Spring 2014

The biggest blunders in sports

Using the best tactics from both worlds—the subjective and the objective, the emotional and the rational—teams will reach heights of achievement and competition that neither the old guard nor the new could reach on their own.
Trying to understand the science behind strategy

Where do brilliant decisions come from?
In private equity, does the past predict the future?

For decades, conventional wisdom has dictated that smart investors should put money with private-equity managers who have previously run successful funds. Is the conventional wisdom still good?

How central bankers can better control inflation

When trying to significantly reduce the rate of inflation, banks must make announcements that gradually lower the expected inflation rate. But the reverse is true when combating deflation: in that case, banks must take an aggressive approach.
What a 1920s farm bust reveals about financial crises

Bank failures can be virulently contagious.
The downside of winning a big award

Next time an award-winning book catches your eye in the bookstore, think twice before picking it up.

Behavioral Science

It (sort of) pays to be nice

When it comes to being nice, research offers a tip: don’t overdo it.

By Alice G. Walton| Feb 26, 2014

Behavioral Science

Misunderstanding what others think, believe, feel, and want

Our ability to reason about the minds of others operates so quickly and easily that we hardly even notice we’re using it, or even pause to consider that our assumptions about the minds of others might be wrong.

Finance

Some private-equity funds game returns, but lose anyway

Managers at the best-performing private-equity funds tend to understate returns to build in some insurance against problems that could later be misconstrued by investors as manipulation.

By Robin Mordfin| Feb 26, 2014

Economics

Strong corporate culture leads to strong performance

It pays for a company to keep its word.

Economics

The equation: First-round NFL draft picks are overvalued

Teams selecting players at the beginning of a second-round NFL draft tend to get the best deals, and that the first pick of the draft may end up being the worst value in the first round.