry may come with an unexpected cost. Henning Piezunka, Associate Professor of Management at the Wharton School, joins the show to discuss his research examining rivalry and performance through the lens of professional basketball. Using examples like Larry Bird versus Ma...

Prediction markets are exploding beyond elections into sports, geopolitics and major cultural events. But as these markets grow, so does the challenge of detecting insider trading and manipulation. Daniel Taylor, Wharton Finance Professor and Director of the Forensic Analytics Lab, explains how prediction markets have evolved and why their different types of contracts require different approaches...

The economy remains strong, but inflation and higher energy prices could keep the Federal Reserve on alert. Jeremy Siegel, Wharton Emeritus Professor of Finance, discusses the Fed's latest rate increase and why additional hikes may still be ahead. He explores strong GDP and wage data, the effect of rising oil and diesel prices on inflation, and what the bond market is signaling about monetary...

Retailers face a fundamental problem: they often have to bet on what consumers will want before they actually buy it. Could changing who takes that risk transform the industry? John Zhang, Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School, explains why the traditional merchant model puts so much risk on retailers and how the store in store model changes that equation. Zhang discusses how manufacturers...

 AI was supposed to eliminate huge numbers of jobs. So far, the reality looks much more complicated. Peter Cappelli, Wharton Professor of Management, discusses new research on how AI is actually affecting the workplace and why the technology is changing tasks more than eliminating entire jobs. The conversation explores AI agents, workplace management, programmers, organizational change, data...

Consumer bankruptcies are rising, but does that mean Americans are facing a worsening economy? The answer is more complicated than you might think. Sasha Indarte, Wharton Associate Professor, joins the show to explain what is driving the increase in personal bankruptcies and why today's numbers may actually represent a return toward more normal levels. She discusses the stigma and misconceptions s...

What happens when one of the world’s busiest fire departments faces a catastrophe unlike anything it has experienced before? Gregory P. Shea, Wharton Adjunct Professor of Management, and Author of Rising from Ground Zero , examines how the FDNY responded to the unprecedented challenges of 9/11. Shea explains how the department transformed its psychological support, leadership training, incident ma...

Shared bikes and scooters have transformed how people move through cities, but can the business model actually work? Gad Allon, Wharton Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions, explores the economics behind companies like Lime, including subscriptions, pay per trip models, utilization, and the challenges of operating across different cities. Allon also explains why cities have embraced...

The AI boom could transform the economy, but who is financing it and where the risks are building may matter just as much as the technology itself. Joao Gomes, Wharton Professor of Finance and Senior Vice Dean of Research, Centers, and Academic Initiatives, argues that the Federal Reserve is too focused on inflation and not focused enough on financial stability. Gomes discusses the opaque role of...

We often think of competition and collaboration as opposites. But in reality, we frequently do both at the same time. Henning Piezunka, Wharton Associate Professor of Management, explains why competing with someone can fundamentally change how we view and work with them. Piezunka uses World Cup soccer to examine what happens when teammates become opponents, finding that players collaborated less a...

What do rising bond yields, new tariffs and soaring AI investment mean for the U.S. economy and financial markets? Wharton Emeritus Professor of Finance and WisdomTree Senior Economist Jeremy Siegel joins the conversation to assess the latest economic and market developments. Siegel discusses the impact of higher tariffs on Canada and Mexico, why rising Treasury yields are signaling concern about...

The bond market is sending a warning to the Federal Reserve. With long-term yields climbing to levels not seen in decades, questions are mounting about the Fed’s ability to control inflation while maintaining market confidence. Wharton Finance Professor Nikolai Roussanov explains why Kevin Warsh’s recent messaging has unsettled investors and why the Fed’s reaction function may matter more tha...

What happens when the systems designed to keep our food safe start to break down? Corinne Low, Wharton Associate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, argues that food safety is a public good—one that individuals and families simply can't provide for themselves. She explains how reduced staffing, weakened inspections and changes to disease surveillance can leave consumers more vulnera...

AI is advancing rapidly—but who is responsible when the risks become too big to ignore? Peter Conti-Brown, Professor at the Wharton School, explores whether the banking system offers a useful model for supervising powerful AI companies. Rather than relying solely on rules written years in advance, bank supervision involves ongoing conversations between public officials and private institutions to...

Why are more young Americans turning to entrepreneurship, and what role will AI play? Lori Rosenkopf, Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship at the Wharton School, explores how Gen Z’s shifting expectations, a tougher entry-level job market, and the desire for flexibility are reshaping career paths. She also examines how AI tools are making it easier to turn ideas into products while intensifying competiti...

As AI becomes more powerful, who should be responsible for governing it? Kevin Werbach, Wharton Professor and Chair of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, explores the growing challenges of AI governance, from accountability and safety to the difficulty of creating effective regulations across countries. He explains why AI companies can't be expected to regulate themselves and why governments need...

What happens to your 401(k) if the stock market drops 25%, and would the government step in to help? Nikolai Roussanov, finance professor at the Wharton School, explains the real risks behind modern retirement investing and why volatility is built into the system. From the 1987 crash to COVID-19, he breaks down how markets recover, why long term investors tend to win, and why bailouts are more lik...

Artificial intelligence is reshaping work, but human ideas remain essential. Henning Piezunka, Associate Professor of Management at the Wharton School, explains how organizations can combine AI with collective intelligence to accelerate innovation, improve learning, and help employees turn ideas into action. He also explores AI’s role as a substitute, collaborator, and training tool, along with th...

Could rising oil prices, interest-rate uncertainty, and massive AI spending change the market outlook? Jeremy Siegel, Wharton Emeritus Professor of Finance, examines how energy supply disruptions could affect inflation and growth, what the Federal Reserve may do next on interest rates, why Wall Street is scrutinizing AI infrastructure spending, and how tariffs and demographic change could shape th...

Prediction markets are becoming an increasingly visible part of sports, politics, business, and culture. But what makes them different from traditional betting? Abraham Wyner, Wharton Professor of Statistics and Data Science and Co-Director of the Wharton Sports Analytics and Business Initiative, explains the wisdom-of-crowds theory behind prediction markets, how these platforms make money, and wh...

The chief revenue officer is no longer just a sales leader. Raghu Iyengar, Wharton Marketing Professor and Academic Director of Wharton’s Chief Revenue Officer Program, explains why companies are turning to CROs to align sales, marketing, product, finance, and growth around a single revenue strategy. He also discusses how AI is raising the stakes for revenue leaders, why a holistic view of the org...