(Bloomberg) -- With Black Friday kicking off retailers' most important shopping season of the year, economist Joel Waldfogel shares his advice for buying presents: Don't. Waldfogel, author of the book "Scroogenomics," discusses his notorious theory on the inefficiencies of bad gift-giving, with suggestions for what to do instead.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Bloomberg) -- Americans now owe a record $1.2 trillion in student loans, and a growing chorus is asking why they should even have to go into debt to get a college degree. Other countries provide free higher education. Could the U.S.? Education reporter Janet Lorin joins Tori, Dan and Aki to discuss.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Bloomberg) -- How much money do you need to be rich, ultra rich and out-of-your-mind rich? Tori and Aki discuss, along with what growing income inequality means for the U.S. economy. Executive pay reporter Caleb Melby drops by to recount his exchanges with billionaires, including Donald Trump.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Bloomberg) -- It's been both a depressing month and decade for U.S. manufacturing. But with the economy transitioning to one driven by services, why do economists continue to pay close attention to factory data? Tori, Dan and Aki discuss the role manufacturing still plays in America, with the help of Tori's mom, who's spent four decades in North Carolina's factories.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Bloomberg) -- It's that time of the year again, when Washington erupts in heated debate over the decision to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. How worried should you really be? Hosts Tori, Dan and Aki discuss with debt historian John Steele Gordon, who also channels his inner Alexander Hamilton to offer advice to contemporary lawmakers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Bloomberg) -- Are social skills the last barrier between you, your job and a robotic replacement? Aki, Tori and Dan, with a little help from Siri, explain which jobs are the most resistant to automation. Meantime, Dan is forced to defend his humanity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Bloomberg) -- There's one honor that trumps all others in economics, and it's winning the Nobel Prize. Tori catches up with the 2015 winner Angus Deaton, who talks about the 6:10 a.m. phone call congratulating him, the research that earned him the award and how his work ended up on Orange is the New Black.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Bloomberg) -- Hosts Aki and Tori discuss foreign exchange markets through the lens of a very special event: the Portguese wedding of Bloomberg data editor Catarina Saraiva. Find out why the dollar is strengthening over the euro, and what that dynamic says about their respective economies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prices around the globe aren't rising as fast as they need to, a phenomenon that's got economists and central bankers debating how to fix it. But what's so wrong with stagnant prices in the first place? Hosts Aki, Tori and Dan discuss, with help from Carl Riccadonna, chief U.S. economist at Bloomberg Intelligence.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Bloomberg) -- With Dan on vacation, Tori and Aki take the chance to talk about their generation: the millennials. They push past the stereotypes and fact-check some common assumptions using real data. Listen to find out if millennials are forever scarred by the recession, when they'll start having children, and just how big the consequences of their economic decision-making could be.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.