UChicago Economics Events and Conversations

The U.S. government swung into action when the ranks of the pandemic unemployed swelled almost beyond recognition. Three years on, economists are continuing to study the effects of the largest increase in unemployment benefits in U.S. history. The Harris School of Public Policy’s Peter Ganong and Chicago Booth’s Joseph Vavra join The Pie to discuss the impacts on spending and job-finding.

How much effect do government policies have on doctors’ wages? And when those wages are high, does it drive inequality in other jobs? And how does Taylor Swift factor in? Or Beyoncé? Joshua D. Gottlieb of the Harris School of Public Policy joins The Pie to discuss his research using detailed data to study earnings and how they’re influenced by forces like public policy and rising inequality.

When the Los Angeles Unified School District combined some neighborhood high schools into Zones of Choice, schools had to compete for students. The result? Achievement gaps narrowed, and more kids reported that they liked school. Chris Campos of Chicago Booth joins The Pie to discuss the results of a new study.

The use of cryptocurrency is on the rise, but who exactly is on the bandwagon? Chicago Booth’s Michael Weber has examined the crypto market – who’s in it, why they believe in it, and what it might mean for the future. He joins The Pie to share the surprising (and also unsurprising) findings.

Many, if not most, citizens of working age have gone back to their jobs in the three-plus years since the start of the pandemic – but not everybody has. Part of the reason is a lingering fear about workplace safety. Chicago Booth’s Steven Davis has new research showing the effect of these fears on the overall economy.

In the stock market, we all want to do well, but for some investors it’s also important to do good. In this episode, Chicago Booth’s Lubos Pastor joins to discuss his research on sustainable investing and what two recent studies tell us about the returns on “green” vs “brown” assets.

Did borrowers and the American economy benefit from the federal government’s 2020 student debt moratorium? The picture is complicated according to new research from UChicago Economics’ Michael Dinerstein and Chicago Booth’s Constantine Yannelis. They join this week to share their surprising findings.

Vote-buying, or influencing voters’ decisions through favors or gifts, is pervasive in areas such as Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. UC Berkeley’s Frederico Finan, the TC Liu Distinguished Visitor at BFI, discusses his work studying how vote-buying unfolds on the ground in Paraguay. Finan describes how norms of reciprocity drive voters to opt for politicians who have treated them favora...

Around the world, people underestimate support for basic women's rights. In new research, UChicago Economics' Leonardo Bursztyn documents these misperceptions and shows how they restrict women's progress. Aligning people's perceived and actual views, he says, can help promote women's full participation in the labor force.

Nobody ever wants to pay more for anything, especially when prices rise drastically – but can inflationary episodes be good for the economy? Harris Policy’s Carolin Pflueger joins The Pie to discuss different types of inflation, how they affect the economy, and what her research tells us about monetary policy in the world of newly rising prices.

When rural patients need care that local medical facilities can’t provide, what’s the best way to ensure they get the care they need? Economists Jonathan Dingel and Joshua Gottlieb, Co-Director of BFI’s Health Economics Initiative, explore how larger cities and rural areas trade medical services, and challenge assumptions about the best ways to improve both access and care.

Social media behaviors, moving at an ever faster pace, may not reflect what users really want, according to new research from economists Sendhil Mullainathan (Chicago Booth) and Amanda Agan (Rutgers University). They join The Pie to discuss how algorithms feed off our lizard brains to magnify biases.

At the third anniversary of COVID-19 lockdowns, this episode takes a look at ongoing healthcare market failures and the pandemic’s role in making them plain. Katherine Baicker, healthcare economist and newly appointed Provost of the University of Chicago, joins to take stock of the US healthcare system and discuss the challenges that remain.

What can vultures and economics tell us about the cost of losing a keystone species? New research from environmental economist Eyal Frank of the Harris School of Public Policy explores the social and economic cost in India, where a plummeting population of vultures may serve as a warning for the future.

Does welfare prevent crime — and offset its cost to taxpayers? UChicago economist Manasi Deshpande joins to discuss her novel research studying the criminal justice outcomes of youth removed from supplemental security income.

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.

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.

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.”

Podcast note: Please enjoy this episode from season two of The Pie, an economics podcast from the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics. Subscribe where you get your podcasts, or at thepie.uchicago.edu. 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, emergi...

Podcast note: Please enjoy this episode from season two of The Pie, an economics podcast from the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics. Subscribe where you get your podcasts, or at thepie.uchicago.edu. 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 imp...

Podcast note: Please enjoy this episode from season two of The Pie, an economics podcast from the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics. Subscribe where you get your podcasts, or at thepie.uchicago.edu. 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 F...

Podcast note: Please enjoy this episode from season two of The Pie, an economics podcast from the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics. Subscribe where you get your podcasts, or at thepie.uchicago.edu. In this episode, we’re talking about guns. Chicago Booth economist Brad Shapiro has quantified—for the first time—American consumer demand for guns, and how that demand shifts in response to diff...

Podcast Note: Please enjoy this episode from season two of The Pie, an economics podcast from the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics. Subscribe where you get your podcasts, or at thepie.uchicago.edu. Did closing schools during the COVID-19 pandemic serve students and society at-large? As part of a World Bank Advisory Panel, University of Chicago economist Rachel Glennerster is taking a closer...

Podcast Note: Please enjoy episode one from season two of The Pie, an economics podcast from the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics. Subscribe where you get your podcasts, or at thepie.uchicago.edu. In this episode, we talk about the remote work revolution. It is now more than two years old, and it’s a worldwide phenomenon, at least in wealthier countries. Economist Steve Davis has been study...

The United States is facing a range of challenging policy issues, from trade to inequality to climate change. The good news is that academic economists are doing cutting-edge work to help solve the challenges of the day, at the University of Chicago and institutions around the world. Over the past 20 years, there has been increasing momentum toward evidence-informed policymaking. While this seems...