Author: EconLearner

Have you ever dreamed of living life on your own terms? A life where you aren’t shackled by only two weeks of annual PTO and are able to do what you want, when you want, and with who you want? Most struggle with the idea of leaving something already good for the possibility of something great. This is exactly what Brian Luebben did, leaving his six-figure sales job to build his own business, all while traveling full-time around the world. What would motivate a person to suddenly quit a cushy job, where they were slotted for promotion after promotion? That’s…

This was the question we gathered Kellogg faculty to debate three years ago, shortly after CEOs at the Business Roundtable proclaimed their intent to redefine the purpose of a corporation. In their statement, the CEOs explicitly clarified their obligations toward other stakeholders, including employees, suppliers, customers, and communities, in addition to maximizing long-term shareholder value. At the time, the Kellogg faculty we spoke with were skeptical about the CEOs motives, or that anything would come of it—or even that this was the right way to drive social change. But several were also curious to see how the situation would play…

An assembly room at Xerion’s Dayton, Ohio plant.XerionBattery.com You look down at your battery gauge and see that you are starting to run low on your cross-country trip. You pull your EV into the next charging station, plug in, stretch your legs, and head into the store to buy snacks. You pick out your snacks, pay the cashier, and head back out to your car. Recharging is finished, so you replace the plug, sit down behind the wheel, and start up. You are confident you have enough charge for another 400 miles now—just in time to stop for lunch. For…

There’s a lot to keep track of. In recent weeks, China abandoned its controversial zero-Covid approach to the pandemic, which it had maintained for nearly three years. This will almost certainly have notable short- and long-term implications for the economy. And of course, this policy change is happening against a backdrop in which the country is increasingly perceived by the U.S. as an economic and security threat.Will American businesses flee China, double-down, or do something in between? Can the two economies truly be “decoupled” without devastating the global economy? And what will be the costs to American soft power if…

Throw in three years of pandemic-related supply-chain issues, increasing “Buy American” sentiment among policymakers, and a sudden end to China’s zero-Covid policies, and it’s all a lot to keep track of. So where exactly is China’s economy headed? And what does this mean for American businesses?“If you read the news headlines, it does feel like every day, there’s something about China,” says Nancy Qian, a professor of managerial economics and decision sciences at Kellogg and codirector of the Global Poverty Research Lab.She recently sat down with Kellogg’s Ben Jones, a professor of strategy, and David Dollar, a senior fellow at…

In the following excerpt from their chapter “The Consumer INSIGHT Framework: A Hypothesis-Driven Approach to Data Analytics” in the forthcoming third edition of Kellogg on Marketing, Kellogg marketing professors Derek Rucker and Aparna Labroo use their extensive experience in research, teaching, and consulting to call for a shift in the way marketers approach data analytics. The shift involves moving from immediate action and toward hypothesis testing via their novel INSIGHT framework.The Need for a Hypothesis-Generation MindsetRather than generate and test hypotheses in response to data, marketers often act with immediacy. As a result, one of marketing’s fundamental bedrocks—strategy—can languish and…

I have an intriguing and important question regarding AI for you. Does it make a difference to use emotionally charged wording in your prompts when conversing with generative AI, and if so, why would the AI seemingly be reacting to your emotion-packed instructions or questions? The first part of the answer to this two-pronged question is that when you use prompts containing emotional pleas, the odds are that modern-day generative AI will in fact rise to the occasion with better answers (according to the latest research on AI). You can readily spur the AI toward being more thorough. You can…

It’s never too early to start saving for retirement.getty When is the best time to start investing for retirement? Right now. As a rule of thumb, you need to amass about 10 times your annual salary by the time you retire. Fall short of that mark and you face a lifestyle downgrade in your senior years. The most reliable way to reach that target is contributing 15% of your salary to an investment account during most of your working years. Unfortunately, a 15% contribution rate can be a steep challenge if you’re living on a tight budget and/or managing debt.…

Historian Frank Dikötter of the University of Hong Kong argues there is more continuity than change … [+] in China after Mao Zedong, and he challenges the common perception of Deng Xiaoping as an open-minded and reform-oriented leader.Getty Images Did you know that living standards in China by 1978 were lower than what they were in 1949? Are you aware that the percentage of foreign residents in China today is lower than that of North Korea? These are some of the surprising facts touched upon in my conversation with Frank Dikötter, drawing insights from his recent book China After Mao:…

Night Country Credit: HBO The fifth episode of True Detective: Night Country is bookended by death. The cremation of Navarro’s sister, Julia in the beginning. The shocking death of Hank Prior at the end. Between these moments, we get lots and lots of filler. I think Night Country would have worked better as a property not associated with True Detective, but also as a movie rather than a show. There’s not enough plot here to fill six episodes. On the other hand, we’re treated to John Hawkes singing a very Johnny Cash-like song that is now my favorite scene in…