Immigration raids can affect far more than the people directly targeted. They can reshape how entire communities work, shop, and spend.

Exequiel (Zeke) Hernandez, Max and Bernice Garchik Family Presidential Professor at The Wharton School, discusses his research into the economic effects of ICE activity on local communities. He explains why targeted areas saw declines in foot traffic and consumer spending, why local independent businesses were hit harder than national chains, and why the damage can persist long after a raid.

Hernandez also explores how fear spreads beyond immigrant communities, why reduced in-person activity does not fully shift to online spending, and what the findings could mean for local employment, investment, and entrepreneurship.

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AI is already detecting fraud, assessing credit, and informing investment decisions. As increasingly autonomous tools enter financial markets, the central question is not only what they can do, but who is accountable for the results.

Winston Dou, Faculty Director of the Wharton AI in Finance Lab, examines how AI is reshaping financial decision-making. He discusses the potential for AI to improve information processing and investment research, why interacting AI agents could affect competition and market stability, and the human oversight needed to make the technology more reliable and accountable.

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AI companies are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure. But can that investment deliver the productivity growth needed to pay off?

Jessica Wachter, Dr. Bruce I. Jacobs Professor in Quantitative Finance at The Wharton School, explains research estimating the scale of the productivity gains implied by today's AI investment. She discusses why the industry may need a rare productivity boom by 2028, why AI capital spending could approach $1 trillion, and how companies are racing to build data centers and computing capacity.

Wachter also examines what happens if the expected gains do not materialize, including pressure on stock prices and a higher risk of bankruptcy. She considers how AI-driven productivity could affect workers, wages, and the broader economy.

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