Podcast: Pandemic Economics
Tess Vigland and I host a series of conversations with University of Chicago economists about how their research might help make sense of this moment
Deep Dive Series
Oct 22, 2020
Is The Future Cashless?
When COVID lockdowns started, the use of cash plummeted. But the pandemic only accelerated a trend already underway. Is a fully cashless world on the horizon? Who benefits from using cash? Fernando Alvarez and Raghuram Rajan share research insights on the economic effects of banning – and introducing – cash in today’s markets.
Deep Dive Series
Oct 8, 2020
Deep Dive Series – The Health Care Conundrum, Part 2
The US pays roughly twice as much per person for healthcare as other wealthy nations. Yet Americans are in worse health. A group of leading health economists, physicians, and hospital administrators help explain the system’s striking inefficiencies and the difficult choices presented by reform.
Deep Dive Series
Sep 24, 2020
The Health Care Conundrum, Part 1
The global pandemic has revealed critical gaps and weaknesses in the US health care system. How is our system structured and how did we get here? In part one of our deep dive into the health care system, Katherine Baicker and Pietro Tebaldi offer their insights into the dynamics that shape health insurance coverage in America.
Deep Dive Series
Sep 11, 2020
Climate vs. Development: The Global Dilemma
How you experience the global energy crisis and climate change depends in large part on where you live. For this special deep dive episode, Michael Greenstone and Amir Jina discuss long-term research on one place – Bihar, India – and the lessons it offers to the rest of the world.
Episode 20
Aug 27, 2020
Can Covid Change The Climate?
COVID-19 has prompted a significant decline in carbon emissions, accompanied by extraordinary economic cost. Professor Michael Greenstone discusses what energy economists are learning from the pandemic and how the trade-offs may be misinterpreted.
Episode 19
Aug 20, 2020
Uncovering the Politics of Mask Usage
What does the 2016 election tell us about mask use in America? Quite a lot. Austin Wright draws on new research and what it can tell us about the relationship between partisanship and wearing a mask.
Episode 18
Aug 13, 2020
The COVID Slide: Impact on Childhood
You’ve likely heard of the summer slide in childhood learning. Will changes to education and toxic stress due to COVID-19 result in similar losses, especially for already disadvantaged children? John List and Dana Suskind share what evidence shows about the new risks facing families; then, Ariel Kalil discusses her research on interventions to support parents’ role in learning at home.
Episode 17
Aug 6, 2020
Navigating Uncertainty
How can leaders make sound policy decisions with incomplete information? Lars Peter Hansen and Constantine Yannelis outline what economic theory offers to decision-makers dealing with uncertainty and what it says about COVID-19 policy to date.
Episode 16
Jul 30, 2020
How to Price a Vaccine?
Under both pandemic and economic stress, how will the market perform when it comes to setting the price for effective treatments or a cure? Katherine Baicker and Richard Thaler explore the economic forces that drive production and distribution of necessary goods like COVID-19 tests, and importantly, a vaccine.
Episode 15
Jul 23, 2020
US & China: Relationship on the Rocks?
Is COVID-19 complicating US-China relations? Zhiguo He and Chang-Tai Hsieh offer insight into how the current crisis has impacted existing dynamics between the world’s two largest economies.
Episode 14
Jul 16, 2020
The Holes in the Safety Net
CARES Act funds quickly put cash in the hands of Americans affected by shutdown, but in many cases, relief didn’t reach minority and low-income workers who needed it most. Damon Jones discusses the inequalities in relief efforts and how the country can build a stronger social safety net going forward.
Episode 13
Jul 11, 2020
Stopping an Avalanche of Poverty
One of the largest economic downturns in US history has not produced more poverty. What happened? Bruce Meyer describes how the federal government’s swift actions kept, or, in some cases, lifted families above the poverty line.
Episode 12
Jul 2, 2020
The Virus is the Boss
Is government policy driving consumer behavior or fear of infection? Austan Goolsbee and Chad Syverson share new research exploring this question, and why it matters for economic policy design.
Episode 11
Jun 25, 2020
The Lopsided Recession
The current recession is not only unprecedented in its nature and scope, but also in its effects on industries, workers, and households. Veronica Guerrieri and Erik Hurst describe the unequal effects of this historic downturn, including how the cascading economic effects of the health crisis more severely impact low-wage workers.
Episode 10
Jun 18, 2020
Meet the COVID-19 Consumer
Consumer spending is one of the most important indicators of economic health. In this episode, Michael Weber and Constantine Yannelis share research insights on the effect of pandemic and federal stimulus policies on spending, and what these trends tell us about an economic recovery.
Episode 9
Jun 11, 2020
Could the Fed’s Rescue Go Awry?
Central banks are playing a critical, yet little discussed, role in limiting the economic damage of COVID-19. In this episode, Chicago Booth professor and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Raghuram Rajan discusses how the pandemic is forcing the Federal Reserve and its international counterparts into uncharted territory.
Episode 8
Jun 9, 2020
Rethinking the Jobless Benefits Boost
Under the CARES Act, two-thirds of eligible unemployed Americans can access unemployment insurance exceeding their prior earnings. Peter Ganong and Joseph Vavra discuss what this fact means for the unemployed, economic recovery from COVID-19, and how to improve the program for future federal relief packages.
Episode 7
May 28, 2020
Learning from South Korea’s Success
South Korea detected its first case of COVID-19 one day before the US, but rather than initiate lockdowns, it launched a program that shares location information on COVID-19 patients. Chang-Tai Hsieh discusses how South Korea limited COVID-19 deaths to 5.2 per million while the US rate climbed to 289 per million, and what it may reveal about the cost of privacy.
Episode 6
May 21, 2020
Superspreaders
Does visiting a bookstore put you at greater risk for infection than a fast-food restaurant? As states loosen lockdown restrictions on businesses, Katherine Baicker and Oeindrila Dube have developed a measure of which businesses pose the greatest risk for spreading disease based on factors like crowding, length of stay, and potential for touch contact.
Episode 5
May 14, 2020
Jobs Lost and the Child Care Conundrum
Since March, 22% of American workers lost their jobs. How can we begin to think about such unprecedented labor market deterioration? Erik Hurst studied who has stopped receiving a paycheck, and provides context to the staggering unemployment numbers. Then, Joseph Vavra shares his work on one of the most critical hurdles for parents to get back to work – childcare.
Episode 4
May 7, 2020
Policy Gambles?
Steve Levitt believes in the power of incentives and he has a new proposal for how to make widespread testing successful: set up a testers’ lottery and give gigantic cash prizes. And, Eric Zwick takes a closer look at PPP lending to small businesses under the CARES Act and how many of these loans missed the target.
Episode 3
May 5, 2020
The Case for Optimism
Is there any room for optimism amid an economic shock of this magnitude? Austan Goolsbee offers insights from past economic crises and a path forward for balancing trade-offs between public health and the economy. His colleague Steve Davis explores the reallocation of jobs as a result of the current shock, and the potential long-term economic consequences.
Episode 2
April 30, 2020
Who Can Work From Home?
Many workers are able to continue working without leaving home and risking exposure. Looking at which workers have this option reveals other insights. In this episode, Brent Neiman and Simon Mongey discuss their research quantifying who can work from home and who bears the costs of social distancing policies.
Episode 1
April 23, 2020
The Value of A Life
Life is not priceless. But it’s also not cheap. Michael Greenstone describes how economics puts a value on life, and why it is so important to save as many lives as possible.