The Historian’s Notebook: 50 Years of Business & Society is a blog series created in preparation for the 50th anniversary of Yale SOM in September 2026. The series is written by Yale SOM’s resident historian, Michelle Spinelli. Reach out if you have an idea for a blog post, memories or photos to share, or an inquiry about SOM history.

One Thursday in January 2014, Yale SOM students, faculty, and staff packed Zhang Auditorium in the newly opened Edward P. Evans Hall to listen to Robert Shiller, now the Sterling Professor Emeritus of Economics, reprise his 2013 Nobel Prize lecture, “Speculative Asset Prices.” Nicholas Barberis, the Stephen and Camille Schramm Professor of Finance at SOM, introduced Shiller as being responsible for “some of the most innovative work of any economist in his generation.”

Just a few weeks prior, Shiller had accepted the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences along with Eugene F. Fama and Lars Peter Hansen for research that showed that while the price of stocks and other assets cannot be predicted accurately in the very short term, more accurate predictions can be made over a period of years.

Shiller’s research, widely viewed as the starting point for modern behavioral finance, examined stock prices over the previous century and concluded that they were too volatile to be explained only by investors rationally forecasting future dividends. Instead, Shiller argued, irrational thinking, like bias and emotion, played a role. Shiller challenged the efficient market hypothesis, which holds that securities prices properly reflect all available information. The argument “got me in a lot of trouble,” Shiller later remarked, because many thought it oversimplified the place of dividends in the stock market.

Shiller’s work has helped to explain market volatility and the speculative bubbles that can be fueled by mass misinformation and herd instinct. He predicted the collapse of both the dot-com bubble and the U.S. subprime housing bubble. Shiller has also written syndicated articles and books for popular audiences, including Irrational Exuberance, an analysis and explication of speculative bubbles that focuses on real estate and the stock market, and Animal Spirits, an exploration of the government’s role in restoring confidence in the economy, which he co-authored with fellow Nobel laureate George Akerlof.

The audience at Zhang Auditorium was particularly eager to hear Shiller’s talk because of his central role in making Yale SOM a leader in behavioral finance research—the field he pioneered while at Yale. He was instrumental, for example, in facilitating a 2004 grant of $1.6 million from Yale College alum Andrew Redleaf and his company, Whitebox Advisors; the grant enabled the International Center for Finance to engage in more behavioral finance research initiatives, expand outreach, and establish the Yale Summer School in Behavioral Finance, now a widely known program.

Shiller has also attracted faculty with interest in behavioral finance to the school, including Kelly Shue, James Choi, and Barberis, who said he came to SOM in 2004 “to continue the tradition of the work that Shiller began.”

With Shiller’s support and encouragement, Barberis launched the Yale Summer School in Behavioral Finance in 2009. The one-week intensive course of study is offered every two years and educates PhD students from across the globe on path-breaking research. The summer school has now hosted close to 400 students, many of whom have become prominent behavioral finance researchers in their own right.

Shiller retired in 2022, but behavioral finance remains a core area of research and exploration at the school. “Inspired by Bob’s example, SOM faculty and graduate students have been producing remarkable behavioral finance research that has made Yale one of the leading centers, if not the leading center, for innovation in this field,” Barberis says.

• Dosed first patient in Phase 2/3 DRAGON II trial of Tinlarebant for the treatment of Stargardt disease (STGD1)

• Pivotal global Phase 3 PHOENIX trial of Tinlarebant in geographic atrophy (GA) subjects is ongoing with more than 280 subjects enrolled

• Appointed Hendrik P.N. Scholl, MD, MA, a globally recognized leader in the field of ophthalmology and the coordinating principal investigator of the largest natural history study of Stargardt disease, as Chief Medical Officer

• Interim analysis from the pivotal global Phase 3 DRAGON trial of Tinlarebant in adolescent STGD1 subjects anticipated by end of 2024 or early 2025

• Company to host webcast on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. EST

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Belite Bio, Inc (NASDAQ: BLTE) (“Belite” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical drug development company focused on advancing novel therapeutics targeting degenerative retinal diseases that have significant unmet medical needs, today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024, and provided a general business update.

“I am pleased with the continued progress we made across our clinical programs. The pace of enrollment for the PHOENIX trial remains strong, and in the quarter, we completed the Phase 1b DRAGON II trial of Tinlarebant in Stargardt disease in Japan and dosed the first patient in the Phase 2/3 portion of the trial. We are well-positioned to achieve critical milestones and look forward to providing an update on the interim analysis from our pivotal Phase 3 DRAGON trial toward the end of 2024 or early 2025,” said Dr. Tom Lin, Chairman and CEO of Belite. “In the quarter, we were also excited to welcome Dr. Scholl, a leading global expert in Stargardt disease and age-related macular degeneration, as our Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Scholl’s decision to join Belite following his experience as Chair of the Data and Safety Monitoring Board for both our Phase 2 and Phase 3 Stargardt disease trials further validates our belief in Tinlarebant’s immense potential.”

Third Quarter 2024 Business Highlights and Upcoming Milestones:

Clinical Highlights

Tinlarebant (LBS-008) is an oral, potent, once daily retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) antagonist that decreases RBP4 levels in the blood and reduces vitamin A (retinol) delivery to the eye without disrupting systemic retinol delivery to other tissues. Vitamin A is critical to normal vision but can accumulate as toxic byproducts in individuals affected with STGD1 and GA (the advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD) leading to retinal cell death and loss of vision.

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Motorists who bought a car on finance could share in billions of pounds in compensation following a landmark test case.

When Marcus Johnson, 34, from Cwmbran, Torfaen, bought his first car – a Suzuki Swift – in 2017, he was not informed the car dealership was being paid 25% commission, which was added on to what he had to pay back.

In a landmark case with two other claimants, the Court of Appeal ruled in October that the finance company should pay the hidden commission plus interest back to Mr Johnson, and he is now due to receive just over £3,200.

Trade Centre Wales and MotoNovo finance’s parent company FirstRand have not responded to requests for comment.

Mr Johnson said he was “furious” when he found out what had happened, adding: “I paid £1,650 for what I can only describe as showing me around the showroom for 10 minutes and then printing off a bit of paper.

“I signed a few documents and then drove away in the car.”

He said he had no option but to use finance when he bought the car, describing it as “heart-breaking” to find out so much extra money had been taken.

“Someone in my situation at that time, not being able to buy that kind of age car with cash, you would use finance,” he added.

“And for companies to be able to be allowed to charge these ridiculous amounts of commission without disclosing it, without me being made aware of it at all, myself and thousands of other people.”

Mr Johnson had bought the car from dealership Trade Centre Wales for £4,600, and the company arranged finance with Cardiff-based MotoNovo Finance.

He was not informed that the dealership was receiving commission of £1,650, which amounted to about 25% of the total he borrowed.

The car finance industry is setting aside huge amounts of money to settle similar possible claims in the future.

Mr Johnson sold the Suzuki Swift in 2020.

But after three years of regular payments, he still owed £3,500 which he assumed then was due to the interest on the loan for the car.

“With paying off the agreement for three years, I had only scratched the surface,” he said.

Dealerships were not acting outside of the rules and regulations of the industry by taking this sort of commission at that time, but they had a duty to inform their clients and inform them about the commission.

The court of appeal said “burying such a statement in the small print which the lender knows the borrower is highly unlikely to read will not suffice”.

There have been changes in the rules governing commission since 2021, when the Financial Conduct Authority banned discretionary commission arrangements.

Kevin Durkin, from HD Law, who represented Mr Johnson in the test case, said: “As a financial reward for them being chosen, FirstRand Bank paid Trade Centre Wales a commission which Marcus knew nothing about.

“There was only a vague reference to this arrangement in the paperwork which the court of appeal found was buried.

“As such it meant that Marcus paid more than he necessarily needed to.”

He added it is far from being an isolated case, with many car dealerships and finance companies having operated in this way.

“It’s completely widespread,” he added.

“Almost all cars that are purchased on finance through a dealer or credit broker are sold in this way.

“I’ve yet to see any terms and conditions in a case involving my clients where the terms and conditions reference is either absolute in terms of ‘we will receive a commission’ or alternatively is made prominent in the paperwork that is being signed.”

Mr Johnson said he will never use a finance agreement again, but was delighted when the Court of Appeal found in his favour.

“It was a big moment of relief and excitement and obviously happiness all at the same time – especially with how tough things are at the moment,” he said.

He hopes others will also get money back. adding: “I’m so happy that my case and the decision that was made could potentially help thousands of other families, to me that’s worth more than the money that I reclaimed in a way.”