Chicago Booth Review Podcast

Should billionaires pay higher fines than the rest of us? Does remote work kill productivity? Is insider trading always bad? The Chicago Booth Review Podcast addresses the big questions in business, policy, and markets with insights from the world’s leading academic researchers. It’s groundbreaking research—explained in a clear and straightforward way.

If the bank won’t lend to you, who will? 06/25/2025

If the bank won’t lend to you, who will? One of the fastest-growing parts of the financial system in the past 15 years has been private credit, that is, lending not by banks but by other financial institutions or funds that don’t take deposits. The sector expanded ten fold between 2009 and 2023, to reach a value of about $2 trillion, according to McKinsey. And McKinsey thinks it has room to continue growing to become a $30 trillion industry. What does this mean for companies, and for the broader US economy? Welcome to the Chicago Booth Review podcast, where we bring you groundbreaking academic research in a clear and straightforward way. I’m Hal Weitzman, and today, I’m talking with Chicago Booth’s Amir Sufi about the rise of private capital. Is it better or worse for borrowers? Should we be worried about systemic risk? And why aren’t banks lending as they used to? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37137615

Why AI isn’t boosting the economy 06/18/2025

Why AI isn’t boosting the economy Employees are increasingly using AI, and their employers are increasingly encouraging them to do so. Companies are building their own chatbots, and training their staff in how best to use the technology. You might think this would be feeding through into corporate profits and boosting the economy. So why isn’t it? We hear from Chicago Booth’s Anders Humlum, whose research documents the paltry effects AI is having on company earnings and economic growth /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37045860

How to negotiate home prices 06/11/2025

How to negotiate home prices Moving home is one of the most stressful things you’ll do in life, but negotiating to buy a home has to be up there. Chicago Booth’s George Wu teaches negotiation to MBAs. What techniques does he recommend to reduce the stress and improve the success when it comes to getting a deal over the price of a home? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36948215

Low-cost ways to tackle America’s murder rate 06/04/2025

Low-cost ways to tackle America’s murder rate The US murder rate is around 5 per 100,000 people, lower than a recent COVID-era spike, but nonetheless much higher than most other developed countries. Many Americans have concluded that either they need a gun to protect themselves, or that the problem is too big to address. In our second episode with Jens Ludwig, author of Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence, he outlines some small and cheap interventions that could make a big difference in how we tackle homicides. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36843055

What the Right and Left get wrong about gun violence 05/28/2025

What the Right and Left get wrong about gun violence The United States has more guns than people, and one of the world’s highest rates of gun homicide. What’s really driving America’s appalling murder rate? Is it bad people, poverty, or something else? Jens Ludwig, a professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, and Director of the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab, talks to us about his new book, Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence. Ludwig thinks America’s failure to tackle gun violence stem from a fundamental misunderstanding about what causes it in the first place. This is the first of two episodes with Ludwig about his book. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36736605

The data on sex, marriage, and happiness 05/21/2025

The data on sex, marriage, and happiness Married people are happier than the unmarried, on average. Those who are married and having regular sex are even happier. And over time, the difference between the happiness of the married and the unmarried is growing. So what do the statistics tell us about sex, marriage, and happiness? Chicago Booth’s Sam Peltzman talks about his research into happiness and marriage. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36645935

Why nonprofits should be more like corporations 05/14/2025

Why nonprofits should be more like corporations Most nonprofits depend on donations. But should they be acting more like companies, and focus on raising revenue instead? Chicago Booth’s Rob Gertner thinks philanthropy might not be the best way to achieve a social goal. He talks about his research into social enterprises—organizations that have a social goal, but achieve it in part by charging money for goods and services. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36554090

Are customers more important than revenue? 05/07/2025

Are customers more important than revenue? Many of us have so many subscriptions that we’ve lost track of them all. Companies also increasingly have subscriptions for services such as software and cloud computing. As customers, they’re the source of a lot of value to providers. Chicago Booth’s Amir Sufi says this “customer capital” accounts for a lot of the differences in how companies are valued between industries. And it might even have overturned what has been a cardinal rule of business: that revenue is more important than acquiring and maintaining customers. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36456640

Why is some news more newsworthy? 04/30/2025

Why is some news more newsworthy? What makes news stories newsworthy? Can you measure newsworthiness? Are people right in thinking that the media tend to focus on bad news? Chicago Booth’s Emir Kamenica argues that accounting for newsworthiness changes how we view the media’s apparent focus on negative news. So how do you measure newsworthiness? And is the news not always as negative as it may first appear? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36362745

Trumponomics: Will DOGE actually cut government spending? 04/23/2025

Trumponomics: Will DOGE actually cut government spending? Elon Musk’s DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, has driven a steamroller through the federal government, slashing jobs and dismantling entire agencies. But will it actually do much to address the US’s budget deficit? We hear from Chicago Booth’s Sam Peltzman, a longtime critic of government regulation and bureaucracy, and a onetime federal employee himself. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36252190

Trumponomics: Is the media taking orders from the White House? 04/09/2025

Trumponomics: Is the media taking orders from the White House? In February, Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, said its opinion section would focus on contributions that support “personal liberties and free markets” and would not run any opinions that oppose those two values. In response, Chicago Booth’s Luigi Zingales called for opinion writers to boycott the publication. What does Zingales think the episode tells us about media coverage in the age of Trump? To follow the Stigler Center's 2025 Antitrust and Competition Conference, visit /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36057360

BONUS: The Many Faces of Capitalism 04/03/2025

BONUS: The Many Faces of Capitalism Who is the face of capitalism? And how has that face changed over time? In this bonus episode, John Paul Rollert, our In-House Ethicist, Rollert analyzes some of the characters who have represented capitalism over time in the popular imagination, revealing how many people perceive the economic system. He charts the evolution of capitalism’s protagonists from the hardworking professional lauded by Adam Smith to the tech founders of Silicon Valley. So who will be the next face of capitalism? https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/ihe-podcast#sort=%40articledate%20descending /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35960385

How to negotiate salary 04/02/2025

How to negotiate salary Salary negotiations are difficult. Many of us hate talking about money, particularly with a potential employer. So what can you do to make sure you arrive at a fair wage? Chicago Booth’s George Wu says the trick to a successful salary conversation is to prepare, give yourself options, and don’t celebrate too soon. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35960070

Don’t avoid workplace conflict 03/26/2025

Don’t avoid workplace conflict As long as there’s been a workplace, there’s been tension, strains, and disagreements between coworkers. Many of us are conflict-averse, and try to avoid sensitive areas that we know could lead to confrontation. But is that the wrong approach? Chicago Booth’s Lisa Stefanac says that workplace conflict contains valuable data, if only we know how to gather and learn from it. Confronting conflict, rather than avoiding it, she says, can lead to a healthier work environment. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35844970

What’s behind the AI gender gap? 03/19/2025

What’s behind the AI gender gap? Research suggests that women are using generative AI much less than men. Why? And who is using the technology to make them more productive at work? In this episode, we hear from The Pie, a podcast from the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago. Host Tess Vigeland speaks with Chicago Booth’s Anders Humlum, a labor economist, about the effect of generative AI on the workforce. Who will be the winners and losers from the AI revolution? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35675690

How will climate change affect culture? 03/12/2025

How will climate change affect culture? What shapes a society’s culture? Chicago Booth’s Thomas Talhelm links the abundance of water in a region to its attitude to the future. His research finds that people who live in areas where water is plentiful tend to live more in the moment, whereas those who live where water is scarce tend to plan more for the longer term. Climate change will result in big changes to water access in the coming decades. So what effect could that have on culture? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35574035

Trumponomics: Will DOGE fail? 03/05/2025

Trumponomics: Will DOGE fail? Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has taken a sledgehammer to Washington, closing government agencies and leaving many federal employees unsure if they still have jobs. Will that really make government more effective? Chicago Booth’s Rob Gertner says DOGE may end up creating a less effective and less efficient federal government. Rather than smashing things up, he advises focusing on incentives, funding and management. So how could we structure things to make government agencies worth their funding? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35531790

Trumponomics: Will the White House wage war on the Fed? 02/26/2025

Trumponomics: Will the White House wage war on the Fed? President Trump has accused the Federal Reserve of causing and failing to stop inflation. Instead, Trump says he will take care of the issue by producing more energy and boosting US manufacturing. Will the next four years see a confrontation between the Fed and the White House? We ask Chicago Booth’s Randy Kroszner—a former member of both the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and the board of the Federal Reserve—if the Fed and the White House are on a collision course. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35333430

Trumponomics: Do more tax cuts make sense? 02/19/2025

Trumponomics: Do more tax cuts make sense? This year will see a lot of Congressional wrangling over tax cuts, as many provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are set to expire. Do tax cuts actually produce the economic benefits that their proponents claim? In the latest in our Trumponomics series, we hear from Chicago Booth’s Eric Zwick, who is part of team that conducted an extensive study of the 2017 law. Did the tax cuts pay for themselves? And what would he do differently? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35318995

Trumponomics: Could Trump’s dealmaking damage the economy? 02/12/2025

Trumponomics: Could Trump’s dealmaking damage the economy? The first few weeks of the Trump administration have seen the president demonstrate how he approaches negotiations with threats of tariffs, how he closes down government departments without warning, and how what is stated as policy in the morning can be overturned by the afternoon. What effect could all this have on the US economy? To hear more, join the University of Chicago online at 6pm Central Time on February 17 to hear Randy Kroszner address these issues at a Virtual Harper Lecture entitled, “The Trump Administration and the American Economy.” /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35250620

Trumponomics: Expect higher inflation—with or without tariffs 02/05/2025

Trumponomics: Expect higher inflation—with or without tariffs In the launch episode of a new series about Trumponomics, we address tariffs — the most beautiful word in the dictionary, according to Donald Trump. The US President ran promising to increase duties on all imports. In office he has ordered, and then paused, tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and started a tit-for-tat tariff feud with China. How is all this affecting the US economy? Chicago Booth’s Michael Weber has conducted research that documents how consumers have for months been shopping in anticipation of tariffs being put in place. That looks set to raise inflation, and set the Trump administration on a collision course with the Federal Reserve. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35156585

How to make the best of layoffs 01/29/2025

How to make the best of layoffs A conversation in which one person informs another that they’re being laid off is never welcome. But trying to avoid it can lead to poor planning, unclear messaging, anger and frustration. Is there a way to do it better? Chicago Booth’s Lisa Stefanac, an expert in interpersonal dynamics, talks about what’s at stake, how to prepare, and what to do if you find out that you are the person being laid off. This episode was re-uploaded to fix a technical issue. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35059580

Do other people make us more happy, or less? 01/22/2025

Do other people make us more happy, or less? Humans are social animals. Being with other people can make us happy, but it can also make us unhappy, depending on how we interact and think of each other. So do others make us happier, or less happy? Chicago Booth’s Thomas Talhelm has conducted research on how different cultures think about happiness. His findings about rice-growing communities in China shed light on the behavior of social-media users in the West, and raise the question of what we are really measuring when we try to measure people’s happiness. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/34866620

Trump 2025 vs. Trump 2016 01/15/2025

Trump 2025 vs. Trump 2016 Are the factors that propelled Donald Trump to power this time around broadly the same as those that helped him win his first election victory in 2015? While the circumstances are different from a decade ago, the secular societal forces that drive support for Trump are also strikingly familiar. Welcome to the Chicago Booth Review podcast, where we bring you groundbreaking academic research in a clear and straightforward way. I’m Hal Weitzman. Today, as we prepare for another Trump inauguration, we’re digging into the CBR archives to revisit a conversation between Chicago Booth’s Luigi Zingales and Amir Sufi about the fundamentals behind Trump’s appeal. The conversation was filmed in May 2016 as part of our Big Question video series, which brings together Booth faculty for an in-depth discussion. We wanted to bring it back because we were struck more by a sense of continuity than change. For some observers, Trump’s re-election was all about economics, chiefly voters’ experience of inflation and their mistrust of globalization. To others, it reflects a general disenchantment with politicians and political institutions. Those are the same phenomena that Zingales and Sufi pinpoint. The discussion also touched on the rise of the far-right across the world, which at the time was still on the margins of politics, but has since taken power in several large democracies. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/34854810

Should performance reviews be scrapped? 01/08/2025

Should performance reviews be scrapped? Many of us react to the term “performance review” with a shudder. It’s that awkward periodic conversation in which we have to hear feedback, share our assessments of each other, and, occasionally clash with our colleagues. But do performance reviews have to be like that? We hear from Chicago Booth’s Stacey Kole. Does she think that performance reviews are worth saving, and if so, how can they be revamped? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/34762645

How to argue for change within an organization 01/03/2025

How to argue for change within an organization Most of us have found ourselves at some point arguing that the organizations we work in need to change. Change is hard – which is why there’s a multi-billion dollar change-management industry. But what can you do to make the case for change from within? Chicago Booth’s James Janega is a former journalist who now works as a Managing Partner at Growth Innovation Strategy Group and teaches storytelling to MBA students and executives at Booth. He argues that stories can help us make the case for change, regardless of the organization we’re trying to improve. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/34713010

What do you want to achieve in 2025? 12/25/2024

What do you want to achieve in 2025? It’s that time when we start to think about what we want to achieve in the coming year. What can you do to make sure that this year you stay motivated and focused on your goals? We ask two experts for advice: Chicago Booth’s Ayelet Fishbach, author of Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation, and Wharton’s Katy Milkman, author of How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/34161635

Why Bitcoin will fail 12/18/2024

Why Bitcoin will fail Evangelists of Bitcoin say its strength is the distributed ledger that no one institution controls. But as it turns out, that makes it open to sabotage, a vulnerability that will prevent it from replacing real currencies. Chicago Booth’s Eric Budish has spent his career thinking about market design and proposing fixes to flaws— work that has earned him the niche title of “the LeBron James of batch auctions.” According to Budish, the cost of securing Bitcoin at a really large scale is too high, and that will always limit its growth. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/34160665

How to craft a winning startup pitch 12/11/2024

How to craft a winning startup pitch Crafting an effective startup pitch is hard. Entrepreneurs have a short amount of time to convey the problem they’re trying to solve, establish the size of the market, cover their business plan, establish their credentials, and come across as likeable and easy to work with. We get advice from Chicago Booth’s James Janega, a former journalist who now works as a Managing Partner at Growth Innovation Strategy Group and teaches storytelling to MBA students and executives at Booth. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/34160020

How to fix the stock market 12/04/2024

How to fix the stock market In recent decades, stock markets have increasingly been speeding up, with large numbers of high-frequency traders executing trades at speeds up to billionths of a second. Does that reward the most powerful computers at the expense of retail investors? Chicago Booth’s Eric Budish, who argues that the incentives for high-speed trading stem from the flaws in the way financial markets are designed. At the same time, it’s become cumbersome and complicated for institutional investors to execute trades as they would like to. With both challenges in mind, Budish outlines two simple ideas from his research that could transform stock markets for the better. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/34159840

Chicago Booth Review Podcast

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