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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

EU Delays Mercosur Free Trade Agreement Signing Amid Ukraine War Funding Talks

The European Union has decided to delay the formal signing of its long-anticipated free trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc, as EU leaders convened in Brussels to prioritize discussions on funding Ukraines war effort....

Precious Metals Rally as Silver and Platinum Outperform on Rate Cut Bets

Gold prices edged slightly lower in Asian trading on Friday but were still on track to post modest weekly gains, as strong safe-haven demand continued to support the precious metals market. At the same time, silver and...

Oil Prices Steady in Asia but Headed for Weekly Loss on Supply Glut Concerns

Oil prices were mostly steady during Asian trading on Friday, but both major benchmarks were still on track to record a second consecutive weekly decline as persistent concerns over a global supply glut continued to...

New Zealand Business Confidence Hits 30-Year High as Economic Outlook Improves

New Zealands business confidence surged sharply in December, reaching its highest level in three decades, according to the latest ANZ Bank Business Outlook survey released on Friday. The data highlights growing optimism...

BOJ Poised for Historic Rate Hike as Japan Signals Shift Toward Monetary Normalization

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) is widely expected to raise interest rates to a three-decade high, marking another milestone in its gradual exit from ultra-loose monetary policy. At the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Friday,...

Politics

U.S. and China Push for Ceasefire as Thailand–Cambodia Border Clashes Escalate

China and the United States are intensifying separate diplomatic efforts to revive a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia, as Southeast Asian leaders prepare for a crucial ASEAN meeting aimed at addressing the worst...

Syria, Kurds and U.S. Race to Show Progress on SDF Integration Deal

Syrian, Kurdish and U.S. officials are intensifying diplomatic efforts ahead of a year-end deadline to demonstrate progress on a long-stalled agreement to integrate Kurdish-led forces into the Syrian state, according to...

Putin Signals Possible Peace or Continued War in Ukraine at Major Year-End Address

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to send a significant signal to the United States and European powers regarding the future of the Ukraine war when he speaks at his annual end-of-year news conference on Friday....

Trump Administration Reviews Nvidia H200 Chip Sales to China, Marking Major Shift in U.S. AI Export Policy

The U.S. government under President Donald Trump has launched a formal review that could pave the way for the first-ever shipments of Nvidias H200 artificial intelligence chips to China, according to multiple sources...

Trump Signs Order to Ease Federal Marijuana Rules, Signaling Major Policy Shift

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing federal agencies to loosen regulations on marijuana, a move that could mark one of the most significant changes in U.S. cannabis policy in decades. The...

Science

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...

Blue Origin’s New Glenn Achieves Breakthrough Success With First NASA Mission

Blue Origins massive New Glenn rocket marked a major milestone as it completed its first mission for paying customers, sending two NASA satellites toward Mars and successfully landing its reusable booster at sea. The...

Cogent Biosciences Soars 120% on Breakthrough Phase 3 Results for Bezuclastinib in GIST Treatment

Cogent Biosciences (NASDAQ: COGT) shares skyrocketed over 120% after the biotech company announced groundbreaking results from its Phase 3 PEAK trial evaluating bezuclastinib in combination with sunitinib for patients with...

Technology

TikTok U.S. Deal Advances as ByteDance Signs Binding Joint Venture Agreement

TikTok has taken a major step toward securing its future in the United States after its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, announced it has signed binding agreements with three major investors to form a new joint venture...

Oracle Stock Surges After Hours on TikTok Deal Optimism and OpenAI Fundraising Buzz

Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) shares surged sharply in extended trading on Thursday, reflecting renewed investor optimism fueled by reports of a potential U.S. TikTok transaction and fresh fundraising discussions...

Apple Opens iPhone to Alternative App Stores in Japan Under New Competition Law

Apple has announced a major shift in its App Store policies in Japan, opening iPhones and other Apple devices to alternative app stores in order to comply with new competition laws aimed at reshaping the countrys...

Micron Technology Forecasts Surge in Revenue and Earnings on AI-Driven Memory Demand

Micron Technology delivered record first-quarter results and issued a bullish forecast for the current quarter, driven by rising memory prices and strong demand linked to artificial intelligence workloads. The upbeat...

Oracle Stock Slides After Blue Owl Exit Report, Company Says Michigan Data Center Talks Remain on Track

Oracle shares fell more than 4% on Wednesday after a Financial Times report claimed that Blue Owl Capital, Oracles largest U.S. data center partner, decided not to support a planned $10 billion data center project in...