
31 episodes

The Pie Becker Friedman Institute at UChicago
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- Business
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4.0 • 154 Ratings
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Economists are always talking about The Pie – how it grows and shrinks, how it’s sliced, and who gets the biggest shares. Join host Tess Vigeland as she talks with leading economists from the University of Chicago about their cutting-edge research and key events of the day. Hear how the economic pie is at the heart of issues like the aftermath of a global pandemic, jobs, energy policy, and more.
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Economics of Discrimination: How to Measure Systemic Injustices
How can discrimination by race, gender, or other factors be measured – especially when its causes may be systemic in nature? Chicago Booth’s Alex Imas studies behavioral science and economics, and is conducting research that is expanding the scope and ambition of discrimination research. He joined The Pie to discuss the creative new ways economists are capturing discrimination.
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What Drives Racial Differences in Speeding Tickets and Fines?
New research finds minorities are 24-33% more likely to be stopped for speeding and will pay 23-34% more in fines, relative to a white driver traveling the exact same speed. UChicago economists John List and Justin Holz join The Pie to discuss how they designed research drawing on high-frequency Lyft data, and its broader implications for future research and policy.
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2023: An Economic Nudge for the New Year
Can ‘nudges’ improve your New Year’s resolutions? Today we’re looking back at one of our most popular episodes. Host Tess Vigeland sat down with Nobel laureate Richard Thaler in 2021 to discuss new material from his book, Nudge: The Final Edition – including home mortgages, retirement savings, credit card debt, climate change, organ donation, COVID-19, healthcare, and even “sludge.”
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China Faltering? Why the End of Zero Covid Won’t Fix Its Economic Problems
How will China’s economy respond after the lifting of ‘Zero Covid’ policy? UChicago economist Chang-Tai Hsieh joins The Pie to discuss the surprising party response to political protests, emerging dynamics affecting the Chinese economy today, and what the future may hold.
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Economic Warfare: Are Russian Sanctions Working?
Ten months into a devastating war, the Russian and Ukrainian economies are struggling yet resilient. Russian-born economist Konstantin Sonin joins The Pie to provide an update on the economic impacts of the ongoing conflict, including the massive long-term toll not yet captured in available data.
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Fighting Inflation: Is the Fed’s Work Just Beginning?
The Federal Reserve’s latest 75 basis point rate hike brought interest rates up again on everything from mortgages to car loans and credit cards. Will it be enough to halt inflation? How is the Fed thinking about the US economy, unemployment, and its global impact? University of Chicago economist Anil Kashyap joins to discuss the campaign to bring inflation down and mounting pressure on the central bank.
Customer Reviews
Review for this episode
4 stars for podcast overall so far just because this podcast was overall good and freakonomics gave it a good plug. Still wish there was slightly less of an interviewy commentary vibe and more of a learn economics vibe like with Freakonomics. I still like how it’s different though so I will happily keep listening and see where it goes from here 😊
But about the cost of a life episode: I’ve heard similar points of view to this episode, and am always left wondering... what is the total blow to the economy because of social distancing? If you added up the amount lost from GDP (from the start of social distancing to October 1) would that be a good estimate of the fallout? Or is there more loss than that? And does all that loss add up to less than $8 trillion, which is what this podcast estimates the cost of social distancing to be from start until October 1?
I’m done
I started listening from episode 1 to see the take on the Pandemic from this group. It had been ok, not great. This episode, about climate change and Indian development, had nothing to do with the pandemic. Besides, why did nuclear energy not even get mentioned. It seems like the only viable way through this and not a peep.
Filter
You have to learn to filter the bias. Sometimes they do better than others. Episode 20 was a love fest with former Obama economist. The first part was informational and interesting. Then the decline into tribalism at the end. I think working together we can solve problems. If we try only what is tribal truth, we will fail. There are multiple stakeholders and everyone should have a voice. Neither party had foolproof answers for everything, just like economics.