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Jay L. Zagorsky

Clinical associate professor, Boston University
I teach at Boston University's Questrom School of Business. From 1988 to the present my teaching has spanned a wide range of levels from senior executives taking intensive classes to high school students encountering economic theories for the first time. I have taught giant lectures of over 450 students, classes of fifty, and small seminars with fewer than ten people.

From 1995 to 2018 I held the position of Research Scientist at The Ohio State University, where I collected data as part of the National Longitudinal Surveys on income, wealth, and life experiences of thousands of Americans. My personal finance research has been widely quoted in the media and has been highlighted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fox News, Good Morning America, Scientific American and numerous other news outlets.

Besides publishing numerous scholarly articles I wrote the book "Business Information: Finding and Using Data in the Digital Age" for McGraw-Hill/Irwin and "Business Macroeconomics: A Guide for Managers, Traders and Practical People." More information on the macroeconomics book can be found at http://businessmacroeconomics.com/.

My personal blogs are found here https://blogs.bu.edu/zagorsky/ and https://u.osu.edu/zagorsky.1/

Can the president really kill off the penny – and should he?

Feb 16, 2025 10:44 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

In the middle of Super Bowl LIX, President Donald Trump posted on social media that he was getting rid of the penny. Since the lowly penny in 2024 cost about 3.7 cents to make meaning the government loses money on every...

Why March Madness is a special time of year for state budgets

Mar 25, 2024 05:12 am UTC| Insights & Views Sports

March Madness the time when the best mens and womens college basketball teams challenge each other is a made-for-television spectacle watched by millions. While March Madness has been around for decades, one of the...

Why do airlines charge so much for checked bags? This obscure rule helps explain why

Mar 18, 2024 09:15 am UTC| Insights & Views Business

Five out of the six biggest U.S. airlines have raised their checked bag fees since January 2024. Take American Airlines. In 2023, it cost US$30 to check a standard bag in with the airline; today, as of March 2024, it...

'No cash accepted' signs are bad news for millions of unbanked Americans

Jan 23, 2024 05:30 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

How many people dont have a bank account? And just how difficult has it become to live without one? These questions are becoming increasingly important as more businesses refuse to take cash in cities across the U.S....

Airlines are frustrating travelers by changing frequent flyer program rules – here's why they keep doing it

Nov 21, 2023 04:17 am UTC| Business

As the U.S. holiday travel season picks up, many people are noticing that their frequent flyer benefits arent going as far as they used to. In September 2023, Delta Air Lines revamped its frequent flyer program to make...

Passport bottleneck is holding up international travel by Americans eager to see the world as COVID-19 eases

May 11, 2023 15:58 pm UTC| Health

The World Health Organization declared on May 5, 2023, that the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a public health emergency. Although the virus is still causing hospitalizations and deaths, many travelers who were reluctant...

I tried to pay my taxes in cash – here's what happened, and why the IRS should make it easier to do so

Apr 10, 2023 16:12 pm UTC| Economy

About two-thirds of all U.S. residents who file federal income taxes typically get a refund. Unfortunately, this year I am among the other third who owe the Internal Revenue Service money. So I tried something Ive never...

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Economy

Bank of Japan Unveils New Inflation Gauge to Support Case for Future Rate Hikes

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) introduced a new core consumer price index (CPI) on Thursday, revealing that inflation rose 2.2% in February when adjusted to exclude special institutional factors. This new measure, released...

ECB Eyes Rate Hike Amid Iran Conflict-Driven Energy Price Surge

The European Central Bank (ECB) is weighing potential interest rate hikes as escalating conflict in Iran sends energy prices soaring, triggering fresh inflationary concerns across the eurozone. Market participants are now...

WTO Reform Talks Begin in Cameroon Amid Global Trade Tensions

Trade ministers from around the world convened Thursday in Yaoundé, Cameroon, for a critical four-day summit focused on reforming the World Trade Organization. The high-stakes gathering comes at a turbulent moment...

Japan Eyes Oil Futures Intervention to Stabilize Yen Amid Middle East Crisis

Japan is exploring an unconventional strategy to halt the yens ongoing decline directly intervening in global crude oil futures markets. The proposal, first reported by Reuters, signals Tokyos growing frustration as...

Asian Currencies Stay Muted as Dollar Holds Firm Amid Iran Uncertainty

Asian currencies remained largely subdued on Thursday as the U.S. dollar maintained its strength, with investors navigating mixed signals surrounding ongoing Middle East peace efforts. The U.S. Dollar Index held steady...

Politics

Maduro Faces Rare Narcoterrorism Charges in U.S. Court

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro appeared in a U.S. federal court Thursday, facing serious criminal charges that include narcoterrorism a rarely prosecuted statute with a complicated legal history....

Russia-Iran Military Alliance Deepens With Drone Shipments Amid Middle East Tensions

Moscow is moving closer to completing a multi-phase transfer of lethal drones, medicine, and food supplies to Tehran, according to Western intelligence sources cited by the Financial Times. The deliveries are designed to...

Trump Seeks Quick End to U.S.-Iran Conflict Amid Ongoing Middle East Tensions

President Donald Trump has privately told close advisers that he wants to avoid a drawn-out war with Iran and is pushing for a swift resolution to the ongoing conflict, according to a Wall Street Journal report published...

Iran-U.S. Negotiations: Tehran Reviews American Peace Proposal Amid Ongoing Gulf Conflict

Irans foreign minister confirmed Wednesday that Tehran is examining a United States peace proposal aimed at ending the escalating Gulf war, though officials stressed this falls short of direct negotiations between the two...

FEMA Reinstates $1 Billion Disaster Prevention Grant Program After Court Order

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced the resumption of a key disaster prevention initiative after facing legal challenges that forced the reversal of its earlier cancellation. The agency is once again...

Science

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency

The U.S. Senate has officially confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman as the new NASA administrator, making him the 15th leader in the agencys history. The confirmation, which took place on Wednesday, marks...

Technology

Google's TurboQuant Algorithm Sends Memory Chip Stocks Tumbling

Major memory chipmakers took a significant hit on Thursday after Google researchers introduced a groundbreaking compression algorithm that threatens to reduce artificial intelligence demand for memory chips. Samsung...

Reflection AI Eyes $25 Billion Valuation in Massive $2.5 Billion Funding Round

Nvidia-backed artificial intelligence startup Reflection AI is in advanced discussions to secure $2.5 billion in fresh funding, with negotiations pointing to a staggering pre-money valuation of $25 billion, according to a...

Nanya Technology Shares Surge 10% After $2.5 Billion Private Placement from Sandisk and Cisco

Shares of Taiwan-based memory chip manufacturer Nanya Technology soared to their daily limit of 10% on Thursday morning following the companys announcement of a major $2.5 billion private placement deal backed by prominent...

SK Hynix Eyes Up to $14 Billion U.S. IPO to Fund AI Chip Expansion

South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix has submitted a confidential filing for a U.S. stock market listing in 2026, with sources indicating the move could raise as much as $14 billion. The company intends to offer...

Meta Ties Executive Pay to Aggressive Stock Price Targets in Major Retention Push

Meta Platforms made a significant move this week by granting restricted stock units and stock options to several of its most senior leaders, including Chief Financial Officer Susan Li and Chief Technology Officer Andrew...