SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Businesses flourish in the right climate, President Obama told entrepreneurs this week during his visit to Cuba.

Giving Day returns to the University of Maryland on Thursday, March 3, giving all members of the Robert H. Smith School of Business community the opportunity to boost their contributions through several hourly contests held across campus. From noon until 2 p.m., the Smith faculty and staff’s donations will be eligible for an extra $3,000 prize to be awarded to the Smith School - if they can donate the most money of any on-campus unit within that timeframe.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — “America is witnessing a political supernova — voter flirtation with Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders — because both political parties have failed ordinary folks,” says economist Peter Morici at the University of Maryland’s Robert H.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- ChemChina’s $43 billion bid to take over Swiss seed and pesticide maker Syngenta and similar deals "should be rejected" until “China genuinely opens itself to foreign investment,” says economist Peter Morici at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

By DARYL JAMES Time had run out in 1980. An earth capable of sustaining only a limited number of hungry consumers had been pushed too far, and “The Population Bomb” described by conservation biologist Paul Ehrlich would soon explode.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — The Federal Reserve's decision to  raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 “has the potential to push up the cost of mortgages, slow jobs creation and curb stock prices,” says pr

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — The price of crude oil dipped below $40 for the first time since 2009 this week — a sign of the relentless pressure on oil companies caused by high global output.

As travelers gear up for holiday travel, they Southwest now stands alone as the only U.S. airline to let passenger check a bag or two for free. And baggage fees account for 2.4 percent of all airline revenue, up from .55 percent before 2008, when many airlines started charging for even one checked bag.

Supply chain experts at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business have spurred the implementation of a new system that will accelerate trade and save U.S. businesses money and time. Soon, the current paper-based system required by the U.S. government to import or export cargo will give way to the new “single window,” electronic data collection process, dubbed the International Trade Data System. It becomes mandatory in February 2016.

A dispute among U.S. and Gulf carriers over international routes might come down to differences in accounting practices, an Emirates Airlines official said Oct. 14, 2015, during a Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) forum in College Park, Md. Under an arrangement known as “open skies,” airlines of many nations may freely compete on international routes, so long as they don't receive government subsidies.