The Pie: An Economics Podcast

With the rise in federal spending over the last several years, there are questions on how the US will pay those bills. Chicago Booth economists Austan Goolsbee and Eric Zwick demystify which rate changes actually impact revenue and expose how economists think about infrastructure spending. Delving into the details on capital gains taxes, they discuss strategies to close loopholes and, ultimately, increase total revenues.

Division I schools make billions off athletic programs, with close to two-thirds coming from men’s basketball and football alone. Economist Matt Matt Notowidigdo has calculated that due to NCAA restrictions, only 7% of those revenues are paid to student athletes, with important distributional consequences. He joins this week with sports attorney Michael McCann to discuss the economic dynamics, who benefits most, and what is at stake in future court cases over this controversial issue.

Preventing people from entering careers where they could maximize their potential places massive costs on society, and economists can measure the real impact. Chang-Tai Hsieh and Erik Hurst have discovered that declining barriers to careers for women and Black men over the last 50 years accounts for 25-40% of all productivity growth in the US. They join to discuss the implications of their critical findings.

Some of the world’s largest companies (and biggest emitters of CO2) boast big investments in carbon offset programs to reduce their reported carbon footprint. Do these programs work ? If so, for whom? Michael Greenstone and Barbara Haya join to take a close look at proposed solutions to reducing on carbon emissions.

The pandemic forced many Americans into a mass social experiment: working from home (WFH). Now, economists like Steve Davis are measuring the immediate and long-term impact of this massive shift. Davis and Kate Lister join this week to help us explore how time away from the office will change life — for workers, employers, and our cities.

With COVID-19 variants proliferating, administering vaccines as quickly as possible is a key policy priority. How can we ensure every level of the healthcare system pulls out all the stops in that pursuit? Joshua Gottlieb and David Pitrak join to discuss the urgent answers from their specialties of economics and medicine.

When COVID lockdowns started a year ago, the use of cash plummeted. But the pandemic only accelerated a trend already underway. As we begin to emerge from global pandemic, 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.

In March 2020, the CARES Act expanded who was eligible for unemployment benefits, how much they could collect and for how long. Economists are now finding patterns in job searches and spending during this enormous expansion that seem to counter common economic assumptions. Peter Ganong and Fiona Greig join to discuss the surprising effects they uncovered in the data.

Nationally, student loan debt is at crisis level. The share of students behind on loan payments equals the share of homeowners in default at the peak of the housing crisis. What’s the best way to help students struggling under a huge debt burden? Is there a better way to finance college? Chicago Booth’s Constantine Yannelis and Seth Frotman of the Student Borrower Protection Center discuss the impacts of different loan forgiveness proposals under consideration, including who benefits.

Which economic policies must be prioritized now to get the best returns in the future? This week, The Pie is breaking out the crystal ball. Austan Goolsbee and Randall Kroszner share what economists are learning from the pandemic and what we can expect in the weeks, months, and years ahead.