Shows
Oxford College Principles of Microeconomics CourseEcontalk: Robert Frank on InequalityFrom Econtalk:Robert Frank of Cornell University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about inequality. Is there a role for public policy in mitigating income inequality? Is such intervention justified or effective? The conversation delves into both the philosophical and empirical evidence behind differing answers to these questions. Ultimately, Frank argues for a steeply rising tax rate on consumption that would reduce disparities in consumption. This is a lively back-and-forth about a very timely topic.2023-11-221h 01Oxford College Principles of Microeconomics CourseVox Talks: Climate shock: the economic consequences of a hotter planetFrom Vox Talks:At the heart of policy debates about our collective responses to climate change is the issue of risk and uncertainty - ‘unknown unknowns’ about the impact of global warming. In this Vox Talk, Gernot Wagner - co-author with Harvard’s Martin L. Weitzman of 'Climate Shock: The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet’ - argues for Pigovian taxes and carbon pricing, against geoengineering solutions, and why 'we need to stick it to CO2, not to capitalism’.2023-11-1509 minOxford College Principles of Microeconomics CoursePlanet Money: Quit ThreatFrom Planet Money:On today's show, we ask: What does full employment really look like? NPR sent reporters across the country, including to Ames, Iowa, the city with the lowest unemployment rate, to find out. The unemployment rate is just 3.6% in the U.S., a 50-year low. People think we are at, or near, full employment. That's the lowest the unemployment rate can go without triggering inflation. And when the labor market is that tight, power shifts from employers to workers. When unemployment is low, workers can threaten to quit and their bosses have to...2023-11-0822 minOxford College Principles of Microeconomics CourseEcontalk: Noah Smith on Worker Compensation, Co-determination, and Market PowerFrom Econtalk:Bloomberg Opinion columnist and economist Noah Smith talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about corporate control, wages, and monopoly power. Smith discusses the costs and benefits of co-determination--the idea of putting workers on corporate boards. The conversation then moves to a lively discussion of wages and monopoly power and how the American worker has been doing in recent years.2023-11-011h 15Oxford College Principles of Microeconomics CourseFreakonomics radio: The Most Interesting Fruit in the World (Ep. 375)From Freakonomics radio:The banana used to be a luxury good. Now it’s the most popular fruit in the U.S. and elsewhere. But the production efficiencies that made it so cheap have also made it vulnerable to a deadly fungus that may wipe out the one variety most of us eat. Scientists do have a way to save it — but will Big Banana let them?2023-10-1841 minOxford College Principles of Microeconomics CourseFreakonomics radio: Why Rent Control Doesn’t Work (Ep. 373)From Freakonomics radio:As cities become ever-more expensive, politicians and housing advocates keep calling for rent control. Economists think that’s a terrible idea. They say it helps a small (albeit noisy) group of renters, but keeps overall rents artificially high by disincentivizing new construction. So what happens next?2023-10-0451 minOxford College Principles of Microeconomics CoursePlanet Money: A Bet On The Future Of Humanity (Ep508)From Planet Money:A famous biologist, Paul Ehrlich, predicts that overpopulation will lead to global catastrophe. He writes a bestselling book — The Population Bomb — and goes on the Tonight Show to make his case.An economist, Julian Simon, disagrees. He thinks Ehrlich isn't accounting for how clever people can be, and how shortages can lead to new, more efficient ways of doing things. So Simon challenges Ehrlich to a very public, very acrimonious, decade-long bet. On today's show: The story of that bet, and what it tells us about the future of humanity.2023-09-2720 minOxford College Principles of Microeconomics CourseWSJ - The Journal: The World Has Too Much OilFrom WSJ - The Journal:Demand for oil has plummeted as the coronavirus has shut down much of the world, but most producers are still pumping. WSJ's Russell Gold explains the global game of chicken inside the oil industry.2023-09-2015 minOxford College Principles of Microeconomics CoursePlanet Money: Why The Price of Coke Didn't Change For 70 yearsFrom Planet Money:Prices go up. Occasionally, prices go down. But for 70 years, the price of a bottle of Coca-Cola didn't change. From 1886 until the late 1950s, a bottle of coke cost just a nickel. On today's show, we find out why. The answer includes a half a million vending machines, a 7.5 cent coin, and a company president who just wanted to get a couple of lawyers out of his office2023-09-1320 minOxford College Principles of Microeconomics CourseToday in Focus (The Guardian): The global race for face masksFrom Today in Focus (The Guardian):The world economy may have dramatically dipped and the price of oil crashed, but one commodity is seeing an unprecedented boom: the face mask. Samanth Subramanian explores the newly distorted marketplace for masks and the lengths some will go to get them When the coronavirus began spreading beyond China in January, the race to buy up any available protective face masks went global. It caused a frenzy of buying as prices rocketed and suppliers were overwhelmed by the demand. For one man, Ovidiu Olea, a businessman in Hong Kong, it...2023-09-0627 minOxford College Principles of Microeconomics CoursePlanet Money: The Pickle ProblemFrom Planet Money:In our second class, we find markets everywhere and discuss what makes them work and when they fail. We start off with the basic tools to understand a market: supply and demand. We find that the price of an item isn't just about money; a price reflects all the information inside a market, from a buyer's willingness to pay to a supplier's cost to make that item. Then, we put the concepts to work with the parable of the pickles. A food bank in Alaska gets sent a truckload of pickles, more...2023-08-3031 minOxford College Principles of Microeconomics CoursePlanet Money: Big Government CheeseFrom Planet Money:In 1976, Jimmy Carter made a campaign promise: I'm giving dairy farmers a break. And after he won, he set out to raise the price of milk. But that's easier said than done. The government couldn't just buy milk. They had to buy something storable that used a lot of milk. So the government started buying up as much cheese as people wanted to sell at the new price. The government wound up spending a lot of cheddar on a lot of cheddar, billions of dollars. Eventually, they bought so much cheese, they had to...2023-08-2320 minOxford College Principles of Microeconomics CourseHidden Brain: Theory Vs. Reality: Why Our Economic Behavior Isn't Always RationalFrom Hidden Brain:We don't always behave the way economic models say we will. We don't save enough for retirement. We order dessert when we're supposed to be dieting. We give donations when we could keep our money for ourselves. Again and again, we fail to act rationally and selfishly — the way traditional economics expects us to. We've seen this during the coronavirus crisis: People selflessly mobilizing to help each other, like the retired Kansas farmer who sent an N95 mask to New York to help a nurse or a doctor. At the sa...2022-08-2250 min
Oxford College Principles of Microeconomics CourseThe Indicator: Unintended Consequences, Hidden DeathsThe ways people and sometimes policymakers respond to disasters can have hidden and unintended consequences. And sometimes those consequences can be tragic. On today's show, our old friend Tim Harford, an economist and host of the Cautionary Tales podcast, joins us to talk about unintended consequences. FWe discuss how our minds are better at solving problems that we can see directly than they are at anticipating problems and risks that our decisions might be creating further down the line. And we talk about how a better understanding of unanticipated consequences and the ""identifiable victim effect"" can help us...2022-07-2509 minOxford College Principles of Microeconomics CourseThroughline: Lives Of The Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a revolutionary spark for all kinds of things — health insurance, social safety nets, big government — all of which were in response to a national crisis. Through the personal accounts of four people who lived during the Great Depression, we look back at what life was like back then and what those stories can teach us about the last time the U.S. went through a national economic cataclysm.2020-11-0447 minOxford College Principles of Microeconomics CourseHidden Forces: Steve Keen | Monetary Misperceptions, Climate Economics, and the Limits to GrowthDemetri speaks with Steve Keen, one of the few economists to correctly anticipate the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. The two discuss Keen’s latest work modeling the impact of climate on economic output, as well as debunking some of the common misperceptions about money and credit held by Keynesian and Austrian theorists alike.2020-10-281h 01
Colgate University Public Economics CourseJacob & Christian: Healthcare Weekly: Privatizing HealthcareJacob and Christian speak with Dr. Harris and Dr. Bourgeois about the costs and benefits of privatizing healthcare for all parties. Both experts have spent decades in medicine and understand the ins-and-outs of healthcare.2019-04-3000 minColgate University Public Economics CourseBen & Scott: Economics of Educating ImmigrantsOur podcast explores additional costs associated with educating immigrant students, and how compounding affects could lead to excess strain for certain school systems. The choices of families are explored in this podcast, as well as positive and negative externalities exerted by all parties.2019-04-2300 minColgate University Public Economics CourseAlex, Carly & Natalie: Vouchers - A hindrance or a benefit?This podcast focuses on educational vouchers. It provides a background of what vouchers are and how they came into place. It explores how vouchers influence curriculum and competition amongst schools. It focuses on whether they benefit student achievement or have no impact at all. In order to help answer these questions, two experts are brought in to share their knowledge. One guest is a pro of vouchers and teaches in a state that generously provides them. The second guest specializes in researching vouchers and has seen very little benefits from the system. The two sides of the debate showcase how...2019-04-1600 minColgate University Public Economics CourseMichael, Tommy & Ryan: Dude-o-nomicsGiven the current political climate and emergence of presidential candidates touting campaign promises, the policy of free higher education has resurged as a topic of renewed interest. We, as politically involved citizens, want to understand the economic impact of free universal higher education in the United States. Considering that this is a currently debated topic in American politics, it is important to analyze the various components of this extra government provision, such as redistribution, crowd out, research methodology, positive externalities, financing, implementation. From our research and discussion with experts in the field of education economics, we believe that a universal...2019-04-0900 minColgate University Public Economics CourseCatria & Leanne: Student Loan DebtStudent debt is a serious issue affecting millions of Americans, this podcast delves into the economics surrounding student loans and the role of the government when it comes to student debt. After discussing how the student loan situation managed to become the crisis seen today, we interview a variety of experts in the field and examine some potential solutions to the student debt problem.2019-04-0200 minColgate University Public Economics CourseAlessandro, Charlie & Pomelo: The Raise the Wage Act of 2019This podcast will place an emphasis on the implications of the Raise the Wage Act of 2019 within the greater context of poverty and inequality. The Economic Policy Institute states that this act is intended to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25, which implies that this policy will more than double the minimum wage and have large economic impacts within the domestic marketplace. While we have not yet covered the poverty and inequality section of this course, we believe that the Raise the Wage Act is of the utmost importance and very...2019-04-0100 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Fa Caroline, Maeve & Matt: Pushing Past PovertySince its inception, the Earned Income Tax credit, or EITC, has been one of the strongest anti-poverty programs in the United States. A rare welfare program supported by both sides of the aisle, the EITC provides credits to working individuals based on income and family size. While the program was originally targeted at allowing single mothers to enter the workforce, the program has had significant positive effects on all individuals receiving the credit, especially children in these families. Our experts, Professor Nicole Simpson and Chuck Marr, discuss the benefits of the EITC to families and the possibility of any changes...2018-12-0300 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Fa Shannon, Danny & Mackenzie: Unemployment InsuranceIn our podcast we explain how unemployment insurance can cause a moral hazard that leads to dependency and how this causes stigmas and can be perpetuated in the media. We start by defining dependency and explaining the moral hazard that comes with unemployment insurance. Next we interview Professor Kunio Tsuyuhara and he explains his study, which found that an increase in UI negatively correlates with economic growth. Next, we focused on media depictions of dependency, which found that dependency is most often addressed when looking at UI in the media. This may be the cause if racialized and gendered images...2018-11-3000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Fa Makayla, Adam & Ben: Healthcare that CaresIn this podcast Makayla, Ben, and Adam discuss drug pricing in the pharmaceutical industry. In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the cost of pharmaceutical drugs. This has not only become a problem for patients, but for prescribers, payers, and policy makers. The pharmaceutical industry is a unique industry because the end user is not normally the one that pays for the prescription drug. Drug pricing in the US is not transparent. With the help of Mike Cropp, President and CEO of Independent Health, and John Rodgers, COO of Independent Health, Makayla, Ben, and Adam explore the...2018-11-0700 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Fa Michael, Allison & John: The Sustainability of Social SecuritySocial Security benefits now outweigh the program's income from taxes and interest earned. With the aging baby-boom generation and the increasing life-span of Americans, how can we sustain such a vital retirement program? This podcast explores the different outlooks experts have on the program and the potential solutions to Social Security's depleting reserves.2018-11-0500 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Fa Divya, Jenna & Nick: No Child Left Behind - Boondoggle or BrilliantThis episode is about No Child Left Behind: how it impacted learning, as well as how it succeeded and how it fell short. In it, we interview with two professionals in the field of education. Both Professor Song and Mrs. Spiess discussed the huge role that standardized testing played in the outcomes of NCLB, and how the act ultimately made learning a lot more generalized and more focused on passing the standardized tests, rather than being individualized. There were obviously areas where NCLB succeeded, and Mrs. Spiess explained that there was actually very real financial success associated with NCLB based...2018-10-2400 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Sp Zem, Preston, & Zach: Cost Problems With the US Healthcare SystemOur topic will concern the healthcare system of the United States, and more specifically will outline the ways in which the US healthcare system is systematically more expensive than that of other countries. Additionally, we will discuss the healthcare system of the United Kingdom, comparing and contrasting this system of healthcare with that of the US, ultimately offering ways in which the system of US health care can be more effective, and competitively priced compared to abroad healthcare systems.2018-05-0400 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Sp Sabrina, Curt & Anders: Bank Bailouts and Moral HazardWe discuss how legislation worked to manage the financial crisis, specifically focusing on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. We then uncover how this safety net works to fuel moral hazard. Professor Thomas Michl and Leslie Picker join our conversation to further discuss the impact this policy had on the way various entities navigate risk.2018-05-0200 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Sp Liam & Enrique: Models for Public FundingOur podcast looks at the structure of funding public schools, focusing on the state and local level of funding. We talk to experts about if they believe that the current funding in optimal and ask them to suggest solutions that they believe would bring the United States closer to optimal. We also offer what we believe would be better public funding structures than the ones present now.2018-05-0100 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Sp Carrie, Austin & Sam: Charter School ChoiceIf Charter Schools do provide better support, what effect does this have on the public schools? If this is not the case, why? We called on two experts Peter Fritzinger, former CFO of DSST (Denver School of Science and Technology), and Professor Song, an Economics professor at Colgate University, to help us answer this question.2018-05-0100 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Sp Sara, Andre & Amanda: The ACA and Women's Self-EmploymentIn this podcast we talk with Professor Blume-Kohout and Professor Bailey about how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) altered the individual insurance market and the effect it had on the affordability and availability of individual health insurance plans. We further the discussion about these changes and look at how these changes affected women and the tendency/ability to be self-employed.2018-04-3000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Sp Aly, Annika & Karli: A Discussion about the Earned Income Tax CreditOn this episode, we talk to Nicole Simpson, an economics professor from Colgate University, and Cherie LaRou, a financial advisor from Hantz Financial Services to discuss the Earned Income Tax Credit. We look at the large role the EITC has in reducing poverty and also the work incentives, and social and administrative costs of the program. We also discuss whether the EITC should be expanded in the future.2018-04-3000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Sp Annie, Charlotte & Cullen: The Situation & State of the U.S. Education SystemIn our podcast we discuss the problems in the education system with special focus on special education. These problems include the balance between federal and local funding, administrative and mandate restrictions, and the voucher system, regarding private and public education. We then ask our experts for their ideas of possible solutions to the flawed education system today.2018-04-2500 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Sp Kevin, Q & Sebastian: Health Care in Switzerland and ChinaIn this podcast, we are going to give you a taste of the swiss and chinese healthcare systems. First,we will talk about how the governments intervene in these two countries. Then we will interview some experts about the pros and cons in these systems. And finally, we will discuss what the US can learn from these systems.2018-04-2300 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Sp Justin, Brett & Dorian: European Union vs. Ireland and Apple - The Sweetheart Deal CaseThe podcast features interviews from Rishi Sharma an Economics Professor at Colgate University who specializes in Trade and Public Finance and Roman Radomyslsky, a Senior Manager at Ernst and Young in the International Tax FSO practice. With their help along with our research, we were able to conduct a dialogue as to why the Sweetheart Deal Case had gotten appealed by Ireland and why the EU is doing all in their power to prevent deals like this from happening. Throughout our discussion we lay out statistics from our specialists that describe what multinational corporation can do for a country like...2018-04-2200 minColgate University Public Economics Course2018_Sp Aram, Raj & Rory: Electric Vehicle MarketOn this Podcast, we discuss many aspects of the electric vehicle market, including policies that the government must enact in order to generate more interest in these vehicles. We also talk to a few experts on this topic to see what their thoughts are about current government policies and the potential for the market to expand.2018-04-2000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2017 B: Dillon, Shameer & Tyler - Winners and Losers of an unequal tax reform strategy-The Talking Heads discussWinners and Losers of an unequal tax reform strategy-The Talking Heads discuss2017-12-1000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2017 B: Connor, Felix & Lea - Educational inequality in Upstate NY public school systemsEducational inequality in Upstate NY public school systems2017-12-1000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2017 B: Ellie, Erin & Livia - The public policies toward agricultureThe public policies toward agriculture2017-12-1000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2017 B: Bobby, Daniel & Nick - Medicare: Outdated and Unsustainable?Medicare in the United States - Is it outdated and unsustainable? If it is not reformed, it has potential big implications on elders’ future access to quality health care and massive burdens on taxpayers. We will further examine these implications and talk about why the current structure of Medicare has become outdated, specifically for taxpayers and the allocation of the money within the healthcare industry. We will garner potential solutions with the experts we reach out to in the healthcare industry. We have discussed the allocation of responsibilities, but will be working together for the majority of the project.2017-12-1000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2017 B: Ayesha, JD & Jeffrey - The Individual Mandate of the Affordable Care ActThe Individual Mandate of the Affordable Care Act2017-12-1000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2017 B: Alex, Mike & Ron - The impact of the GOP tax plan on economic mobilityThe impact of the GOP tax plan on economic mobility2017-12-1000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2017 A: Aidan, Ryan & Seamus - The impact of the tax bill on inequalityThe impact of the tax bill on inequality2017-12-1000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2017 A: Armando, Austin & Jack - The benefits of privatizing veteran's healthcareThe benefits of privatizing veteran's healthcare2017-12-1000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2017 A: Alyssa, Fredrik & Wenju - Affordable Care ActAffordable Care Act2017-12-1000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2017 A: Alex & Jacob - The impact of the tax bill on the public healthcare systemThe impact of the tax bill on the public healthcare system2017-12-1000 minColgate University Public Economics Course2017 A: Erik & Tycen - The US legal system and inequalityThe US legal system and inequality2017-12-1000 min