SMITH BRAIN TRUST – It seems like everyone is sounding the alarm lately about bitcoin and the ever-expanding world of cryptocurrencies. It's a fraud, says Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase. It's a bubble, says Ray Dalio, founder of the world's biggest hedge fund. And Chinese authorities have banned some cryptocurrency activity in that country.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – How should the National Football League respond to a pro-Trump political action committee's "Turn Off the NFL" boycott? "The league needs to grab this ball and run it up the field," says Henry C. Boyd III, marketing professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – "It was predictable," Brent Goldfarb, associate professor of management and entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, says of London's decision not to renew Uber's license to operate there. "What is notable," he adds, "is that this probably would not have happened had Uber not had the troubles it had."

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – It's not "game over" for Toys 'R' Us. Its filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week is more of a "timeout." And Jie Zhang, professor of marketing at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, says that if the iconic toy retailer plays its cards right, it could end up a winner. Of course, none of that will be easy, says Zhang, the Harvey Sanders Fellow of Retail Management.

Russell Wermers, professor of finance and director of the 

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – It may be reassuring to think that China, with sheer economic might, could turn some screws on North Korea, bring that country to heel and protect the world from potential aggression. Reassuring, yes, but it's also unrealistic, says Gary Cohen, clinical professor of logis

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – The massive Equifax data breach has pulled the lid off the credit repository industry and now is drawing fresh scrutiny on the scarcely regulated firms that hold sway over the financial lives of millions of people. "It has opened up a Pandora's Box, for sure," says Clifford Rossi, professor of the practice in the finance department at the University of Maryland's Robert H.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Markets will respond when President Trump nominates a new Federal Reserve chairperson in January 2018. But Wall Street legend and financial historian Henry Kaufman said the reason the decision matters so much has more to do with the Fed’s recent failures than its successes. “The Federal Reserve has vaulted itself into a position of high prominence not because of its achievements, but because of its shortcomings,” Kaufman writes in his latest book, which he discussed on Sept.

Martin Dresner, professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, delivered the keynote speech at the Conference on Air Transport, Regional Development and Policy. The conference took place in February 2017 at the University of Bergamo in Italy. Dresner presented “Gains (And Losses) Through Connectivity,” which explored how market entry is affecting the U.S. airline industry.

Professor Evan Starr at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business was awarded the 2017 Research Communicator Impact Award from the University of Maryland. The award recognizes faculty members who take a proactive approach to sharing their research with the public.