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All Else Equal: Making Better Decisions

The Lauder Institute

Join Stanford GSB finance professor Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen of The Wharton School in a conversation with prominent business leaders about common flaws in the decision making process and what to do about them. Learn more at AllElseEqualPodcast.com.All Else Equal: Making Better Decisions Podcast is a production of Stanford Graduate School of Business and is produced by University FM.

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Avg 29 min
English

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#106
Wednesday · 28 min
Rerun: Ep71 “The Working From Home Revolution” with Nick Bloom
All Else Equal is taking a short break over the summer and will be revisiting some of our favorite conversations from last season. The show will be back with new episodes soon. When the pandemic hit in 2020, working from home skyrocketed. Six years later, many companies have returned to in-person work, but hybrid models are still the dominant structure. So with WFH here to stay in some form, what’s the proper balance? And what are we at risk of losing in the long term with less in-office interac
#105
August 13 · 33 min
Rerun: Ep73 “The Dangers of Group Think on Decision Making” with Adi Sunderam
All Else Equal is taking a short break over the summer and will be revisiting some of our favorite conversations from last season. The show will be back with new episodes soon. Whether it be in politics, public health, or corporate finance, why are people more likely to interpret facts or data in a way that fits their preconceived notions about the world as opposed to searching for the fundamental truth? A new paper from the Harvard Business School called, Sharing Models to Interpret Data (b
#104
July 29 · 24 min
Rerun: Ep69 “The Science Behind Why We Don’t Just Say What We Mean” with Psychologist Steven Pinker - Part 2
All Else Equal is taking a short break over the summer and will be revisiting some of our favorite conversations from last season. The show will be back with new episodes soon. In the final part of this two-part interview, Steven Pinker, an experimental psychologist and Harvard professor, again joins hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen to discuss his new book When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday
#103
July 15 · 23 min
Rerun: Ep69 “The Science Behind Why We Don’t Just Say What We Mean” with Psychologist Steven Pinker - Part 1
All Else Equal is taking a short break over the summer and will be revisiting some of our favorite conversations from last season. The show will be back with new episodes soon. Everyday, we participate in seemingly arbitrary but essential choices for society to function. We all agree on what side of the road to drive on, to use paper currency, or to speak the same language. These kinds of choices make up a group’s common knowledge – things that are made blatantly and publicly known. But what a
#102
July 1 · 34 min
Rerun: Ep68 “Is It Better to Overestimate or Underestimate Your Enemies?” with H.R. McMaster
All Else Equal is taking a short break over the summer and will be revisiting some of our favorite conversations from last season. The show will be back with new episodes soon. Historically, the U.S. has had a habit of overestimating the capabilities of its enemies. Why? Is this an intentional security strategy? Or does the U.S. need to change the way it gathers enemy intelligence? Former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster gives hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Bin
June 18 · 35 min
Ep78 “What’s Wrong With Taxing Billionaires More?” with Joshua Rauh
A proposed constitutional amendment on the ballots in California this November will impose a one-time 5% wealth tax on billionaires. Proponents of the amendment say it will bring upwards of $100 billion to California’s revenue, but how did they get to that number and what other side effects of this wealth tax could be looming in the wings? Will this tax actually raise more revenue? Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen sit down with Stanford finance professor Joshu
#100
June 3 · 32 min
Rerun: Ep65 "Will Future AI Systems Operate Like The Human Brain? It’s Complicated” with Jeff Hawkins
This episode originally aired previously and is being re-shared due to its continued relevance. Enjoy this conversation with Jeff Hawkins on intelligence, neuroscience, and the future of AI. With growing concerns over whether or not AI will take away jobs and eventually become superior to human intelligence, maybe it’s time to take a closer look at the human brain and discover how AI will always have its limitations. Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen sit down
#99
May 13 · 29 min
Ep77 The Academic Journal System is Broken, Here’s How to Fix It
How should academic discourse take place? Is it time to update the antiquated journal system? In the season finale, hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen tackle the problems present in the current system for disseminating academic research, including how digital distribution has eliminated effective curation while peer review remains slow, incentive-misaligned, and dominated by anonymous referees seeking to impress editors. Together, they explain the inner-worki
#98
April 29 · 29 min
Rerun: Ep46 "May Contain Lies" with Alex Edmans
This week, we’re revisiting our ever-timely and fascinating conversation around misinformation with London Business School professor Alex Edmans. All Else Equal will be back with a new episode in two weeks. What is the real problem with misinformation? Are our biases so ingrained in us that we are unable to think critically about the world and the systems around us? What happens when large institutions attempt to push a heterodox narrative? Do we simply need more education to overcome misinfor
#97
April 15 · 33 min
Ep76 “How Should You Deal with Uncertainty in Today's World?” with Nick Bloom
What do measures of uncertainty tell us about the state of the economy and how should firms and households use those measurements to inform decision-making? Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen are joined by returning guest Nick Bloom, professor of economics at Stanford University, whose research on the causes and consequences of uncertainty helped build the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index. In the discussion, they cover the various ways to measure uncertainty inc
#96
April 2 · 26 min
Ep75 The Misleading Truth Behind IRR
Despite it being widely taught in business schools and practiced in the industry, you should think twice before using the internal rate of return as a criteria for making an investment decision. Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen are back to discuss why using the internal rate of return (IRR) as an investment decision rule is fundamentally flawed compared with the net present value (NPV). They outline IRR’s problems including multiple or nonexistent solutions, fa
#95
March 18 · 18 min
Ep74 Is The Financial Sector Good for Society?
What value does a financial sector add to society? How would society function without a financial sector? In this episode, hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen make the case that a competitive market financial sector is crucial to economic growth and the betterment of society. Jonathan and Jules contend with the critiques they hear most often when it comes to free markets, breaking down the core purpose of a financial sector and why its value is not easily obse
#94
March 4 · 33 min
Rerun: Ep29 “How Do You Become CEO?” with Dirk Jenter
All Else Equal is on Spring Break this week, so we’re revisiting one of our most popular episodes dealing with the question: How does one become a CEO? We’ll be back with new episodes in two weeks. A lot has been written and said about CEOs and their compensation, but who are they really and how did they get there? According to the data, what are the most likely paths to become one? In this episode, hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen are joined by Dirk Jenter,
#93
February 19 · 33 min
Ep73 “The Dangers of Group Think on Decision Making” with Adi Sunderam
Whether it be in politics, public health, or corporate finance, why are people more likely to interpret facts or data in a way that fits their preconceived notions about the world as opposed to searching for the fundamental truth? A new paper from the Harvard Business School called, Sharing Models to Interpret Data (by Joshua Schwartzstein and Adi Sunderam) studies the propensity for people to adopt interpretations to data based on their community’s beliefs, and why this can lead to less accu
#92
February 4 · 31 min
Ep72 Alternatives vs. Mutual Funds: Where Should You Put Your Money
In the rapid-moving world of delegated money management, it is important to recognize the differences in how mutual funds and alternative assets operate. When it comes to alternatives, how do these funds wind up with strong incentive contracts for the money managers as opposed to flat fee contracts more commonly seen in mutual funds? Why do managers of alternatives cap their fund sizes when it could potentially lead to lower fees? On this episode, hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and J
#91
January 22 · 28 min
Ep71 “The Working From Home Revolution” with Nick Bloom
When the pandemic hit in 2020, working from home skyrocketed. Six years later, many companies have returned to in-person work, but hybrid models are still the dominant structure. So with WFH here to stay in some form, what’s the proper balance? And what are we at risk of losing in the long term with less in-office interaction? Nick Bloom is an economics professor at Stanford University and one of the first researchers to take a serious look at the work from home phenomenon. He joins hosts and f
#90
January 7 · 23 min
Ep70 "The Science Behind Why We Don’t Just Say What We Mean" with Psychologist Steven Pinker - Part 2
In the final part of this two-part interview, Steven Pinker, an experimental psychologist and Harvard professor, again joins hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen to discuss his new book When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life. In this episode, Jonathan and Jules break down more revelatory examples from Steven’s book that demonstrate how common knowledge is a first order explanatory variable for
#89
Dec 10, 2025 · 23 min
Ep69 "The Science Behind Why We Don’t Just Say What We Mean" with Psychologist Steven Pinker - Part 1
Everyday, we participate in seemingly arbitrary but essential choices for society to function. We all agree on what side of the road to drive on, to use paper currency, or to speak the same language. These kinds of choices make up a group’s common knowledge – things that are made blatantly and publicly known. But what about the things that are known, but unspoken? What is the purpose of innuendos, euphemisms, and veiling the true meaning of our words in society? Steven Pinker, an experimental p
#88
Nov 26, 2025 · 35 min
Rerun: Ep63 “What Explains the Growth of Private Equity? A Different Perspective” with Ludovic Phalippou
This holiday week, All Else Equal is looking back at its episode on the growth of private equity with Ludovic Phalippou. Private markets have taken off in the last couple decades, with more investors opting to invest in private equity and debt instead of public markets. But what caused that shift? And are the private markets really a better bet right now, or is there more to the story? Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen sit down with private markets expert L
#87
Nov 12, 2025 · 33 min
Ep68 “Is It Better to Overestimate or Underestimate Your Enemies?” with H.R. McMaster
Historically, the U.S. has had a habit of overestimating the capabilities of its enemies. Why? Is this an intentional security strategy? Or does the U.S. need to change the way it gathers enemy intelligence? Former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster gives hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen a crash course on military intelligence and national security advising. The conversation covers why the overestimation of enemies happens, including historical example

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