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Jay L. Zagorsky

Since 1995 I have held the position of Research Scientist at The Ohio State University, where I collect 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/.

I also teach at Boston University's School of Management. 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.

My personal blog is found here http://u.osu.edu/zagorsky.1/

You can probably eat more Christmas cookies than you think - just take a look at the calorie guidelines

Dec 19, 2018 15:21 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

Its that time of year when cookies, cakes, candy and treats show up at work, home and every place in between. As researchers who have investigated obesity, peoples body image, and fast food and other nutritional topics...

Why the unemployment rate will never get to zero percent – but it could still go a lot lower

Sep 24, 2018 07:27 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

The U.S. Labor Department continues to release wonderful news for U.S. workers. Just this week, on Sept. 20, the agency said that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits reached the lowest level in...

What is full employment? An economist explains the latest jobs data

May 04, 2018 15:11 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy

The latest jobs report has gotten a lot of analysts, policymakers and talking heads once again asking whether the U.S. is at full employment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on May 4 that the U.S. unemployment...

GOP plan to tax college endowments like Yale's and Harvard's would be neither fair nor effective

Nov 08, 2017 15:04 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics Economy

Tucked away in the recently announced GOP tax bill is a small item you may have missed: a new tax on university endowments. As I have spent decades working in higher education, the proposal immediately piqued my...

Economist who helped behavioral 'nudges' go mainstream wins Nobel

Oct 10, 2017 14:06 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy

The 2017 Nobel Prize in economics was awarded to University of Chicagos Richard Thaler for his work in behavioral economics, which is the integration of economics with psychology. While the award was not a total...

The penny may be worthless, but let's keep it anyway

Aug 28, 2017 15:19 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Governments have long waged a war on cash in an attempt to curb terrorism and tax evasion. Their focus has typically been on eliminating large denominations, like Europes 500 bill or Indias 1,000 rupee note. Two U.S....

Why Wall Street's Dow 20,000 is totally meaningless

Jan 26, 2017 07:27 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

The Dow Jones Industrial Average just broke 20,000 for the first time. Traders and investors cheered this historic high of the worlds most famous stock market index, which is composed of 30 of the biggest and...

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Economy

Vitol to Ship First U.S. Naphtha Cargo to Venezuela Under New Oil Supply Deal

Commodities trading giant Vitol is preparing to load the first shipment of U.S. naphtha bound for Venezuela this weekend, marking a significant step in efforts to revive the countrys oil industry. According to sources...

U.S. Signals Potential Venezuela Sanctions Relief to Boost Oil Sales and IMF Re-Engagement

The United States may lift additional sanctions on Venezuela as early as next week to facilitate oil sales and economic stabilization, according to comments by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in an interview with...

Russia Stock Market Ends Flat as Commodities Rise and Ruble Strengthens

Russian stocks closed flat on Saturday, reflecting a quiet session on the Moscow Exchange as market activity remained muted across key sectors. At the close in Moscow, the MOEX Russia Index finished unchanged at 0.00%,...

Trump Administration Targets Mortgage-Backed Securities to Ease Housing Affordability Crunch

The Trump administration has launched a new effort to support the U.S. housing market by stepping into mortgage-backed securities (MBS) purchases, aiming to counterbalance the Federal Reserves ongoing reduction of such...

G7 Finance Ministers to Meet in Washington on Critical Minerals Supply Chains

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has announced that Australia and several other countries will participate in a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies in Washington on Monday,...

Politics

Myanmar Military-Run Election Draws Criticism as Voters Head to Polls Amid Ongoing Conflict

Voters in conflict-ravaged Myanmar queued on Sunday to cast ballots in the second phase of a military-organized election, an exercise widely criticized by the international community as an attempt to legitimize junta rule...

U.S. Military Launches Multiple Airstrikes in Syria Targeting Islamic State

The United States military confirmed on Saturday that it carried out multiple airstrikes across Syria targeting the Islamic State (ISIS), as part of an ongoing operation launched in December following a deadly attack on...

Bangladesh Signals Willingness to Join International Stabilization Force in Gaza

Bangladesh has formally expressed its interest in joining a proposed international stabilization force that may be deployed in Gaza, signaling a potential new role in global peacekeeping efforts related to the ongoing...

Nicaragua Frees Political Prisoners Amid Growing U.S. Pressure on Latin American Governments

Nicaraguas government announced the release of dozens of inmates from its national penitentiary system, a move that came just one day after the United States publicly demanded the freedom of more than 60 political...

Norwegian Nobel Institute Clarifies Nobel Peace Prize Rules After Trump Remarks

The Norwegian Nobel Institute has firmly stated that the Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred, shared, or revoked, responding to recent remarks by Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado suggesting she...

Science

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...

Senate Sets December 8 Vote on Trump’s NASA Nominee Jared Isaacman

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee announced it will vote on December 8 on President Donald Trumps renewed nomination of private astronaut and tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Isaacman, known for his...

NASA Cuts Boeing Starliner Missions as SpaceX Pulls Ahead

NASA has significantly scaled back Boeings Starliner program after years of technical issues and delays, announcing that the next Starliner mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will fly without astronauts. The...

Technology

Elon Musk Says X Will Open-Source Its Algorithm Amid EU Scrutiny

Elon Musk announced on Saturday that X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, will publicly release its recommendation algorithm, including the full code behind organic content and advertising post...

China’s AI Sector Pushes to Close U.S. Tech Gap Amid Chipmaking Challenges

China is accelerating efforts to narrow its technological gap with the United States, driven by increased risk-taking, innovation, and strong policy support for artificial intelligence and semiconductors. Leading Chinese...

Supreme Court to Hear Cisco Appeal on Alien Tort Statute and Human Rights Liability

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by Cisco Systems that could significantly reshape how American companies are held liable for alleged human rights abuses committed overseas. The case centers on the scope...

FCC Approves Expansion of SpaceX Starlink Network With 7,500 New Satellites

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved SpaceXs request to deploy an additional 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites, marking a major step forward in the companys mission to expand global...

xAI Cash Burn Highlights the High Cost of Competing in Generative AI

Elon Musks artificial intelligence startup, xAI, is rapidly emerging as a major player in the generative AI race, but new reports highlight the enormous financial costs behind that ambition. According to Bloomberg News,...