Racism in the United States has created an enduring wealth gap between Black and White Americans. This gap is rooted both in slavery itself and in the systematic exclusion of Black people from government assistance and social safety programs beginning after the Civil War and continuing through the Jim Crow era and after. Although it’s not easy to capture the magnitude of this injustice, paying reparations to Black Americans is one way to begin to correct it. This week on EconoFact Chats, Professor William (Sandy) Darity Jr. explains the history of the racial wealth gap and why reparations remain necessary today. Sandy Darity is the Samuel DuBois Cook Professor of Public Policy, African and African American Studies, and Economics and the director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University. His most recent book, coauthored with A. Kirsten Mullen, is 'From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century.'

The American public has always struggled with immigration policy, particularly as it intersects with race, poverty and economic opportunity. This week on EconoFact Chats, Tara Watson discusses her new book co-authored with Kalee Thompson, The Border Within: The Economics of Immigration in the Age of Fear. The book is both an economic analysis of the effects of immigration on the United States economy, and the story of six immigrant families and their struggles. The podcast focuses on the sources and the extent of unauthorized immigration, the net fiscal costs of unauthorized immigration, and policies to address unauthorized immigration under the Obama and Trump administrations. Tara Watson is a Professor of Economics at Williams College.  She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US Treasury from 2015 to 2016, and is currently a Rubenstein Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Economic forecasting is rarely easy. This is especially true in the current environment, as the relationship between economic activity and public health metrics such as the percentage of people vaccinated, or the number of COVID cases, remains far from predictable.  Key macroeconomic questions remain. Is higher inflation likely to persist, or will it prove transitory? Will businesses be able to boost productivity despite the tight labor market, and supply chain disruptions? And what are some of the most useful metrics to assess economic recovery in the current environment?  This week on EconoFact Chats, Julia Coronado discusses these questions, and offers her perspective on which metrics best indicate the health of the economy.

Even as the initial economic shocks of COVID-19 abate, labor shortages, supply constraints, demand shifts, and inflation continue to cloud the U.S.' macroeconomic outlook. To discuss whether these phenomena might prove transitory, or more durable, EconoFact Chats welcomes back a panel of distinguished economic journalists: Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times, Scott Horsley of NPR, Greg Ip of the Wall Street Journal, and Heather Long of the Washington Post.  The panelists also break down the major economic stories of the past year, and discuss how labor force participation, wages, inflation, and monetary policy might evolve as the second pandemic year draws to a close.

In the wake of the economic crisis of the 1970s, and again, in the aftermath of 2008, macroeconomists have had to rethink their understanding of the drivers of recessions, as well as the most effective policy responses to them. This week on EconoFact Chats, Karen Dynan and Michael Klein discuss how past recessions have shaped today’s fiscal and monetary policy, the role of inflation, and inflation expectations, and how policy makers can be better prepared for future crises. Karen is a Professor of Practice in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. She served as Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy and Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Treasury from 2014 to 2017.

Economic theories often inform policy choices, but events can call into question these same theories. In this episode of EconoFact Chats, John Cassidy, Staff Writer for The New Yorker joins Michael Klein to discuss how policies based on the advantages of unfettered free markets were challenged by the 2008 financial and economic crisis.  John also discusses other instances of challenges to theories; for example how evidence has given rise to behavioral economics, and the role of psychology and information to guide policy.  John is the author of How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities and Dot.Con: How America Lost Its Mind and Money in the Internet Era.

Nationalist economic policies, including rising opposition to free trade, skepticism of international institutions, and anti-immigrant sentiment, are on the rise at a time when the pandemic and climate change are making international cooperation more necessary than ever. This week on EconoFact Chats, Michael Klein speaks with Maurice Obstfeld, widely recognized as one of the world's leading experts in international economics, on the tensions between globalization and economic nationalism – the historical context, current challenges, and the prospects for the future. Maury Obstfeld is Professor of Economics at U.C. Berkeley. He formerly served as Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund, and as a Member of the Council of Economic Advisors.

Even as overdose deaths from opioids in the US reached a disturbing peak of 69,000 in 2020, monthly state-level data for 2021 suggests that overdose deaths are on pace to rise even further; likely driven by a combination of increased stress, reduced access to care, and a greater prevalence of more lethal drugs. This week on EconoFact Chats, Alicia Sasser Modestino of Northeastern University discusses the origins of this ongoing public health crisis, how the problem has evolved over the decades, and what role there is for public policy, as well as for individuals in addressing this epidemic. Alicia is an Associate Professor at Northeastern University. She has also been a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Her research focuses on public policy issues affecting labor, housing, and health care.

High inflation has become a central concern. After four decades of low inflation, the so-called ‘great moderation,’ the key question is whether the current situation portends a return to the high and rising inflation of the 1970s, or whether we are seeing a temporary blip due to supply chain disruptions and other effects of the pandemic. Looking at a finer-grained analysis of the price changes of individual goods and services offers some insight. Alberto Cavallo, a pioneer in gathering and using online micro-data, joins EconoFact Chats this week to discuss the major takeaways from his analysis of over a billion prices. Alberto is an associate professor at Harvard Business School. He co-founded The Billion Prices Project, and Price Stats -- the leading private source of inflation statistics in over 20 countries.

How can journalists present statistics in a way that is both understandable and accurate? Why are data visualizations sometimes misleading rather than informative? As newspapers scale up their data coverage, journalists are developing insights into how best to report complex statistics without misrepresenting them. This week on EconoFact Chats, Michael Klein and Ben Casselman of the New York Times discuss the nuances of communicating economic data to a broad audience.