Optional Practical Training

This US survey examines: Optional practical training (OPT) is the route by which international students typically secure initial temporary employment in the US economy. The Department of Homeland Security has proposed that a university must pay $70,000 per student before it can recommend students for OPT for the first time, and $30,000 for each later recommendation, including the STEM extension: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/08/2026-20660/optional-practical-training-fees; (a) The proposed payment requirement for optional practical training would substantially reduce the number of international graduates working in the US (b) The proposed payment requirement for optional practical training would substantially weaken the ability of US universities to attract and retain top foreign students relative to other advanced economies; (c) The proposed payment requirement for optional practical training would reduce OPT hiring by small firms and start-ups substantially more than OPT hiring by large firms

This Finance survey examines: Cboe is launching KPI binary options, which are exchange-listed, cash-settled option contracts whose payout is based on a specific company key performance indicator (KPI): https://www.cboe.com/kpi-binary-options-pipeline-hub/ (a)The availability of exchange-traded derivatives on corporate accounting or operating performance metrics will measurably improve capital market efficiency by allowing investors to directly express views about individual components of business performance; (b) Binary options tied to individual companies' reported performance metrics will substantially increase incentives to manipulate reported results or influence the measurement of those metrics

This US survey examines: Building macroeconomic models on the forward-looking decisions of individual households and firms, rather than on estimated relationships among aggregates alone, has substantially improved the ability of policymakers to stabilize the economy.

This European survey examines: Building macroeconomic models on the forward-looking decisions of individual households and firms, rather than on estimated relationships among aggregates alone, has substantially improved the ability of policymakers to stabilize the economy

This Finance survey examines (a) Deteriorating fiscal outlooks have contributed substantially to the recent rise in long-term government bond yields across advanced economies; (b) A substantial portion of the increase in yields is caused by the increased supply of government bonds, even after controlling for inflation and sovereign default risk

This European survey examines (a) Economic insecurity is a more important driver of the recent rise of populist movements than voters’ concerns about national culture and identity; (b) Populist movements that achieve electoral success lead to a substantial slowdown in economic growth; (c) Some degree of potentially growth-constraining policies on trade, investment and/or migration is necessary to limit the further rise of populist movements in Europe