What do measures of uncertainty tell us about the state of the economy and how should firms and households use those measurements to inform decision-making? Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen are joined by returning guest Nick Bloom, professor of economics at Stanford University, whose research on the causes and consequences of uncertainty helped build the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index. In the discussion, they cover the various ways to measure uncertainty including the VIX and text-based methods, Bloom explains how the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index works, why discrepancies can sometimes exist between uncertainty measurements, and how these uncertainty indices can help inform better business decision-making.   Find All Else Equal on the web:  https://lauder.wharton.upenn.edu/allelse/ All Else Equal: Making Better Decisions Podcast is a production of the UPenn Wharton Lauder Institute through University FM. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.