Season 2 Episode 15

Global Interconnectedness Through Business

• Host
  • Dr. Kasie Whitener, Clinical Assistant Professor, Management
• Guest
  • Dr. Jason DeBacker, Associate Professor of Economics, Darla Moore School of Business

It’s like the tax Super Bowl in April 2025 as income tax is waffling between expirations and renewals, South Carolina is looking at moving toward a flat tax, and the President is hiking tariffs across a spectrum of international markets. Moore School economist Jason DeBacker came back into the studio to talk about why it’s a great time to be a tax researcher.

Jason M. DeBacker is an associate professor in the Department of Economics at the Darla Moore School of Business. His research interests lie in the areas of public finance and macroeconomics. He has published papers on these topics in the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Law and Economics, the Journal of Public Economics, the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity and other outlets. From 2009 to 2012, he worked as a financial economist in the Office of Tax Analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Topics in this discussion include:

• Why it’s a great time to be a tax researcher
• The complexity of the US tax code
• The real burden of tax season in the United States
• What the tax code is really for: raising revenue, spending, incentivizing
• How the tax code directs behavior through incentives
• Business tax rates as a competitive advantage for SC
• Tariffs as taxes on foreign imports.

To learn more about Jason DeBacker click here

Learn more about the Darla Moore School here

Moore Impact is a product of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. For episodes, notes, and links visit sc.edu/moore

Season 2 Episode 14

Global Interconnectedness Through Business

• Host
  • Dr. Kasie Whitener, Clinical Assistant Professor, Management
• Guest
  • Dr. Christina Ahmadjian, Visiting Scholar at the Folks Center

Americans are invested overseas, many times through their own 401k or pension fund. That investment creates an interdependence, a reliance on international businesses for one’s own investment security and growth. Those businesses are governed by Boards of Directors, boards that include scholars like Christina Ahmadjian. 

Christina Ahmadjian is Professor Emeritus at Hitotsubashi University and former Dean of the Hitotsubashi Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy. She is a visiting scholar with the Folks Center for International Business at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business. 

Dr. Ahmadjian visited Moore Impact to discuss her experience living and working in Japan, where her scholarship has led her, and the engagement with corporate boards that brought her to Columbia. 

Some topics include:

• Christina’s journey through undergraduate and desiring an international career
• Working in Japan as a young woman
• Pursuing a graduate degree at Stanford and UC Berkeley
• Corporate governance as an area of academic study
• The changing landscape of international business
• Interdependence among international business

To learn more about Christina Ahmadjian click here

To learn more about the Folks Center for International Business click here

Learn more about the Darla Moore School here

Moore Impact is a product of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. For episodes, notes, and links visit sc.edu/moore

Season 2 Episode 13

Slow Scholarship but Super Fast Start-Ups

• Host
  • Dr. Kasie Whitener, Clinical Assistant Professor, Management
• Guest
  • Brandon Mendez, Clinical Assistant Professor, Finance

Brandon Mendez is a clinical assistant professor of finance at the Darla Moore School of Business. He teaches courses in corporate finance and investments. His professional experience includes time in financial services, internal auditing, controllership, and management consulting. He has previously served in the U.S. Navy as a naval flight officer (P3s see picture).

Brandon earned his Ph.D in finance from Florida State University. His research interests are in corporate and labor finance. He has a particular interest in the art market and its function. Brandon teaches courses in corporate finance and investments.

Some topics include:

• Brandon’s journey through his PhD study, completion, and placement at USC
• Art valuation as one of Brandon’s papers
• Kansas City, the NFL, and favorable calls as one of Brandon’s papers
• SC Quantum and what is quantum computing
• Proving Ground winner Qatalyst Health and how they’re progressing

To learn more about Qatalyst Health click here

To learn more about SC Quantum click here

To learn more about the Faber Center for Entrepreneurship click here.

Learn more about the Darla Moore School here

Moore Impact is a product of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. For episodes, notes, and links visit sc.edu/moore

Moore Impact Season 2 Episode 12

Changing the World Through Business

• Host
  • Dr. Kasie Whitener, Clinical Assistant Professor, Management
• Guest
  • Dean Kress, Director of the Faber Entrepreneurship Center, retired

Dean Kress brought his entrepreneurial journey through fast food restaurant chains, graduate school, and the Small Business Development Center to the Moore School in and only recently retired. In this episode, he takes us through the history of entrepreneurship education at USC and how start-ups like the Faber Center and Proving Ground got their foundations and grew into their current status. 

Topics include:

• Dean’s journey
• How we teach business vs. how business really is
• Current classroom experiences in entrepreneurship
• Competitions and taking risks
• Can you teach entrepreneurship?
• Critical skills for entrepreneurs
• How the Moore School is making entrepreneurship accessible to everyone

To learn more about the Faber Center for Entrepreneurship click here.

Learn more about the Darla Moore School here

Photo Credit: Mountain Top Web Design

Moore Impact is a product of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. For episodes, notes, and links visit sc.edu/moore

Season 2 Episode 11

Emergency Center Wait Times and Other BIG Healthcare Economy Questions

• Host
  • Dr. Kasie Whitener, Clinical Assistant Professor, Management
• Guest
  • Dr. Orgul Ozturk, James A. Morris Professor of Economics, Executive Director, Economic Policy Center (EPiC)

Dr. Orgul Demet Ozturk is the department chair and professor of economics in the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. Her academic research interests are in applied microeconomics fields, specifically labor economics and health economics. Dr. Ozturk was honored recently with the Endowed Chair James A. Morris Professor of Economics and her investiture was attended by over thirty colleagues glad to celebrate her accomplishments and share her celebration.

In this episode, Dr. Ozturk speaks a little about the investiture but mostly shares the EPiC monthly newsletter and in it, Dr. Lindsay Woodworth’s research on hospital emergency room overcrowding.

Topics include:

• What is investiture and how academia recognizes professional achievement
• The EPiC newsletter and its purpose
• Lindsay’s research on Emergency rooms
• The bigger questions around access to healthcare in the United States and South Carolina

Learn more about Dr. Ozturk here

Learn more about Dr. Woodworth here

Learn more about EPiC here

Learn more about the Darla Moore School here

Moore Impact is a product of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. For episodes, notes, and links visit sc.edu/moore

S2 E10 Amy Thomson and the Folks Center for International Business

• Host
  • Dr. Kasie Whitener, Clinical Assistant Professor, Management
• Guest
  • Amy Thomson, Executive Director, Folks Center 

Amy Thomson’s career spans the South Carolina Department of Commerce, the US Department of Commerce, and offices in China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Germany, and Japan. She is the Executive Director of the Darla Moore School’s Folks Center for International Business and she came on Moore Impact to preview the American Power and Global Disruption event happening on March 26, 2025.

Topics include:

• Amy’s career in international commerce
• Examples of South Carolina companies that are international
• The impact of policy and tariffs on South Carolina businesses
• Opportunities to engage with the Folks Center for business owners
• Student experiences with the Folks Center
• Upcoming event on American Power and Global Disruption
• Incoming fellow and future guest Christina Ahmadjian

Learn more about Amy Thomson here.

Learn more about the Folks Center here.

Learn more about the Moore School here.

Moore Impact is a product of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. For episodes, notes, and links visit sc.edu/moore

S2E9  Gearing up for Give 4 Garnet

• Host: Dr. Kasie Whitener, Clinical Assistant Professor, Management Department, Moore School of Business
• Guest: Mark Richter, Senior Director of Development, Moore School of Business
• Guest: Baylee Shipes, Director of Annual Giving, Moore School of Business 

On Wednesday, March 26, 2025 and Thursday, March 27th, the University of South Carolina will host its annual Give4Garnet event, a 1 day, 8 hours, and 1 minute (1801) event to demonstrate the power of engagement with USC. Leading the effort at the Darla Moore School are Baylee Shipes, Director of Annual Giving, and March Richter, Senior Director of Development. In this episode of Moore Impact, the two visited the studio for a live radio session discussing the event and the value and impact of philanthropic support to the Moore School and to USC as a whole.

Topics for discussion include:

• Baylee’s journey to her 13-year career in development at USC
• Mark’s path from Yale to USC
• The role of philanthropy in the financial life of the university
• Types of giving
• The impact of giving: scholarships, programs, speakers, events, and more
• Darla Moore’s transformational gift and the mandate she delivered to USC
• Give4Garnet events and ways to be involved.

To learn more about Give4Garnet click here.

To learn more about investing in the Moore School click here.

To learn more about the Moore School of Business click here.

Moore Impact is a product of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. For episodes, notes, and links visit sc.edu/moore

S2E8  SC following the path of an Emerging Market

• Host: Dr. Kasie Whitener, Clinical Assistant Professor, Management Department, Moore School of Business
• Guest: Dr. Gerald McDermott, Department Chair and Professor of International Business at the Darla Moore School of Business

Dr. Gerald A. McDermott, “Gerry,” is the department chair and a professor of international business at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. Prior to joining the Moore School, he was an assistant professor of multinational management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania for seven years and held a secondary appointment in the Department of Political Science. He specializes in international business and political economy. 

Topics for discussion include:

• Gerry’s experience in post-Soviet Eastern Europe
• Globalization promises and delivery
• How to build prosperity in an emerging market
• What South Carolina has that makes it a great bet
• Who our real competitors are and how we can learn from them
• What federal policies are doing to hurt or help our investments
• Whether BMW is a model to follow for the Scout Motors investment
• What SC will have to do to support Scout Motors

To learn more about Dr. McDermott here.

To learn more about investing in the Moore School click here.

To learn more about the Moore School of Business click here.

Moore Impact is a product of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. For episodes, notes, and links visit sc.edu/moore

Name, Image, Likeness Entrepreneurship and Learning Best Practices through Professional Organizations (USASBE makes its radio debut)

Host: 

• Dr. Kasie Whitener, Clinical Assistant Professor, Management

Guest:

• Dr. Geoffrey Graybeal, Clinical Associate Professor, Management

Dr. Geoffrey Graybeal teaches entrepreneurship in the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina and is generally interested in all things entrepreneurial. His areas of study include online and mobile media strategy, youth audiences, new business models, micropayments, marketing, and entrepreneurship on the Social Web. Dr. Graybeal is the 2024-25 Programs Director for the Faber Entrepreneurship Center. Dr. Graybeal has prior experience as a journalist, reporter, editor and entrepreneur. He has designed research and recommended strategy for multinational firms, single media outlets and small start-up companies.

Topics include:

• Dr. Graybeal’s journey from one Carolina to another
• USASBE and the work of conferences and professional associations
• Name, Image, and Likeness Entrepreneurship
• Using AI in the classroom and the academic conversations around it
• Management 479 consulting class projects underway

To learn more about Dr. Graybeal click here.

To learn more about the Faber Entrepreneurship Center at USC click here.

To learn more about Proving Ground visit this site.

To learn more about the Darla Moore School of Business visit this site.

To be a guest or suggest a topic for our podcast, click here.

Episode photo courtesy SC.edu/athletics

This has been Moore Impact. When you learn more, you know more, and when you know more, you do more. Thanks for listening.

Moore Impact is a product of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. For episodes, notes, and links visit sc.edu/moore

Starting that “Our country might be corrupt” conversation

• Host
  • Dr. Kasie Whitener, Clinical Assistant Professor, Management Department
• Guest
  • Dr. Chris Yenkey, Associate Professor, International Business

Let’s talk about corruption. What are the symptoms of a corrupt government? Are we seeing them in our own U.S. government? Dr. Chris Yenkey shares his research on the topic.

Chris Yenkey is an associate professor in the Sonoco International Business Department at the Univ. of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business and a core faculty member of the Rule of Law Collaborative at the Univ. of South Carolina School of Law. Prior to joining the Moore School in 2016, Prof. Yenkey was an assistant professor of organizations and markets at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business from 2011-2016, where he was the John E. Jueck Faculty Fellow from 2015-2016 and held courtesy appointments in the departments of Sociology and African Studies.

While earning his Ph.D. in Economic Sociology at Cornell University, Prof. Yenkey was a visiting scholar in 2008 at the Institute for Economic Affairs in Nairobi, Kenya, and served as associate director of the Center for the Study of Economy and Society at Cornell University from 2010-2011. Prior to his graduate studies, Yenkey received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Texas, Austin, in 2001 and served as a research associate in the Department of Economic Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City from 2001 to 2003.

Topics in this episode include:

• Studying fraud, misconduct, and corruption in international markets
• What is the academic definition of and the indicators of corruption
• Principal/Agent conflicts in government agencies
• Injunctive norms and descriptive norms
• Petty corruption versus grand corruption
• Campaign finance laws and access corruption
• What voters need to do to rescue our country from corruption.

To learn more about the Moore School, click here.

This has been Moore Impact. When you learn more, you know more, and when you know more, you do more. Thanks for listening.

Episode art from istock via undp.org

Moore Impact is a product of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. For episodes, notes, and links visit sc.edu/moore