Archive for the ‘Discussion prompt’ Category
Link: https://www.npr.org/2022/04/15/1093113723/the-student-loan-paaaaauuuuuse
For some, the student loan repayment pause that started in 2020 has allowed people to purchase houses, cars, and have babies. Most student loan borrowers have not made any payment towards their loans because there is no incentive to; especially with the Biden Administration promising $10,000 of loan forgiveness. If loan repayments were to resume it could be detrimental to those that are not prepared to start making those payments again.
Original Air Date: April 15, 2022
Length: 22 Minutes 44 Seconds
Discussion Prompt: What do you think the macroeconomic consequences would be if the government resumed loan payments?
Link: https://www.npr.org/2021/03/22/980064728/myths-and-realities-of-americas-rural-economy
This week the Indicator talks with Economist Gbenga Ajilore, a senior advisor at the Department of Agriculture about the incorrect assumptions associated with life in rural America. He has studied these rural demographics and now advises policymakers away from these misguided ideas. They discuss the common misconceptions about these rural areas of the US relating to population, jobs, and migration. Some highlights Ajilore shares include: farming is not the only way of life, white people are not the only ones that live in rural areas, and that rural areas are not actually dying out.
Discussion Prompt: What are some other myths about rural areas that have an economic influence?
Original Date: March 22, 2021
Length: 9 minutes 39 seconds
Link: https://www.marketplace.org/shows/make-me-smart-with-kai-and-molly/where-does-the-money-for-stimulus-checks-come-from/
$1.86 trillion in relief spending has been authorized by congress, which will be financed by the sale of government bonds and other debt instruments. The Federal Reserve Bank will purchase many of these bonds which will cause an inflow of money into the economy. This podcast also elaborates on the inflationary implications of the stimulus checks entering the economy.
There is also discussion of Google’s market power and vaccination progress.
Discussion Prompt: What is the intended goal of the stimulus checks and what unintended consequences can arise as a result?
Original Air Date: March 17, 2021
Length: 19 minutes and 34 seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/2019/05/03/720139562/episode-910-economics-sexism-data
As International Women’s Month begins, this podcast by Planet Money helps highlight some of the issues involving sexism and economics. At the time Alice Wu was an economics undergraduate at UC Berkeley and had found an online job forum but was shocked to see the attitude and banter relating to women in the field of economics. She then used her econ skills to analyze the inherent bias found on the site and put out a report on her findings, leading to many woman in the economic field sharing their stories and exposing some of the sexism they have had to face.
Discussion Prompt: What are some ways that social issues, such as sexism can be address throughout a whole field like economics?
Original Air Date: May 3, 2019
Length: 24 minutes 20 seconds
Link: https://www.stlouisfed.org/timely-topics/educated-workers-and-americas-competitiveness
The United States used to lead the world in their percentage of college graduates. Today, the U.S is lagging behind countries like Japan and South Korea. Dr. Monge-Naranjo from the Federal Reserve Bank discusses how this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and how the United States can benefit from the ideas and technologies being produced elsewhere.
Original Air Date: August 31 2020
Length: 3 minutes 13 seconds
Discussion Prompt: What other ways can this idea benefit the United States? What ways could this be harmful to the United States? Is there any significance or advantage to being “number 1” in terms of college educated workers?
Link: https://www.npr.org/2020/11/18/936321423/winter-is-coming-for-the-restaurant-industry
The Planet Money Indicator team explores the choices facing restaurants around the U.S. as the pandemic winter approaches. Includes an interview with a restaurant in Idaho that has implemented new strategies in the 2020 economic reality.
Assignment prompt: How does this podcast illustrate the short-run shutdown decision for firms? Use specific economic concepts from your reading and this podcast to explain the decision making process in general and specifically for firms in a crisis, such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
Original Air Date: November 18, 2020
Length: 9 minutes
Link: https://www.npr.org/2020/08/07/900273012/mask-communication
This podcast uses behavioral economics to analyze the reasons why people may refuse to wear masks. Economists believe when these individuals feel external constraints on their freedoms, they feel even less inclined to wear a mask. Behavioral economists discuss nudges/incentives that could be effective in this situation.
Original Air Date: August 7, 2020
Length: 26 minutes 26 seconds
Discussion Prompt: What are some other incentives you can think of that would influence more widespread mask wearing?
Link: https://www.npr.org/2020/04/22/842095406/episode-993-negative-oil
Oil prices have officially fallen well below a dollar in the United States. This is extremely telling about the current state of the economy, considering this has never happened before.
Original Air Date: April 22 2020
Length: 16 minutes 22 seconds
Discussion Prompt: What can this tell us about the state of the global economy at the time of negative oil? If you were advising policy makers, how important would you say this event was or was not? Why?
Link: https://www.npr.org/2020/01/09/794977811/episode-963-13-000-economists-1-question
At the American Economic Association annual conference, some of the brightest economists answer the question, “What is the most useful idea in economics?”. Answers range from the idea of opportunity cost to thinking at the margin.
Original Air Date: January 10 2020
Length: 21 minutes 1 second
Discussion Prompt: What do you believe is this most useful idea in economics and why?
Written Prompt: Develop your own list of your top ten (or top 5) ‘most useful ideas’ in economics. Be sure to explain WHY you’ve made your selections. You may use up to 3 of those referenced in the podcast, with your own explanations! The rest must be your idea.
Link: https://www.npr.org/2020/04/23/843437140/the-great-potato-giveaway
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the agriculture supply chain has been suffering. Although the shelves at grocery stores are not fully stocked, farmers are giving away their goods, or even turning it into fertilizer.
Original Air Date: April 23 2020
Length: 9 minutes 25 seconds
Discussion Prompt: How will this affect the agriculture industry? What does this tell us about how these markets are functioning? What solutions can you propose which would help the industry financially?
audioecon 