Link: https://wordsandnumbers.libsyn.com/benevolence-backfires-the-cobra-effect
Sometimes laws with good intentions have unforeseen results that end up hurting the people they were meant to protect. James Harrigan and Antony Davies discuss the cobra effect and how government policy decisions bring about unintended consequences.
Original Air Date: September 4, 2019
Length: 33 Minutes 15 Seconds
Link: https://www.aeaweb.org/research/school-spending-student-outcomes-wisconsin
In this AEA Research Highlights podcast Author Jason Baron discusses the effects of different types of school spending on student outcomes and how school budgets should continue to evolve. Baron’s finds that increased spending on teacher salaries and supportive services positively affected test scores, dropout rates, and postsecondary enrollment, while spending on new buildings and renovations had less of an impact.
Original Air Date: February 18, 2022
Length: 22 Minutes 14 Seconds
Article Citation: Baron, E Jason. 2022. “School Spending and Student Outcomes: Evidence from Revenue Limit Elections in Wisconsin.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 14 (1): 1-39.
Link: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-is-everyone-moving-to-dallas/
More Americans have moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area over the past decade than anywhere else in the United States. Freakonomics podcast host Stephen Dubner explores the reasons why Dallas is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas which go deeper than just the decreased cost of living and absence of income taxes.
Original Air Date: January 19, 2022
Length: 49 Minutes 26 Seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/2022/03/29/1089572956/whistleblower-protection-program
This episode of the Indicator discusses the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the ways in which it regulates businesses. Whistleblowers, the ones who are brave enough to stand up against malpractice in the company, are valuable to the SEC but are often too scared to come forward. Jordan Thomas, a former SEC employee, decided he would make a firm that protected these whistleblowers and made sure they are compensated for the risks they are taking.
Original Air Date: March 29, 2022
Length: 10 minutes 5 seconds
Link: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/in-the-1890s-the-best-selling-car-was-electric/
Today, fewer than 1% of cars in the United States are electric. According to technology historian Tom Standage, the spike in gas prices may push the transition faster than people think. When switching from gas to electric cars, there is more to consider than just the labor market and the demand for gasoline. Standage believes everything will change.
Original Air Date: March 30, 2022
Length: 46 Minutes 20 Seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/2022/04/07/1091489931/insuring-music-venues-during-a-pandemic
You own a business and a pandemic hits so you are forced to shut down, but what do you do when your source of income is terminated? This episode of the Indicator discusses the policies and arguments insurance companies make when it comes to settling in circumstances like the pandemic. They also talk with Summer Gerbing, a small music business owner, who touches upon the steps and actions business owners can take in order to be able to survive when it comes to unforeseen situations, such as a pandemic.
Original Air Date: April 7, 2022
Length: 9 minutes 37 seconds
Prices are still rising even though corporate profits are at a 40-year high. However, the rising inflation is not thought to be due to corporate greed but likely to other causes such as lingering pandemic issues and decreased competition in the markets. The Federal Reserve Bank has tried to fight this inflation by raising interest rates which will hopefully lead to less pressure on businesses to raise their prices.
Original Air Date: March 23, 2022
Length: 18 Minutes 27 Seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/2022/04/25/1094706897/you-should-probably-get-your-plane-tickets-soon
The Indicator this week discusses what is happening in the airline industry. After hard hits from COVID-19 they are finally expecting to make profits this year, but there are many factors that could crush those expectations. Limited staffing and picketing from fatigued pilots and higher jet fuel prices due to the limited supply of oil are just some of the major problems facing these airline companies. Ticket prices will go up as consumers bear the brunt of the oil shortage. Airlines are also cutting different flight paths as there is not enough incentive to keep servicing certain routes. The biggest take away is to book your tickets early and be prepared for rising prices.
Original Air Date: April 25, 2022
Length: 10 minutes 17 seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/2022/04/08/1091736131/how-manatees-got-into-hot-water
Back in the 1970’s, manatees were close to extinction because of ruined habitats and speedboats. Over time power companies started to notice that groups of manatees were congregating around their power plants due to the warm water they produce. This episode of Planet Money discusses the unlikely partnership between environmentalists and power companies to conserve the manatee and how they make that possible. Conservation policies needed to adapt the idea that to save the manatees, the power plants also need to be saved. The warm water keeps the manatees alive but what happens when we move to more renewable energy resources? Pat Rose, a conservationist known as the “manatee man”, joins the show to explain what is going on in the manatee world today and what the future looks like.
Original Air Date: April 8, 2022
Length: 24 minutes 2 seconds
Link: https://www.aeaweb.org/research/ellora-derenoncourt-great-migration
In this AEA Research Highlights podcast, Derenoncourt discusses her findings on how some policies that encourage families to move to opportunity ignore the fundamentals that allow neighborhoods to thrive. In her paper, Derenoncourt uses evidence from the Great Migration to show why earning potential has decreased for African Americans living in those same neighborhoods that once promised a better life.
Original Air Date: March 2, 2022
Length: 19 Minutes 32 Seconds
Paper Citation: Derenoncourt, Ellora. 2022. “Can You Move to Opportunity? Evidence from the Great Migration.” American Economic Review, 112 (2): 369-408.
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