Author: EconLearner

You may worry that speaking your opinions too often, or too strongly, might cause conflict with colleagues and employers. However, if you respect your colleagues, you probably assume that any differences in political leanings will not create problems in your career.And that’s what the economists assumed too. “In the private sector, the common sense consensus is that politics don’t really matter in the workplace,” he says Eduardo Tessoassistant professor of managerial economics and decision sciences at the Kellogg School.But it turns out that your political views can be a big factor in whether you get hired for a particular job…

China has mirrored Russia’s historical trajectory for most of the past 100 years. In the early twentieth century, both were large empires with outdated institutions that could not protect their people from foreign wars, corruption, inequality, and poverty. While the per capita income of Russia in 1900 was approx one third that of the United States, Chinese incomes were Half those of Russia. In 1949, the new People’s Republic was modeledpolitically and economically for the Soviet system. In both China and the Soviet Union, a command economy replaced markets, and the central government affected every aspect of people’s lives—what they…

According Cynthia Wanghis director Center for Dispute Resolution and Investigations and clinical professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School, conspiratorial beliefs are common in times of uncertainty. “What’s new is that this conspiracy rhetoric has become more mainstream in the conversation around the midterm elections,” Wang says. “We’re seeing candidates inviting fringe conspiratorial communities into their platforms.”Offers information from her recent research to explain the explosion of conspiracy rhetoric from politicians – and what could be done to dissuade voters from embracing conspiracy theories.Hooked on Epistemic Junk FoodMany political leaders don’t necessarily believe the conspiracy theories they espouse,…

It’s not just your imagination. Something has really changed in American politics, he says Eli J. Finkel, professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School. Especially in the last five years, “the two sides hate each other so much,” he says — to the point that almost any tactic can be justified “to defeat these Satan worshipers on the other side.” The dangers of this partisan hatred are obvious and playing out all around us, threatening our ability to deal with serious national issues and even jeopardizing the peaceful transition of power. But as the problem grows, so do…

The researchers call these scenarios “representational thinking.” But contrarian thinking is not limited to our personal or professional lives. In a recent study, Neil Roseprofessor of marketing at Kellogg, and his colleagues investigate how it plays out in the political arena: What we think the world would be like if politicians had he acted differently?As the American left and right become increasingly polarized over how to interpret events, the group wondered whether similar partisanship would color opposing thinking.They suspected it might. After all, says Roese, facts are somewhat limited by observation, but counterfactuals are “more open to the imagination.”The researchers…

You are not alone. Misunderstandings abound in digital communication, where “there is a limited wealth of information compared to face-to-face interaction,” he explains William J. Bradyassistant professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School.New research from Brady and co-authors shows that the same basic principle applies to interpreting the emotions of people who post on social media. Specifically, the study finds that people perceive more moral outrage in political posts than the authors felt when they wrote them. This is especially true for people who regularly use social media to learn about politics.This skewed outrage detection—a kind of large-scale,…

Since that historically tumultuous election, awareness of and opposition to the Electoral College has grown. To date, 16 states and the District of Columbia have passed it National Interstate Pact of Popular Suffrage, which requires participating states to allocate their electors to the winner of the popular vote. (The compact will go into effect only if and when states representing a 270-vote majority of the Electoral College sign the compact.)Critics of this distinctly American institution often cite its historical connection to slavery and disproportionate weighting of small and volatile positions as the main reasons for its abolition. But in a…

Since that historically tumultuous election, awareness of and opposition to the Electoral College has grown. To date, 16 states and the District of Columbia have passed it National Interstate Pact of Popular Suffrage, which requires participating states to allocate their electors to the winner of the popular vote. (The compact will go into effect only if and when states representing a 270-vote majority of the Electoral College sign the compact.)Critics of this distinctly American institution often cite its historical connection to slavery and disproportionate weighting of small and volatile positions as the main reasons for its abolition. But in a…

Imagine trying to demonize Christmas. The Grinch succeeded and failed. It is hard to put an ugly face on what is glorious. Despite this truth, the FTC continues to try to demonize the beloved Amazon. The strategy its bureaucrats have settled on appears to be rooted in finding fault with Amazon’s behavior toward its third-party sellers. Punches don’t land, though, and they don’t land because they’re countered. Basically the FTC is contradicting itself. To see why, consider the FTC’s original lament that Amazon loomed so large in an online sales market it created. The number it reached was 38 percent…

Eighty-nine percent of Niche survey respondents said a college’s tuition price affects whether they will apply or inquire about the school. getty With the Americans struggling again repay $1.6 trillion in student debt (second only to mortgage debt), high school seniors (and their parents) are becoming increasingly price-sensitive in their college search. For private colleges that have long relied on a combination of high sticker prices offset by large financial aid packages, that could be a problem. In a new overview of current high school seniors registered with the college search and evaluation website Niche.com, 89% said a school’s published…