University of Chicago Booth School of Business Podcast Series The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

There's nothing like a little competition to suddenly boost productivity. Competition forced miners to double the amount of iron ore they dug per hour, as told in one case study. In another, competition forced concrete companies to become more efficient or go under, said Chad Syverson, associate professor of economics at the University of Chicago and a productivity specialist. Syverson spoke to students and faculty at a Brown Bag lunch lecture hosted by The Becker Center of Chicago Price Theory and sponsored by Vishal Verma, '07 (XP-76), May 10 at the Charles M. Harper Center.

Despite fierce economic competition provided by such emerging countries as Pakistan and China, the developed world must resist the temptation to legislate economic security, according to Baroness Valerie Amos, leader of the House of Lords and lord president of the council of the United Kingdom.

Former President of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon, took a historical look at the risks threatening globalization's resilience. Currently the director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, Zedillo reminded attendees at the Myron Scholes Global Markets Forum Series of the "destructive power of government."

Mark Leavitt,’83, CIO, Union Square Hospitality and Danny Meyer, CEO, Union Square Hospitality Group and Founder of Shake Shack, share their experiences as part of the Fireside chat series hosted by Alumni relations office. The chat is moderated by Dean Stacey Kole.

CFO of Coolplanet and former EVP and CFO of Vonage and Nextel, Barry Rowan discusses his experiences as part of Navigating the grey speaker series. He is joined by Linda Rowan, his wife, who is a CPA with experience in public and industry accounting and has served on numerous non-profit boards and committees. The session is chaired by Dean Stacey Kole.

Entrepreneur, investor and adventurer, Bryan Johnson, MBA '07 discusses his experience as the founder of OS Fund and Braintree, an online and mobile payments provider.