Chicago Booth Review

Purpose at Work Translates into Performance When employees are encouraged to pursue their interests and values, both they and their employers benefit.

This intervention is effective, findings suggest, because it makes work more enjoyable and intrinsically rewarding for employees.

“It is the opposite of what we’ve always done,” says @virginiaminni.bsky.social. “It’s bottom-up instead of top-down.”

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/purpo... #econsky

Illustration of four diverse individuals facing each other, with the text "Data for the People!" and "A podcast from the Data Foundation" above them. The Data Foundation logo is at the top.

Only 37 percent of U.S. adults believe federal statistics are generally accurate. NORC's David Dutwin joined the Data Foundation's Data for the People! podcast to discuss what Americans think about federal data and the agencies that produce it.

Hear the full conversation: go.norc.org/4aTkgNg

Work Relocations Aggravate the Gender Pay Gap A study considers earnings implications for hetero couples in Germany and Sweden.

Classic economic theory predicts that two-income male-female couples will make choices that maximize combined household income.

But in most cases, the man’s career comes first, research finds.

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/work-... #econsky

The Irrational Economy with Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler | The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart YouTube video by The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

Our US Economics Experts polls on Carbon Tax were mentioned in this conversation between Richard Thaler and Jon Stewart: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZcz...

What’s the Role of Lying in Business? John Paul Rollert explores whether there is a meaningful distinction to be drawn between a little truth-bending and a lot of fraud.

Does such permissiveness say something essential about business, or does it say more about the type of people who typically conduct it?

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/ihe-p...

A Special Generation of US Companies Remains on Top A pivotal period of technological change produced a noteworthy crop of businesses.

A surprising pattern emerged: In the industrial sector, many of the companies on the 2018 list were founded about a century ago.

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/speci... #econsky

Are SPSP'ing this year? Join me Friday! I'll explain the two elements that predict whether survey items "work" across cultures. On their own, each element is weak. But with powers combined, they explain much more! Fri. 2-3:10pm Room E350.
@spspnews.bsky.social #SPSP2026

Do Consumers Care About Corporate Social Responsibility? What kinds of actions can companies take to make consumers more willing to spend money with them?

"I think we've moved very much to a world where companies are becoming smarter and smarter about the ways that they're engaging with CSR."

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/podca... #econsky

Emancipation May Have Generated the Largest Economic Gains in US History Conventional economic analysis of slavery overlooks the costs imposed upon the people who were enslaved.

“Focusing on the cost of enslavement to the enslaved shows that slavery was a market failure in addition to a moral failure.”

via @rickhornbeck.bsky.social & @trevondlogan.bsky.social in 2023

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/emanc... #econsky

That New Bank Branch May Be Politically Motivated Research suggests congressional committee assignments influence decisions about where to place branches.

Research finds that banks with more than $250 billion in assets strategically open branches in the districts of politicians who sit on the House Financial Services Committee, and they do it right before elections.

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/2026/... #econsky

We recently polled our US Economic Experts Panel on Housing Affordability. The confidence-weighted answer to the 1st question is as follows: kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/hous...

Chart showing tariff rate

Who's paying for Trump's tariffs?

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/whos-... #econsky

Your Grandkids Will Live in a Charismocracy If we aren’t careful, the future will belong to the beautiful and the dumb.

"Brains will still matter somewhat in organizing the hierarchy of human distinction, but not nearly as much as they once did."

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/2026/...

We recently polled our Finance Experts Panel on Housing Affordability. The confidence-weighted answer to the 2nd question is as follows: kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/hous...

😬 Who Is Paying for the 2025 U.S. Tariffs?

« We find that nearly 90 percent of the tariffs’ economic burden fell on U.S. firms and consumers »

Mary Amiti, Chris Flanagan, Sebastian Heise, and David E. Weinstein @newyorkfed.org

libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2026/02/who-...

#econsky

Polarization Is a Product of Fear An explanation for why we’re so divided, and what we can do about it.

"Research suggests that the average American is part of something called the exhausted majority: We’re not trying to yell at each other on social media or across the dinner table."

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/2026/...

A ‘Good’ Lie Can Increase Trust A Q&A with Chicago Booth’s Emma Levine about our complicated relationship with the truth.

"Would most people think this was a ‘good’ lie? What makes a lie ‘good’? Those questions were a starting point for this body of research."

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/a-goo... #BehSciSky

Should AI Disagree with You? Research suggests we shape our online queries in a way that confirms our views.

"It's a general issue in lots of technology that the technology is designed to try to be helpful to us and around our needs, but often it takes a simple view of what those needs are and leaves out some of the needs." - @olegurminsky.bsky.social

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/podca...

Medicare is experimenting with having AI review claims – a cost-saving measure that could risk denying needed care The pilot, launched in January 2026 in 6 states, could reduce wasteful spending, but increases provider paperwork and risks patient access to necessary care.

Can AI tell the difference between unnecessary care and essential treatment? Millions of Americans covered by Medicare are about to find out

Interesting to think about prevention vs. promotion focus as applied to romantic relationships. Jealousy = protect relationships from threats. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

The High Price of Cheaper Stock Trades Cutting costs had a surprising effect for retail investors, particularly the least sophisticated ones.

Accessible, cheap trading might seem like a good thing.

But it can actually be bad, particularly for the least sophisticated investors, according to research.

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/high-... #econsky

Does the US Need an Independent Fed? Independence only works if the central bank has a narrow scope.

"Yes, the Fed should have a large measure of independence—about the same degree it has now—but maintaining that independence will require a narrower focus, a stronger set of rules, and a smaller set of tools ..."

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/2026/... #econsky

We recently polled our Finance Experts Panel on Housing Affordability. The confidence-weighted answer to the 1st question is as follows: kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/hous...

The Questions Any New Fed Chair Has to Answer A good central banker needs views on much more than interest rates.

Should the Fed modify its 2 percent inflation interpretation of its “price stability” mandate?

Should it aim for zero inflation or a steady price level?

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/quest... #econsky

We recently polled our US Economic Experts Panel on ACA Subsidies. The confidence-weighted answer to the 1st question is as follows: kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/aca-...

Africa as a Success Story: Political Organization in Pre-Colonial Africa | Becker Friedman Institute Social science research has long credited the emergence of politically centralized states with the development of institutions that enhance public good provision and better development outcomes, as well as allowing for the ability to fight wars, collect taxes, conduct international trade, manage natural resources, and otherwise respond to the demands of both state leaders and Read more...

New research by Soeren J. Henn and James Robinson challenges common views of pre-colonial Africa. Decentralized political systems prioritized local communities and shaped economic institutions around shared goals rather than centralized control or personal accumulation.

🔗 https://ow.ly/7aXE50Y5shY

Who’s Paying for the Tariffs? Mostly US Residents The highest duties in a century have hiked costs for US manufacturers and remade trade patterns.

“In terms of who’s paying for more of it, it’s disproportionately, almost entirely so far, on the US side,” says Chicago Booth’s Brent Neiman.

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/whos-... #econsky

Capitalisn’t: Who Should the Fed Answer To? Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England Sir Paul Tucker discusses central bank autonomy.

Is the US Federal Reserve’s independence a pillar of democracy or a convenient shield that allows elected officials to duck their responsibilities?

www.chicagobooth.edu/review/2026/... #econsky

We recently polled our US Economic Experts Panel on Venezuela. The confidence-weighted answer to the 3rd question is as follows: kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/vene...