Economics, Applied

Steve Davis speaks to Jens Ludwig about his deeply-researched new book on gun deaths in America. They discuss why America has so many gun deaths, how traditional narratives fail to explain most gun violence, and why past policies failed to reduce the deadly toll. Ludwig also advances a fuller explanation for gun violence, grounded in evidence and behavioral insights. Recorded on April 23, 2025. AB...

Steve queries Chad Bown and Doug Irwin about the rupture in U.S. trade policy under Trump 2.0, the economic consequences, and what it would take to restore confidence in the United States as a reliable trade partner. Recorded on April 16, 2025. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS Chad Bown is a Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, former Chief Economist for the U.S. State Department...

In the 1920s, the US government sharply restricted immigration inflows from countries in Eastern and Southern Europe. At the time, most immigrants from these countries had modest skills. Steve speaks to Stanford economist Ran Abramitzky about these immigration cutbacks, their effects on the earnings of US-born workers, and how the economy adapted. Recorded on April 2, 2025. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS: Ran...

Steve speaks to Feng Chi about her research on the commercial value of the Decennial Census of Population and Housing. Using a creative empirical approach, Feng offers evidence that fresher government statistics yield better business outcomes and more value for consumers. Steve and Feng also discuss how government statistics improve the value of statistics generated in the private sector.  Recorde...

In the 1930s, as part of the New Deal, the U.S. government hired unemployed writers to interview older Americans and record their life stories. Today’s guest examines those stories to investigate the sources of meaning, happiness, and hardship in the lives of everyday Americans. One theme to emerge is the central role of work as a source of meaning for many people. Another key theme is that men an...

Steve speaks to Harvard professor David Deming about his recent research on the use of GenAI tools in the workplace and what it means for productivity. David’s evidence suggests that GenAI tools have already boosted U.S. labor productivity, with more gains to come. They also highlight the role of unfettered market-based experimentation in sorting out where GenAI tools work well, and where they don...

Many parents – indeed, many Americans – worry that immigrant children in the classroom could detract from the quality of schooling received by U.S.-born children. It’s a reasonable concern. Today’s episode considers new evidence on how more vs. less exposure to immigrant students affects the educational performance of U.S.-born children, drawing on rich data for students at public schools in Flori...

Many Chinese nationals migrated to the western United States after 1840 to work in mining, railway construction, manufacturing, and personal services. By 1880, they made up 18 percent of the workforce in the western United States. That led to strong social and political backlash among whites, rooted partly in concerns about jobs and wages. Congress responded with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882,...

Oleg Itskhoki and Elina Ribakova join host Steven Davis to discuss two big questions about economic statecraft: How have economic and financial sanctions on Russia affected its economy and its war-fighting capabilities? More broadly, when are sanctions likely to be effective, ineffective, or downright counterproductive? ABOUT THE SPEAKERS: Oleg Itskhoki is a professor of economics at Harvard, a re...

Hoover Senior Fellow Steven Davis and Stanford Economics Professor Nick Bloom review insights from the latest research on remote work, drawing on a recent conference at Stanford University. Steve and Nick discuss Return-to-Office mandates (RTOs) and their impact on company performance, and long-distance CEOs and why companies hire them. They also explore how remote work facilitated a boom in busin...

Host Steven Davis engages Wendy Edelberg and Madeline Zavodny to discuss the recent wave of U.S. immigration and some of its implications. They discuss the surge in immigration since 2021, the extent to which it reflects unlawful entry, its impact on employment growth, its fiscal consequences, and the failure of U.S. statistical authorities to accurately measure the scale of the surge in real time...

Host Steven Davis sits down with guest Glenn Hubbard, former dean of Columbia Business School and chairman of the US Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush. They critique industrial policy as practiced under Presidents Trump and Biden and contrast that practice to the insights of Adam Smith, Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. They also sketch some elements of an economically...

Immigrants directly account for one-quarter of the economic value generated by U.S. patents. They account for more than one-third of that value after factoring in the collaboration benefits that immigrant inventors bring to native American inventors. Immigrant inventors also play a major role in the two-way flow of scientific and technical knowledge between the United States and other countries. C...

Steven Davis interviews Professor Jorge Guzman about the effects of coffee shops on business startups. Starbucks and other sit-down coffee shops offer social spaces where people can converse, exchange ideas, and build trust. In his recent research, Guzman investigates whether and when this networking aspect of coffee shops leads to more business formation in the local neighborhood. Tune in for an...

Sandra Sequeira joins host Steven Davis for a discussion of zero-sum thinking, the idea that one group’s gain is another group’s loss. They draw on Sandra’s research to delve into several questions: How prevalent is zero-sum thinking? What are its roots? How does it shape policy preferences? How does zero-sum thinking relate to the partisan divide?

Steven Davis speaks to Jens Ludwig about his recent work on "Predicting Police Misconduct.” They delve into whether we can predict which police officers are most at risk of serious misconduct. The potential benefits of accurate prediction are large, but it also challenging to develop and implement robust prediction models. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS: Jens Ludwig is the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distin...

Host Steven Davis is joined by Marco Tabellini from Harvard Business School to explore the political reactions to immigration. They discuss whether economic or cultural concerns drive backlash, and how these reactions influence policy outcomes. The conversation delves into historical and contemporary issues, providing insights into the complex economic, social, and political effects of immigration...

Central banks responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with large-scale purchases of bonds, commercial paper, and other financial assets. In some cases, central banks announced “open-ended” programs, with no explicit limits on the scale or duration of asset purchases. Did these open-ended interventions have larger effects on interest rates? On exchange rates? Is this type of purposeful policy vagueness...

It’s easier for two parents to provide the time, attention, love, and financial resources that help children thrive and lead successful lives than it is for a single parent. Yet the share of American children who live with two parents has plummeted in recent decades. The decline is especially steep outside of the college-educated class. Why are so many parents now raising children outside of marri...

Wednesday, April 24, 2024  “Russia is the home of not one, but two lost empires: The Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.” So writes our guest, Sergei Guriev, in a sweeping survey of recent research on Russian Economic History. Join Sergei and our host, Steven Davis, for a spirited conversation on Russian economic developments in the 19th and 20th centuries, the failures of central planning, and t...

Host Steven Davis and guest Elias Papaioannou discuss the resurgence of populism in Europe and the United States over the past fifteen years. They define populism, identify its economic drivers, and consider how democratic institutions moderate and respond to populist pressures. They also consider the implications for economic performance. They wrap up their conversation with some remarks on the o...

Host Steven Davis and guest Ayşegül Şahin explore the extraordinary behavior of US labor markets since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. They explain how the global crisis spurred remote work, instigated the "great resignation," drove job vacancy rates to all-time highs, restrained overall wage growth, and altered the structure of wages. Steve and Ayşegül also discuss how the recession and recov...

Steven Davis speaks with Emma Harrington about her recent study on the power of proximity in facilitating mentoring, employee feedback, and learning on the job. According to the study, software engineers give more written feedback to team members when working in the same building, as compared to working in nearby buildings or from home. Physical proximity has stronger effects on the feedback given...

Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh joins Steven Davis to explain how the remote work revolution affects urban property values, municipal tax revenues, and the outlook for cities. Stijn and Steve also consider how policymakers can respond to the challenges facing cities. In this regard, they discuss the conversion of vacant commercial buildings to new housing units , the need for regulatory reforms that lower...

Suhani Jalota joins Steve to discuss her study of how digital jobs can draw women into paid work in countries like India. The jobs, performed on smartphones, produce data that help train and evaluate AI models. Several job design features help overcome practical barriers to work and sidestep social norms that inhibit work for pay by married women. Jalota tells Steve how this idea can work in pract...