All Posts – Vanderbilt Business Review

Mar

02

2025

Using Vanderbilt’s Student Health Insurance Plan to Unpack the Business of Health Insurance

All Posts, Analysis, Industriesbusiness, ciampa, finance

peterspiro via iStockPhoto Introduction Vanderbilt University requires its students to maintain health insurance coverage throughout their education. Students can enroll in Vanderbilt’s Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) if they do not have personal health insurance or if they prefer the SHIP to their current insurance. The healthcare industry is notoriously complicated, containing a web of insurers, providers, hospital networks, drug manufacturers, and pharmacies to administer all aspects of patient care. Using Vanderbilt’s SHIP as an example, this article will guide students through the structure of health insurance and the entities influencing it. Fees and Benefits To maintain health insurance,…

Mar

02

2025

By Madison Keezer

Return to Office: How it’s Reshaping Work, Wallets, and the Economy

All Posts, Analysisbusiness, economy, jobs, keezer

ferrantraite via iStockPhoto During the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the workforce became accustomed to working from home. Gone were the days of standstill traffic during rush hour commute. Sweatpants during Zoom calls were here to stay. However, recent trends have indicated that the switch to working from home wasn’t the permanent cultural shift some believed it to be. Most recently, JPMorgan issued a return-to-office mandate for all 317,000 employees, generating backlash from employees. The deadline for Amazon employees to return to their desks hit on January 2, after CEO Andy Jassy announced the mandate in September 2024. It’s not just…

Mar

01

2025

By Sabrina Liang and Yiling Dai

Price of Authenticity: Problems Faced by Meet Noodles

All Posts, Featuresdai, food, interview, liang, nashville

Photo taken by Sabrina Liang As international students from China, we frequently get questions about Chinese culture. One of the most common questions is “Are Chinese restaurants here authentic?” The answer is usually a big shake of the head. American-style Chinese food is (I hate to admit but) great as an independent cuisine. If you are looking for authentic Chinese food, especially from the mid-South, inland region of China, there’s a restaurant called Meet Noodles (面对面) near campus that you should check out. There’s also more to it than its food - in November, after a deep conversation with one…

Feb

24

2025

By Owen Liu

Instant Noodles: A Simple Meal, and An Interesting Economic Indicator

All Posts, Opinioneconomy, liu, living

Image generated in Midjourney AI When you think about instant noodles, does that image of a steaming bowl of thin, wavy noodles lifted by a pair of wooden chopsticks or a fork convert into changes in the economy? Beyond their role as a quick meal, these unassuming packets of noodles can serve as an economic indicator, offering a snapshot of broader economic trends. What does a budget-friendly meal reveal about global economies? This article delves into the economics of instant noodles, exploring industry trends, consumption patterns, and what their rising demand signals about financial stability. Instant Noodles as an Economic…

Feb

17

2025

By Brenna Tucker

The Most Popular Careers for Vanderbilt Graduates and Why

All Posts, Analysis, Industriesbusiness, consulting, jobs, tucker, vanderbilt

Rudzhan Nagiev via iStockPhoto Many colleges have a pre-professional track they are known for that students often consider when applying. At a school like Vanderbilt, students are obviously driven, motivated, and intelligent people, but what is it exactly that these students are driven towards? What careers are Vandy grads drawn to and which industries are looking for them? As someone who wanted to keep as many options as possible open after college, this wasn't a huge factor in my personal decision process. However, after arriving on campus and listening to the various internships, future plans, and job prospects students were…

Feb

16

2025

By Ellie King

Blackstar and The Benefits of Vanderbilt Student-Run Businesses

All Posts, Featuresbusiness, entrepreneurship, jobs, king, vanderbilt

anyaberkut via iStockPhoto Students' ability to get hands-on experience in a business can be extremely helpful in developing real-world skills. Through student-run businesses, students take the initiative to get experiences which can help them grow and develop in numerous ways. By running a business, students get exposure to challenges they may face in future work situations, they may use the experience to test out their career interests, and finally these experiences can be used to differentiate students from other future job applicants by showing genuine initiative and entrepreneurialism. Rather than just learning in a classroom, students are gaining invaluable career…

Feb

05

2025

By Aaron Cooper

AI and the Future of Finance

All Posts, Analysis, Finance and Business Insightai, cooper, finance, technology

icoElNino via iStockPhoto In a world where technological innovation continues to reshape industries, the finance sector stands at the brink of transformation thanks to artificial intelligence. For decades, finance revolved around suits, spreadsheets, and hours spent poring over numbers; however, the game has changed. AI has entered the chat, introducing machine learning algorithms capable of making better-informed decisions faster and more efficiently than their human counterparts. Moreover, from portfolio management to research and automation, AI is revolutionizing the tools and techniques financial professionals rely on, enhancing their ability to manage complexity, mitigate risk, and create value. AI has already proven…

Feb

02

2025

By Anna Song

The Rise of the Coffee Futures Price: What Happened?

All Posts, Analysis, Industriescoffee, economy, finance, global, song

Photo taken by Anna Song In the past month, the coffee C Price has experienced a dramatic increase from over $2/lb to over $3/lb. The current C price of over $3/lb has reached a historical high over the past 13 years. What is the C Price and what happened with this dramatic increase? The C Price and Its History Coffee is a global commodity and is the most traded good in the world. Brazil has been one of the largest producing countries of coffee and Vietnam’s exports have also been rising since the late 20th century. Some other main producing…

Feb

02

2025

By Ryan Oh

Vanderbilt’s Rising Endowment: What it Means for the Institution

All Posts, Featurescollege, finance, oh, students, vanderbilt

SeanPavonePhoto via iStockPhoto What is an Endowment? A college endowment is a collection of assets that can be used to support the institution’s research, faculty salaries, financial aid, operations, and long-term goals. Endowments usually take the form of an investment fund managed by several investment analysts. The bulk of the funds are built through donations from alumni, philanthropists, and other supporters. Typically, only a small portion of the endowment, typically 4-5%, is spent each year to support institutional goals with the rest reinvested to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of the endowment fund. A key sign that an institution…