COVID-19 Thought Leadership Digest: July 23, 2020

This week, we hosted the first event in our new series, the Road to Economic Recovery. Randall S. Kroszner led an insightful discussion on rebuilding the global economy. Missed it? We'll have the event video in Booth Stories on Friday, and an event recap coming next week. In the meantime, check out our faculty's latest research insights below. You'll also find stories on how our community is adapting to virtual learning and links to upcoming events.

COVID-19 Research and Insights from Chicago Booth Review

COVID-19 isn't changing what investors want
Successful business pitches still need to focus on a few things, says professor Steve Kaplan.

How New York City could reopen its economy, neighborhood by neighborhood
Explore a new interactive data component to John R. Birge and Ozan Candogan's research on a geographically targeted approach to reopening.

Now is not the time to relax accounting standards
In a COVID-19 Q&A, Haresh Sapra discusses how banks have changed since the financial crisis and the biggest challenges companies face.

We need a plan to avoid a humanitarian and economic catastrophe
Chang-Tai Hsieh discusses the effects of the shutdown on Chinese economic growth and what the pandemic means for the future of cities.

How COVID-19 could prompt global cooperation
Raghuram Rajan discusses COVID-19's potential impact on poor countries, political populism, the gig economy, and more.

Capitalisn't: Should Luigi's Pizza file for bankruptcy?
The coronavirus has been especially hard on small businesses. Luigi Zingales and his cohost explain how bankruptcy works for small businesses and how the system needs to change.

Follow CBR's COVID-19 page and social channels for the latest insights from Booth faculty.

Select Thought Leadership in the Media

Pandemic's economic hit will be here 'for a long time' even if a vaccine is approved, economist says
July 22 | CNBC Asia
Raghuram Rajan suggests that many small businesses that closed in March aren't going to reopen even when the situation improves.

End of $600 unemployment bonus could push millions past the brink
July 21 | The New York Times
If unemployment benefits expire, Joseph Vavra warns of a foreclosure and eviction crisis. Pascal J. Noel's research indicates the risk is particularly acute for Black and Latino workers.

Economists think congress should keep paying unemployed workers $600 a week—or even more
July 21 | FiveThirtyEight
In IGM and FiveThirtyEight's latest survey, economists report a 59 percent chance that keeping or increasing enhanced unemployment benefits would be most beneficial to the economy. 

Coronavirus threatens the luster of superstar cities
July 21 | The New York Times
Jonathan Dingel and Brent Neiman estimate that nearly 40 percent of jobs can be done from home. Erik Hurst says that people will always seek the kind of social contact cities provide.

Active mutual funds could have finally outperformed during the coronacrisis. Instead, their returns were dismal.
July 20 | MarketWatch
In a new working paper, professor Lubos Pastor and PhD student M. Blair Vorsatz find that active managers have performed poorly during the COVID-19 crisis.

Economic recovery is under way but fighting flare-ups is key
July 19 | The Wall Street Journal
Randall S. Kroszner says it is imperative that governments quickly improve their ability to identify and contain localized infection outbreaks.

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

COVID-19 Content across Campus

Translating a Booth course to the virtual world
Professor Ann L. McGill shares how she adapted her Managing in Organizations class to work remotely and made sure students learned what they needed to learn.

Learning in a virtual classroom
Evening MBA student Robert Cooper, AB '12, reflects on how the Booth experience translates to the world of Zoom.

Taking a Booth course via Zoom
Evening MBA student Jessica Kenneally offers her perspective on the remote-learning experience.

How personal experiences with COVID-19 are changing Americans' behaviors and political views
ProMarket shares results from Rustandy, Poverty Lab, and NORC's latest survey, which finds that experiences like loss of income may affect views on mask-wearing, lockdowns, and more.

How computer science can help fight COVID-19
UChicago News covers Sendhil Mullainathan's efforts to create a new model for predicting acute respiratory distress syndrome, the primary cause of death for COVID-19 patients.

BFI Working Papers

Mutual fund performance and flows during the COVID-19 crisis
Professor Lubos Pastor and PhD student M. Blair Vorsatz find that most active funds underperform passive benchmarks during the crisis, contradicting a popular hypothesis.

How COVID-19 is changing Americans' behaviors, expectations, and political views
Marianne Bertrand and coauthors find that while strong divisions persist across party lines, personal experiences with COVID-19 may affect views and preferences among Americans.

Uncertainty and decision-making during a crisis: How to make policy decisions in the COVID-19 context?
Lars Peter Hansen and coauthors argue that using ideas and constructs from modern decision theory, even informally, will make policymaking more a responsible and transparent process.

Upcoming Events

COVID-19 and economics: China, Asia, and beyond
Friday, July 24, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. CDT
The latest BFI seminar organized by professors Zhiguo He and Chang-Tai Hsieh will cover healthcare and resource allocation amid the pandemic.

Fundraising in the COVID-19 era
Tuesday, August 4, 2 - 3:30 p.m. CDT
In this event from the Polsky Center, alumna Nora Peterson, '14, cofounder of Halo Incubator, will offer tips on how founders can raise venture capital remotely.