There's evidence that economically better-off voters tilt Republican. But there is a paradox. While richer voters tilt Republican, richer states tend to vote Democrat. To discuss this apparent paradox, as well as issues of poll accuracy, and how much the state of the economy has mattered in recent mid-term elections, EconoFact Chats welcomes Andrew Gelman of Columbia University. Andrew is a professor of statistics and political science at Columbia. His work has focused on a range of topics, including why it is rational to vote, and why campaign polls are so variable, when elections are often predictable. Note: This podcast was first published on 6th November, 2022.

Doug Irwin joins Michael Klein on EconoFact Chats this week to discuss how ideas about free trade have changed over the last 250 years. While most economists today agree that free trade improves productive efficiency and offers consumers better choice, some of the objections to trade expressed by historical figures ranging from Alexander Hamilton to John Maynard Keynes still resonate in contemporary debates. The author of numerous books, including most recently, 'Clashing Over Commerce: A History of US Trade Policy,' Irwin breaks down their arguments while explaining some of the central concepts of international trade relevant to the world economy today.  The conversation explores the relationship between trade and industrialization and the role of technological change in manufacturing employment.  Note: This podcast was first published on 7th June, 2021.

Presidential candidates promise economic prosperity. Yet views on how to achieve economic prosperity can diverge significantly — as they do between the policies of President Biden, which are likely to be largely adopted by the new Democratic nominee, and those of Presidential Candidate Trump. Will their proposed policies on taxes, immigration, tariffs, and subsidies foster economic growth, low inflation, a vibrant labor market, and a healthy macroeconomy? Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody’s Analytics joins EconoFact Chats to discuss the macroeconomics of the outcome of the Presidential and Congressional elections based on a new analysis co-authored with Brendan La Cerda and Justin Begley. Note: This podcast was recorded on 19th July, 2024.

Many view the greater integration of the world economy as a relatively modern phenomenon. Christopher Meissner puts the current level of international trade, the depth of global capital markets, and immigration in historical context, drawing on his new book One From the Many: The Global Economy Since 1850. Christopher explains how both technological and political changes since the mid-19th century have affected the integration of the world economy. He also discusses how trade, capital flows, and migration have created benefits that made many people better off, but this has been uneven and some people have been left behind. Christopher is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Davis, and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The official poverty rate in the U.S. stood at about 11.5% in 2022. But as Jeff Fuhrer highlights, this is almost certainly a vast undercounting. He estimates that about 40% of people struggle to afford basic necessities like food, housing, and transportation. He joins EconoFact Chats to discuss why official poverty measures underestimate poverty, what this means for a nation that prides itself on meritocracy, and how policies to alleviate poverty offer a win-win opportunity. Jeff served for nearly four decades in the Federal Reserve System, first at the Board of Governors in Washington, DC, followed by more than 25 years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Currently, he is a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a Foundation Fellow at the Eastern Bank Foundation. He is the author of the award-winning 2023 book 'The Myth that Made Us: How False Beliefs about Racism and Meritocracy Broke Our Economy (and How to Fix It).'

The 2022 CHIPS Act allocated over $50 billion in incentives to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research and development. Two years on, how successful has the Act been in bringing semiconductor fabrication to the United States? More broadly, what was the rationale behind offering sizeable incentives to onshore chip production? And as other countries offer subsidies of their own, what effects are we likely to see in the manufacturing dynamics of both foundational and more advanced semi-conductors? Chris Miller joins EconoFact Chats to discuss these and other questions. Chris is an Associate Professor of International History at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He is also the author of the bestselling book 'Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology.'

Tariffs are taxes. But unlike most taxes, politicians on both sides of the aisle are calling for maintaining or raising tariffs. The goal is to save jobs and raise revenue. But do tariffs help achieve these objectives? Kim Clausing joins EconoFact Chats to discuss her research on how tariffs negatively impact consumers, shift tax burdens away from the well-off toward lower-income consumers, adversely affect U.S. workers and industries, and invite retaliatory tariffs from trading partners. Kim is the Eric M. Zolt Professor of Tax Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law. She served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis in the U.S. Department of the Treasury during the first years of the Biden Administration.

China's share of manufacturing exports rose from just over 1% of the world's total in 1990, to almost one-fifth today. Research by Gordon Hanson and his co-authors documented how the 'China Shock' led to factory closures and job losses in places that had been producing apparel, shoes, furniture, simple electronics, and other goods that China now exported. Tariffs on Chinese goods in 2018 and 2019 did not reverse these effects and lead to job recovery. But, despite this, Hanson shows there was a political benefit to these trade restrictions. Gordon is the Peter Wertheim Professor of Urban Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he co-directs the Reimagining the Economy Project.

Electric vehicles are thought to represent a partial, but important solution to realizing net-zero emissions goals. Toward this end, the European Union, China, Japan, South Korea, and several U.S. states have declared their intention to ban gasoline and diesel cars. But how realistic is it to move to a fully electric vehicle fleet? And how desirable is this goal? David Rapson joins EconoFact Chats to discuss these questions. David is a Chancellor’s Leadership Professor in the Economics Department at the University of California, Davis. He also serves as an economic policy advisor to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Discussions about the circular economy, which emphasizes sharing, reusing, repairing, and recycling existing materials -- has traditionally been the remit of engineers, architects, and sociologists. Is there a role for economists in furthering our understanding of, and in fostering an economy where little is wasted? Don Fullerton of the University of Illinois joins EconoFact Chats to discuss these and other issues. Don has served as lead author for an assessment report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and as director of the National Bureau of Economic Research's Environmental Program.