WashU Experts

Pharma giant Bayer has acquired St. Louis-based Monsanto. After months of negotiation, the German company went back to the bargaining table this week, and on Sept. 14 the seed firm’s board approved the $66 billion cash offer. Radhakrishnan Gopalan, associate professor of finance at Olin Business School, said Monsanto needed to accept the deal.

The U.S. Census Bureau has released its poverty numbers for 2015. The poverty rate fell to 13.5 percent from 14.8 percent the year before. The problem with these estimates is that they only provide a snapshot of who is poor in any single year, says an expert on poverty and inequality at Washington University in St. Louis.

Recent scandals involving high-priced generic drugs should prompt us to consider price controls for pharmaceutical companies, says an expert on the health care industry at the School of Law at Washington University.

As Democrats gather in Philadelphia, and Hillary Clinton accepts her party’s nomination for the presidency, it is worth pausing to consider the history of previous female presidential candidates. “Women have been running for president since before they had the right to vote,” said Andrea Friedman, professor of history and of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Washington University in St. Louis. “This has been a very long time coming.”

U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Speier introduced on July 14 a long-delayed federal bill that would outlaw nonconsensual pornography in the United States. While he supports the law, Neil Richards, privacy law expert at Washington University in St. Louis, think it’s important that the bill be drafted in such a way as to not be a tool for censorship that can threaten our commitment to free expression.

Male golfers, most of whom are on the PGA Tour, are dropping out of the Summer Olympics en masse. While they’re citing Zika concerns, Patrick Rishe, director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School, said there’s another factor at play.

The Supreme Court ruled June 27 to throw out a Texas law making access to abortion more difficult in the state. The move is an important win for women and their access to reproductive health care, said Susan Appleton, a noted expert on family law and reproductive rights.

By a 4-4 vote, a short-handed U.S. Supreme Court today let stand a lower court’s 2-1 decision to block President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration. The decision is “deeply regrettable,” said Stephen Legomsky, a noted expert on immigration law at Washington University in St. Louis.

With Rio’s Olympic Games rapidly approaching, today the International Association of Athletics Federations upheld its ban on Russia’s track teams. Sports business expert Patrick Rishe says the move illustrates the economic effect and lasting impact of cheating in sports of all kinds.

The city of Philadelphia on June 16 passed a 1.5 cent-per-ounce tax on soda and other sugary drinks, making it the first major city in the nation to impose such a tax. The move is poised to be a watershed event in public health policy, said a health economist at Washington University in St. Louis.