2/28/23, The Indicator (9:13)
Link: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/28/1160197163/is-price-gouging-a-problem
Summary: Recent surges in prices for important commodities like eggs and oil have led to a flurry of politicians and advocacy groups decrying “price-gouging.” But what exactly is price-gouging? As the podcast highlights, most economists would argue that it is a highly subjective concept, rather than a technical economic term.
If you’re a regular follower of audioecon, you’ll notice some updates to our site this month (March 2023). We recognize that, while students are increasingly eager to connect the classroom with current events, incorporating interesting, relevant daily or weekly news can be a heavy lift for professors.
We’ve often included ‘teaching ideas’ in the past to ease the load for instructors wanting to incorporate relevant podcast content into classroom learning and assignments through discussions, reflections, etc. (see the ‘teaching ideas’ category for a full list). Based on feedback, we’ll now be including teaching ideas with every new Audioecon.com post. Follow the ‘teaching ideas’ link on each new post to find :
This will facilitate your efforts to help students digest the podcast content and merge it meaningfully with class concepts. We hope this helps you easily infuse fresh examples and applications into your curriculum!
P.S. if you’re a subscriber to audioecon, you may get a few extra email updates in the coming week or so as we add a healthy dose of fresh content. After that things will go back to normal! Apologies and thanks for your patience.
1/25/23, The Indicator (9:05)
Link:https://www.npr.org/2023/01/25/1151551484/want-a-balanced-federal-budget-itll-cost-you
Summary: As policy makers grapple with the debt ceiling, the podcast digs into the notion of a balanced budget. While tying the debt ceiling limit to a balanced is an appealing to some fiscal conservatives, in reality “extreme” fiscal responsibility is likely impractical, and getting to balanced budget will require deeper structural changes to the government budget.
Also: The episode “What is the Deal with the Platinum Coin” from 1/26/23 looks into an interesting solution to circumvent the debt ceiling kerfuffle #minthecoin
1/12/23, The Indicator (9:29)
Link: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/12/1148895861/jobs-vs-prices-the-feds-dueling-mandates
Summary: As the Federal Reserve targets higher interest rates to stabilize prices, they also want to keep unemployment low. The Indicator speaks with a Fed President about this dual mandate– its history, the trade-offs it involves and how it makes sense.
2/28/03, Planet Money (24:41)
Link: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/06/1154775118/ice-cream-ben-jerrys-haagen-daz
Summary: Ben & Jerry’s and Haagen-Dazs are the two top brands in the super-premium ice cream market. Curiously, the brands do not offer similar flavors. Ben & Jerry’s makes “chunky” type ice-cream while Haagen-Dazs only offers creamy, smooth ice cream on super market shelves. What is going on? Planet Money looks at a possible explanation– collusive behavior.
2/14/23, The Indicator (9:04)
Link: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/14/1156876594/unwinding-the-wage-price-spiral
Summary: New inflation numbers are out. Inflation is not increasing steadily like it was a few months ago, but it still remains stubbornly high, much higher that Fed’s ideal 2% rate. Today’s show examines whether the “wage-price spiral”–a feedback loop between rapidly increasing prices and wages like we saw in the 1970s- is still a threat in the macroeconomy. Or are they days of the “doom loop” past us and we are in a wage-price paradigm?
1/30/23, The Indicator (9:00)
Link: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/30/1152653269/artists-vs-ai
Summary: AI systems like “DALL E 2” can create images based on a description. Like other types machine learning algorithms, the systems are trained on existing art. The adoption of this technology to generate and sell art has irked artists who claim that their intellectual property rights are being violated. The podcasts delves into one particular story like this.
Link: https://aearesearchhighlights.libsyn.com/ep-49-the-great-reset
The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted wealth and income disparity. In his paper, Guido Alfani looks back at previous pandemics to see how different factors affected the gap between the rich and poor. Guido explores how we can learn from previous pandemic policies so new policy decisions can have a meaningful impact on decreasing inequality in the long run.
Original Air Date: April 4, 2022
Length: 19 Minutes
Citation: Alfani, Guido. 2022. “Epidemics, Inequality, and Poverty in Preindustrial and Early Industrial Times.” Journal of Economic Literature, 60 (1): 3-40.
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/2022/03/17/1087425495/tech-giants-and-tiny-dogs
Ramon van Meer’s niche business – making ramps for weiner dogs – boomed as he utilized tools from tech giants to help him grow his businesses. The Planet Money team discusses how these tech giants can help small businesses find their target audiences with marketing tools like Facebook ads. On the other hand they can also severely damage a business model by changing up an simple algorithm or rearranging their data. The volatility of these big tech firm decisions are cause for both growth and decline of such small businesses.
Original Air Date: March 18, 2022
Length: 21 minutes 43 seconds
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