Decode Econ

This week on the Decode Econ Podcast, I sat down with Matt Holian, an economics professor at San Jose State. When Matt was department chair, he needed an honest answer to the question every recruiter gets: what jobs do econ majors actually get? He went looking for the data.  Subscribe now Using Census microdata, Matt and his coauthor Kevin Chiu tracked mid-career econ grads (ages 35 to 45, bachelo...

In a classroom, I can teach you how the world is supposed to work. Study abroad shows you how it actually works. Dr. Darshak Patel joins me to talk about taking students to Kenya to watch a universal basic income program up close, and why he would rather learn a new country alongside his students than teach one he already knows. Darshak is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of K...

Development economics explained simply: what's the difference between the macro and micro sides of the field? Development economics sounds like a topic for "somewhere else." It's not. In my latest Decode Econ conversation, I sat down with two economists who study the same big question — how economies, and the people inside them, actually develop — from completely different altitu...

No homework. No midterms. No final exam. In this episode of Decode Econ, I sit down with Dr. Shishir Shakya, an economist at Appalachian State University, who redesigned his entire econometrics and statistics courses around one question: what happens if we stop preparing students for the job market of 2022 and start preparing them for 2028?We get into:Why he cut his curriculum down to the "absolut...

Startups just had a record funding quarter — $285 billion in Q1 2026. Here's what the headline doesn't tell you: 43% of that went to one company's raise, and the rest of the money is piling into AI. So if you're a student founder building anything else, what does "record year" actually mean for you? I sat down with Dr. Jeni Al Bahrani, who teaches entrepreneurship at Miami University's Farmer Scho...

The bond market has been sending us warning signs. I sat down with Monetary Economist EJ Ume from Miami University’s Farmer School of Business to explain what is happening and what it means to you. If you don’t already do so, make sure to connect with  EJ on LinkedIn .  We would love to hear your thoughts on this conversation.  Here is what we discussed EJ walks through three forces pushing long-t...

Is the economy stalled, or are we about to hit a wall? Dr. Abdullah Al-Bahrani and Elon University's Dr. Brandon Sheridan break down a week of noisy data — and land on the one number nobody's talking about: you can't cut taxes and raise spending forever. Something gives. In this episode:01:12 — Why Brandon calls the economy "moving sideways," and what 1.5% GDP growth is hidin...

In this conversation, Jack Marx and Dr. Al Bahrani discuss the Federal Reserve and the recent changes being proposed by Fed Chair Kevin Warsh.  Jack and Dr. A have different views on what the correct approach is for the Fed. The discussion centers around the frequency of FOMC meetings and the importance of forward guidance.  Check out the YouTube conversation or find us on the podcast platform of...

Last week, Substack released a new feature to detect AI-written text. They partnered with Pangram to let readers scan a post and see how much of it is AI-generated. I both love and hate this update, and I want to share my views with you. As I read it, they’re attempting to solve for two problems: the rise of AI slop, and reader trust. Both are real concerns. However, there is a big difference betw...

Decode Econ is a startup. Our goal is to help you see the economy clearly — and your place in it. It is a media firm with a mission to improve economic understanding. It is fun building it and seeing its impact, but the biggest joy is in working with the team that makes this work possible. I love working with young professionals and current students. They bring energy and creativity, and in return...

Today’s episode is a special one. It’s a cross-collaboration with  Beyond the Degree , the podcast from  Haile Graduate Programs  — so if you like hearing how executives and researchers actually make decisions, that show belongs in your feed too. My guest is Dr. Jose Saavedra Torres, my next-door neighbor at Haile College of Business and one of my closest collaborators on campus. Jose studies why...

Here's what the data doesn't say: saving for retirement at 22 has an opportunity cost. Every $7,500 someone parks in a Roth IRA is $7,500 that isn't going toward tuition, a certification, or the thing that increases their income over the next twenty years. I've watched students skip a semester of school to save money. That is not what I would call financial literacy. We have pushed...

Wednesday's digest flagged the Levi's logo story in two sentences. This week's episode is the full decode — and it's worth watching, not just reading about. Quick recap of where we left it: FIFA strips every sponsor logo off a host stadium, no exceptions. Levi's got blacked out like everyone else — except their silhouette happened to read like a comic-book bat symbol, someone turned it into a joke...

This week’s episode looked different. For the first time, Jack and I sat down at a table together instead of across the internet, and we brought a second student voice into the discussion. Meet Claire Claire Maddox  is a first-year student; she starts her second year in August at the Haile College of Business, and she's my research assistant on a project we’re running this summer on housing afford...

The savings rate just hit 2.6%. Disposable income dropped for the second straight month. And somewhere under all the tariff headlines, a quiet shift in American family life is telling us something the Wall Street Journal got almost entirely wrong. This week, Dr. A and Jack work through three data points that don't look related on the surface — falling savings, rising childcare costs, and fathe...

The Economy Is Messy. That’s the Point. Consumer sentiment just hit its lowest level since the 1950s — yet Americans are still spending. Inflation is picking up, and your grocery bill is getting out of hand. Economists even have a name for what’s happening:  doom spending  — spending freely because the future feels too uncertain to save for. This week on  The Weekly Rap , Dr. A and Jack sit down w...

Nobody Trusts the Numbers. (The Economy Is Fine. For Some People.) 73% of Americans say they're financially stable. That number is up 10 points from 2013. So why does nearly everyone say the economy isn't working for them? Dr. A and Jack break down the K-shaped economy, congressional stock trading, prediction market addiction, and why trust — not data — is the real economic crisis right no...

Last Wednesday, we reported that the CPI came in at 3.8%. The next day, the BLS reported the PPI, the prices producers pay, hit 6%. What does that mean?  The PPI leads CPI. What businesses absorb today, consumers are likely to pay tomorrow. If producers are paying more, they will eventually pass that on to consumers. That means consumers should brace themselves for even higher prices in the near f...

115,000 jobs. Unemployment unchanged. And almost nobody feels good about it. The April jobs report came in more than double what economists expected — and the labor market still feels fragile to most people. That gap isn't a vibe problem. It's a data problem. In this episode, Dr. Abdullah Al-Bahrani and Jack Marx break down what the headline number misses: a 445,000-person spike in part-ti...

Subscribe to www. DecodeEcon.comIs the U.S. economy actually strong—or just riding an AI bubble? In this episode, Dr. Abdullah Al Bahrani and Jack Marx break down GDP growth, rising U.S. debt (now at 100% of GDP), Federal Reserve pressure, and whether AI investment is artificially propping up the economy. We also discuss inflation, wages, oil prices, and what history (like Japan’s zero interest ra...

In this episode of Decode Econ Podcast, Dr.  Abdullah Al Bahrani  and  Jonathan Marx  break down why starting your career feels harder than ever—and why it’s not just in your head. Subscribe now From real conversations at Eggs & Issues to insights from the Notes app, this discussion connects what students are experiencing with what’s actually happening in the economy. We also have some importa...

What does a donut have to do with monetary policy—and why did it earn a round of applause? In this week’s Decode Econ Weekly Rap, we unpack what makes a “perfect lecture,” rethink how we teach economics (hint: fewer multiple-choice exams, more real thinking), and break down the surprisingly doable path to saving $2 million starting from your first paycheck. Along the way, we tackle a deeper issue:...

n today’s fast-moving world, economics can feel confusing and overwhelming—but it doesn’t have to be. In this video, we break down 5 powerful insights from the Decode Econ podcast to help you better understand how the economy works and how it impacts your everyday life. Founded by Dr. Abdullah Al Bahrani, Decode Econ is all about making economics simple, accessible, and relevant. Through podcasts,...

Healthcare is full of good intentions. It is also full of incentives. In this episode of the Decode Econ Podcast , we sit down with Beth Munnich , Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Louisville , to discuss her research published in the American Economic Review on physician ownership of outpatient surgery centers . The question is straightforward: When doctors own the facilities...

Join Dr. Abdullah Al Bahrani and Jack Marx for a wide-ranging conversation on economic policy, leadership, and personal growth. From Supreme Court tariff rulings to Kentucky’s long-term tax strategy, this episode breaks down what recent policy changes mean for consumers and households. The discussion also moves beyond economics into the role of emotional intelligence in leadership—because understa...