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On June 15, 2015, the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup. It was the Blackhawks' third league title in six seasons. In previous years, the off-seasons immediately following Stanley Cup victories had been challenging. The general manager was typically forced by the NHL's salary cap to change key components of the championship rosters. In late June 2015, the situation differed from in the past. Two superstar forwards were locked into identical eight-year contracts worth US$10.5 million per year beginning July 1, 2015. However, significant macroeconomic events around the world had unfolded rapidly, specifically in Canada and the United States, where the NHL operated. How would these macroeconomic forces shape the future of the NHL and the Blackhawks?

For many years, renowned urbanist Richard Florida has married his long-held interest in urban economic development with the insights of urban sociologists on the corrosive effects of concentrated poverty, mapping the deep new divides that isolate the classes and tracing the growth of economic disadvantage in the suburbs. In this excerpt from his latest book, he presents some of his key findings, showing that 'urbanism for all' is contingent upon seven principles-including: building more affordable rental housing; investing in infrastructure; and making 'clustering' work for us.

While income inequality between countries has declined significantly over the past 20 years, it has grown markedly within countries. A combination of technological change, global integration, domestic deregulation and immigration has been driving major changes in labour markets in most advanced countries-resulting in pressure on median wages and widespread insecurity. The authors-from the World Economic Forum-describe their 'framework for inclusive growth' and the Inclusive Development Index, which measures countries on three categories of KPIs, including Adjusted Net Savings; Median Household Income; Poverty Rate; and Healthy Life Expectancy.

Social class- defined as one's relative socio-economic rank in society - is one of the key factors shaping educational and economic trajectories in a powerful way. Whether defined by parental income or education, research shows that social class of origin affects a child's future educational, occupational and economic attainment, as well as their mental and physical well-being. But until now, research has neglected a vital dimension of economic stratification: employment. The author describes his study, in which seemingly 'high class' male applicants for a job received four times as many call-backs as other categories of applicants-despite having identical resumes.

The case describes the launch of a newly designed Apple Watch, a smartwatch, and the market for wearable technology at the time of the launch. Apple Watch was launched in April 2015 by Apple Inc. with a big fanfare and generated a lot of buzz in the media and amongst Apple brand aficionados. Apple Watch entered the market at the price of $349. Samsung was the first mover in this market and held the largest market share at the time of the launch. Its Samsung Gear S was sold at $380. Pebble held the second largest share in the market and distinguished itself in the market by its simplicity and long battery life. Was the choice of the R&D at Apple in designing features of the new Apple Watch aligned with best opportunities in the market? What was the objective of the pricing strategy at which Apple Watch was introduced? What kind of market dynamic might have ensued as a result of the product definition and pricing decisions at launch? The case provides a concise description of the market for wearable technology, characteristics of the products in the market, and estimates of the demand forecast faced by Apple at the time of launch. How did Apple position its product in the market? How did the demand forecast for Apple Watch align with the revenue and cost data?

During the last few decades, China has experienced spectacular rates of economic growth, which dwarf those of developed Western countries. This case describes the major policy reforms that have allowed China to transition from an agrarian-based economy to the manufacturing powerhouse it is today. Also discussed are some of the negative consequences of rapid economic growth, the reasons behind China's recent slowdown, as well as the government's current efforts to reorient the economy, financial system, and policies affecting international trade and investments.

The Augusta Training Shop (ATS) was a non-profit organization that provided jobs for individuals with disabilities. In 2012 the workers started producing craft snowflakes made from reed which were sold online, in the shop, and at trade shows. The Executive Director, Audrey Murell, was attending a trade show in Atlanta in the spring of 2014 and was asked if she could give a 50% discount to a wholesaler. Despite having produced and sold snowflakes for a couple of years, Audrey realized she did not know how much it cost her to make them. What should Audrey reply?

Spreadsheet supplement for NA0481

Behavioral Economics pioneer Richard Thaler, the co-author of the best-seller Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness, talks about the origins of the field, his key findings over a 40-year career and the importance of 'nudging for good.'

MBA students are taught to use the expected monetary value (EMV) to evaluate risky opportunities. The reaction of individuals to risk, however, is far more complex. In fact, individuals are rarely found to be consistently risk neutral, risk averse, or risk seeking. They can be all these things, depending on whether the probabilities are small or large or the outcomes are gains or losses. The purpose of this note is to introduce a behavioral model that modifies EMV and does a better job of predicting how individuals evaluate risky prospects. The model builds on the distinction between probabilities and decision weights, as well as the notion of framing and loss aversion, as put forward by prospect theory.

When researchers compared daily data from the S&P 500 index with daily environmental data from Lower Manhattan, they discovered a connection between poor air quality and diminished stock performance.

Money and Banking: An Intermediate Market-Based Approach is a six-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2017 and written by William D. Gerdes, Professor of Economics at Clarke University. This book is intended to give students a broad understanding of money and how the money we use today differs from money used in the past and money discovered in isolated subcultures. It examines money as a medium of exchange, a fundamental ingredient in credit markets, and an instrument of monetary policy. In Chapter 1, the author discusses exchanges and the transaction costs associated with them. He states the definition of money as a medium of exchange but adds that it also serves as a store of value, unit of account, and standard of deferred payment. Gerdes describe money as portable, divisible, durable, and made from objects that are relatively scarce. He also discusses the three types of monetary systems: commodity, fiduciary, and fiat. He then provides ways to calculate the value of money.

Money and Banking: An Intermediate Market-Based Approach is a six-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2017 and written by William D. Gerdes, Professor of Economics at Clarke University. This book is intended to give students a broad understanding of money and how the money we use today differs from money used in the past and money discovered in isolated subcultures. It examines money as a medium of exchange, a fundamental ingredient in credit markets, and an instrument of monetary policy. In Chapter 2, Gerdes discuss ways to determine the relationship between money and economic activity. He highlights Fisher's equation, MV=Py, to show that the money supply and the price of goods are directly related and that the production of goods and services and price of goods are indirectly related. He also uses this equation of exchange to analyze the relationship between money and the economy, highlighting what this relationship can tell us about inflation, real GDP, and the long-run purchasing power of money. He then discusses a version of the equation that expresses the same relationships between variables but in terms of growth rates: dM/M + dV/V = dP/P + dy/y

Money and Banking: An Intermediate Market-Based Approach is a six-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2017 and written by William D. Gerdes, Professor of Economics at Clarke University. This book is intended to give students a broad understanding of money and how the money we use today differs from money used in the past and money discovered in isolated subcultures. It examines money as a medium of exchange, a fundamental ingredient in credit markets, and an instrument of monetary policy. In Chapter 3, Gerdes discusses the relationship between the interest rate and three intertemporal economic relationships: the marginal productivity of capital, the price of credit, and the marginal rate of time preference. He provides graphs to show how shifts in the supply and demand of loanable funds affect the interest rate and differentiate between real and nominal interest rates, providing thorough definitions of each.

Money and Banking: An Intermediate Market-Based Approach is a six-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2017 and written by William D. Gerdes, Professor of Economics at Clarke University. This book is intended to give students a broad understanding of money and how the money we use today differs from money used in the past and money discovered in isolated subcultures. It examines money as a medium of exchange, a fundamental ingredient in credit markets, and an instrument of monetary policy. In Chapter 4, the author discusses the role of banks as both depository institutions and conduits for the implementation of monetary policy. He outlines the money supply model (M = B (m)), which is used to examine factors that determine the total quantity of money in an economy. Gerdes then discusses four general instruments of monetary policy: open market operations, discount window/discount rate, reserve ratio requirements, and interest payments on bank reserves. He also discusses systems in which a central bank directs credit to specific markets using selective credit controls.

Money and Banking: An Intermediate Market-Based Approach is a six-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2017 and written by William D. Gerdes, Professor of Economics at Clarke University. This book is intended to give students a broad understanding of money and how the money we use today differs from money used in the past and money discovered in isolated subcultures. It examines money as a medium of exchange, a fundamental ingredient in credit markets, and an instrument of monetary policy. In Chapter 5, Gerdes discusses the differences between commodity money and fiduciary money. He outlines the effects of fiat money on monetary nationalism, inflation, services provided by money, and economic growth. The chapter also discusses discretionary monetary policy and its transmission mechanisms and targets. Gerdes then outlines the Federal Reserve's response to the Great Recession of 2008-2009, highlighting the unprecedented nature of this monetary policy.

Money and Banking: An Intermediate Market-Based Approach is a six-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2017 and written by William D. Gerdes, Professor of Economics at Clarke University. This book is intended to give students a broad understanding of money and how the money we use today differs from money used in the past and money discovered in isolated subcultures. It examines money as a medium of exchange, a fundamental ingredient in credit markets, and an instrument of monetary policy. In Chapter 6, Gerdes examines critiques of monetary policy. He discusses Milton Friedman's critique that the use of discretionary monetary policy has resulted in increased economic instability. He applies Friedman's growth model to simulate what would've happened had the Federal Reserve followed Friedman's rule. Gerdes then turns to examining interest rate targeting and problems the Fed encounters when using this method. He also discusses how the rational expectations theory offers a critique of monetary policy. Finally, he turns to the Austrian critique of monetary policy.

The case focuses on the main issues faced by two US-listed Chinese companies - Orient Paper (NYSE MKT: ONP) and New Oriental Education and Technology Group (NYSE: EDU) - when they were attacked by Muddy Waters, LLC. Interestingly, the seemingly similar responses of the two "Orientals" resulted in widely disparate outcomes, offering lessons to emerging market firms eager to embrace the global capital markets. The case aims to help students understand the mechanism of short selling in the context of "bear" attacks, and expose the problems that attract short sellers' attention, as well as the actions companies can take to deal with them. It also explains the normative role that short selling plays in the market: to discipline corporate behaviour and improve market efficiency.

In 2011, Ingersoll-Rand (IR) decided to divest its refrigeration equipment subsidiary, Hussmann International. However, the routine auction process for the non-core asset went awry when both Hussmann's performance and external finance markets weakened significantly during the due diligence period. IR's agent, JP Morgan, sought interest from potential buyers and focused on a few leading buy-out firms that submitted bids. After not seeing eye-to-eye with the initial auction winner, Ingersoll-Rand engaged exclusively with a lower bidder, the private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. The challenge for CD&R is to develop a deal structure that can meet both parties' needs, offering enough value to Ingersoll-Rand to keep them from walking away, yet taking into account the increased riskiness of Hussmann's recent performance to justify CD&R's valuation. The student takes the perspective of CD&R. Please visit the dedicated case website http://cases.insead.edu/hussmann to access supplementary material.

The case considers alternative specifications of demand for food in India. Based on theoretical understanding and conceptual clarity, the most appropriate demand function for food in India needs to be identified and its coefficients need to be interpreted for further analytical use.