Chicago Booth Review Podcast

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Could using credit cards more save you money? Jan 14, 2026

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Do you have both a credit-card balance and a savings account? Would you use your savings to pay down your credit-card balance if it would save you money on fees? Chicago Booth's Abigail Sussman talks about her research that suggests that about one in five people holds a credit-card balance and a savings account, which effectively means they are paying to borrow their own money. What would it take to change their behavior?

How to Become a Venture Capitalist Jan 07, 2026

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Getting into the venture-capital industry is hard. So how can you plan to break in if you don't have the relevant experience? Chicago Booth's Scott Meadow shares his advice for becoming a venture capitalist.

Do gay men have a tougher time buying used cars? Dec 31, 2025

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The stereotypical good negotiator is tough, assertive and dominant. When we think of those traits, we may well think of certain stereotypical kind of people who we think fit with that—and who doesn't fit. So how do people respond differently depending on who they think they're negotiating with? Chicago Booth's Erika Kirgios tells us about her research on stereotypes and negotiation in the used-car market.

Will alternative investments underperform? Dec 24, 2025

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In recent decades, US pension and endowment funds have increasingly allocated funds to alternative investments such as private equity and venture capital. Will those investments pay off? Chicago Booth's Joe Pagliari tells us about his research on real-estate private-equity funds, and explains his concerns that they may not generate the returns that they expected to earn.

What Trader Joe's tells us about strategy Dec 17, 2025

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The US supermarket business is cut-throat, but amid it all Trader Joe's has been able to carve a distinct role. Chicago Booth's Ram Shivakumar explains how it has thrived, and what it tells us about business strategy in a highly competitive market.

Can you catch AI-written reviews? Dec 10, 2025

Show notes

Schools are trying to restrict or at least identify the use of AI, and colleges are attempting to catch students who cut and paste generated text to use in their assignments. How effective are the tools they're using? Chicago Booth's Brian Jabarian about his research on AI detection tools. Jabarian points out that it's not just education that's affected, but also the reviews that drive consumer purchases. So can online tools help you detect if that restaurant review was written by ChatGPT?

Is Atlanta a better real-estate investment than New York? Dec 03, 2025

Show notes

New York, LA, Chicago, Boston and other big US cities have traditionally been a good bet for real-estate investors. But that view is changing. Chicago Booth's Joe Pagliari explains why those traditional markets are riskier investments, and why more and more real-estate investors are looking at cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, Denver and Houston.

How take-out and delivery boosts productivity Nov 26, 2025

Show notes

For the 30 years leading up to the COVID pandemic, productivity in US restaurants was essentially flat. Since the pandemic, restaurant productivity has soared—because of the rise of take-out and delivery. Chicago Booth's Chad Syverson about his research into the restaurant productivity boom. How has take-out and delivery transformed the economics of the food industry?

What makes welfare recipients invest in their kids' human capital? Nov 19, 2025

Show notes

Critics of social welfare programs often talk about how payments can disincentivize work. But is that always the case? Chicago Booth's Rebecca Dizon Ross talks about her research on how parents of disabled children think about the social safety net and investing in their kids' human capital. Could giving them better information help shape their thinking and behavior?

How much does a CEO really matter? Nov 12, 2025

Show notes

It's a cliché for organizations to say that their people are their most important asset, but how important is the person at the top? Can we measure the impact of a CEO or a manager? Chicago Booth's Mike Gibbs gives us a survey of economic research on leadership and management. How much of a difference does a good leader make? And why do "manager-types" so often struggle when they get promoted to leadership roles?

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