More News from IWER

Principal research scientist Keri Pearlson said: "I think we already have all the necessary knowledge. What's missing are the values, attitudes, and beliefs to act on that knowledge."

"The simplest explanation is supply and demand. The World Cup is the biggest sporting event on earth, and it's coming to the biggest sports market on earth," said senior lecturer Ben Shields. "We may see some declines in ticket prices in some of the earlier matches, but by the time we get to the semis and finals, we'll still see some healthy ticket prices, and people will likely pay them."

Levered lending credit cycles move in waves. For the past five decades or so, each wave has been about 15-20 years long. And each has had a transition point that was associated with a new kind of debt financing. In every one of these cycles, professor of the practice Gary Gensler said, "a fulcrum opens up gaps in the marketplace." Financial innovators pile in, and incumbents begin to lose market share to new players who are doing new kinds of deals. "As Mark Twain purportedly said," Gensler concluded, "'history may not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.'"

Numerous behavioral economics studies, starting with the pioneering research of professors Drazen Prelec and Duncan Simester, have shown that payment methods systematically influence the amount we're willing to spend.

Professor Emilio J. Castilla wrote: "Instead of relentlessly pursuing perfection, organizations with a 'give-the-opportunity' mindset focus on identifying talented individuals who can succeed and then providing them with the support, training, and environment they need to grow. In doing so, they recognize that success depends not only on innate brilliance or impeccable credentials, but also on a combination of ability, motivation, commitment, and real opportunities to prove one's worth."

Environmentally conscious homeowners can retrofit existing homes. Professor John Sterman took that approach when he did a deep energy retrofit on his 1920s Lexington home. He replaced all the windows and installed a heat pump and solar panels, among other renovations, to turn his home into a personal "power plant." While he wasn't about to rip down his historic home, Sterman added that in many cases "you're better off doing a tear down and a rebuild," when appropriate.

Research by associate professor Abdullah Almaatouq, Mohammed Alsobay (PhD '25, MS '24, SB '16), and co-authors have developed an innovative experimental design framework that promises to decipher the intricate web of factors influencing human cooperation. This new methodology, known as integrative experiment design, heralds a paradigm shift away from traditional one-variable-at-a-time approaches toward a comprehensive, system-level understanding of social behavior.

Research affiliate Irving Wladawsky-Berger wrote: "The people who make it to the top and stay there are not necessarily the most brilliant technologists. They are the ones who made the shift from being experts to being leaders, who earned trust across the organization and who understood that their job was not to master the technology but to lead the people who do."

AI tools can be helpful when used to replace routine tasks or for brainstorming, but not when substituting for an artist's own judgment or originality. "If a young musician uses AI to study styles, test ideas, or overcome a blank page, that may be productive," said professor Jackson Lu, who co-authored a study on generative AI and creativity. "If they use it to avoid developing their own ear, craft, and artistic identity, that is much more problematic."

Associate professor Andrew Sutherland and co-author wrote: "Wealth taxes incur comparatively high administrative burdens. They can impose significant appraisal and verification costs. Tax authorities generally lack the expertise to value and track unique assets that are common in billionaires' portfolios. And physically tracking certain types of assets, such as art or gold, is next to impossible. This is not an economically efficient method of raising taxes."