COVID-19 Thought Leadership Digest: May 21, 2020

Catch up on the latest media appearances and research findings from Booth faculty. Below, you'll find their insights on how to best reopen the economy, the government's role in the workplace, coping with emergencies, and more.

COVID-19 Research and Insights from Chicago Booth Review

How leaders can rise to the challenge of COVID-19
Daniel Diermeier, UChicago professor and special advisor to the university president, shares crisis-management essentials for coping with emergencies.

Video: Could COVID-19 spark a sovereign-debt crisis?
According to Booth's Chang-Tai Hsieh, investors' search for safe havens could force some countries into a choice between protecting their citizens and servicing their debt.

Pivoting in a time of crisis
Pradeep K. Chintagunta, Yogesh Kansal, '18, and research assistant Pradeep Pachigolla explain why now is the right time for small companies to take a hard look at their business models.

Video: What the crisis means for the European Union
The COVID-19 crisis could nudge the EU toward fiscal union, or further fragmentation, suggests Booth's Veronica Guerrieri.

Video: Why Asia acted faster than the rest of the world
In COVID-19 policy readiness, experience has made all the difference, Booth's Randall S. Kroszner explains.

How to reopen cities, neighborhood by neighborhood
Research by Booth's John R. Birge and Ozan Candogan suggests that a geographically targeted approach to reopening is less costly than blanket alternatives.

Follow CBR's newly redesigned COVID-19 page and social channels to stay current.

Select Thought Leadership in the Media

The law of supply and demand isn't fair
May 20 | The New York Times
It isn't socially acceptable to raise prices of essential items during an emergency, but Booth's Richard Thaler says this social norm predictably leads to shortages.

Work hard, Zoom hard
May 20 | Chicago Magazine
As COVID-19 changes workers' relationships with employers, Booth's John Paul Rollert suggests it will also reshape government's role in the workplace.

As reopening becomes polarized, businesses need to use common-ground language
May 19 | Fortune
Booth's Christopher Bryan suggests companies will have to think carefully about how they communicate their plans for resuming business.

Too big to fail: The entire private sector
May 19 | The New York Times
The government has stretched its financial safety net wide amid the pandemic. "The 'too big to fail' that existed for banks has now extended to a lot of other firms," says Booth's Luigi Zingales.

Is the bear market over? Wall Street isn't so sure
May 19 | CNN Business
"It will take a long time for the economy to fully recover because there are fundamental changes that are occurring," says Booth's Randall Kroszner.

To stay up-to-date with media mentions, follow Booth's In the News page and social channels.

COVID-19 Content Across Booth

Polsky: AI-Powered physIQ inks DOD contract to support COVID-19 research
Booth alumnus Gary Conkright, '82, is leveraging his digital health company phsIQ to analyze data from COVID-19 patients and improve understanding of how COVID-19 progresses.

Promarket: When and how the US should reopen is a matter of politics, trust in institutions and media, survey says
Research from Marianne Bertrand, the Rustandy Center, and UChicago's Poverty Lab finds that political party affiliation and trust in media affect support for lockdown measures.

Video: BFI-China Seminar Series - COVID-19 and Economics: China, Asia, and beyond
The Becker Friedman Institute posted several recordings from its webinar series. In the latest video, Booth's Veronica Guerrieri discusses the macroeconomic implications of COVID-19.

IGM Economic Experts Panel: Stimulus and stabilizers
Booth's Marianne Bertrand, Austan Goolsbee, Steven Kaplan, Anil Kashyap, and Richard Thaler weigh in on the implications of additional federal spending related to COVID-19.

European IGM Economic Experts Panel: Prices of medical supplies
Booth's Veronica Guerrieri, Christian Leuz, Lubos Pastor, and Canice Prendergast weigh in on how the price of surgical face masks and essential goods affects the public good.

UChicago News: Will coronavirus-related job losses eventually return?
UChicago shared research from Booth's Steven Davis that finds 42 percent of pandemic-related layoffs could be permanent.

Upcoming Webinars

COVID-19 and Economics: China, Asia, and beyond
Friday, May 22, 8:30 a.m.
Join the Becker Friedman Institute for the next webinar in its series dedicated to research on the economic implications of COVID-19. Event organizers include Booth's Chang-Tai Hsieh and Zhiguo He.

COVID-19 and Amazon's future
Tuesday, May 26, Noon
Join the Stigler Center for a conversation with Booth's Steven Kaplan and Local Self-Reliance's Stacy Mitchell about COVID-19's impact on Amazon and its competitors. The conversation will be moderated by theWall Street Journal's Jacob Schlesinger.