Michael Klein speaks with Michael Keen and Joel Slemrod about their new book, Rebellion, Rascals and Revenue: Tax Follies and Wisdom Through the Ages, highlighting the challenges governments face when taxing their citizens, how taxes alter people's behavior, and the difficulty in assessing who bears the burden of a particular tax. Note: This podcast was first published on 29th March, 2021.

Argentina has, in the last 120 years, fallen from one of the richest countries in the world to one that has seen numerous episodes when national income cratered, multiple debt defaults (forcing it to turn repeatedly to the IMF for bailouts), and hyperinflation. What have been the sources of these crises? Are the radical plans of the country’s new president, Javier Milei, likely to turn the corner on the past? Alejandro Werner joins EconoFact Senior Advisor Charles Collyns to discuss the history of Argentina’s economy, the problems it currently faces, and its prospects for recovery. Currently Director of the Georgetown Americas Institute, Alejandro served as a senior official in the Mexican Finance Ministry, and subsequently as Director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department.

In 2019, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office projected that net immigration in 2023 would total 1 million. More recent estimates from the agency put net immigration for 2023 at 3.3 million. How has increased immigration affected the post-COVID economic recovery in the U.S.? More broadly, what role does immigration play in the American economy? What parts of the economy are particularly dependent on non-native born workers? And with low birth rates, how important is immigration for continued economic growth, and for the solvency of Social Security and Medicare? Tara Watson joins EconoFact Chats to discuss these issues. Tara is a Professor of Economics at Williams College. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Treasury from 2015 to 2016, and is currently a Rubenstein Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

In the wake of COVID, many colleges dropped SAT and ACT test requirements. Recently however, schools including Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown have mandated standardized test scores once again. Could the move hurt less economically privileged applicants? David Deming joins EconoFact Chats to highlight that even though standardized tests can be gamed by more privileged students through extensive test preparation, and retaking of tests, they remain less biased than other factors that can help students stand out in the admissions process. And getting rid of standardized testing, or even going ‘test optional,’ could make the problem of privilege in college admissions worse, instead of better. David is the Isabelle and Scott Black Professor of Political Economy, and Academic Dean at the Harvard Kennedy School.

A center-right economic policy agenda has traditionally meant a focus on lower marginal tax rates, fiscal prudence, an openness to immigration, free trade and globalization. In recent years however, there has been significant change in the Republican Party's stance on some of these issues -- especially trade and immigration. Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) joins EconoFact Chats to highlight some of the factors driving these changes, and to discuss whether current Republican views on trade and immigration are likely to stay over coming election cycles Michael is the Director of Economic Policy Studies, and the Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at AEI. He also serves on EconoFact's Board of Advisors.

Economic analysis does not offer many answers when it comes to valuing efficiency gains versus disruptions to people and communities from changes brought about by international trade or technological change. Jeff Frieden joins EconoFact Chats to highlight that politics, while often messy, remains one of the only ways societies put a value on things economists can’t easily measure. Jeff is a Professor of Government at Harvard University. His research focuses on the politics of international economic relations.

At over $840 billion, the United States Department of Defense budget request for 2024 accounts for ~3% of national income, almost half of all Federal discretionary budget outlays, and over 35% of global military spending. Michael E. O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution joins EconoFact Chats to put these figures in historical context, and discuss how decisions about the size and type of defense expenditures the U.S. undertakes are made. Michael is a Senior Fellow and the Director of Research in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution. He also serves as a member of the Defense Policy Board at the U.S. Department of Defense.

Much of global trade in goods and services is denominated in U.S. dollars. The dollar is widely used for bilateral trade between countries other than the United States. And the use of the dollar is even more dominant in global financial transactions. What advantages accrue to the United States from the dominance of the dollar? Are there costs associated with it as well? Does the importance of the dollar require a special role for the Federal Reserve at times of crises? Linda Goldberg, a Financial Research Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York joins EconoFact Chats to discuss these issues. A leading expert on global banking, international capital flows, and the international roles of currencies, Linda previously served as Senior Vice President, the Head of Global Economic Analysis at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics samples about 80,000 products and services each month to estimate headline inflation. But the published inflation rate, like many other aggregate statistics, masks very different price changes across categories of goods. What information can we glean from a more fine-grained look at price changes across more disaggregated categories of goods and services, or even particular products? EconoFact Chats welcomes back Alberto Cavallo to discuss insights from his analysis of over a billion prices, focusing on whether recent inflation dynamics across countries have followed similar patterns, how disaggregated numbers can help us understand when inflation turns higher or lower, and what's been happening with U.S. inflation most recently. Alberto is the Thomas S. Murphy Professor of Business Administration 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.

The Supplemental Poverty Measure put the 2022 U.S. child poverty rate at 12%, more than double the 5% rate in 2021. Child poverty is especially high for families with children under 5, children in single-mother households, children of color, and children in immigrant families. Even families who are not poor face financial burdens and difficulties, especially with respect to securing good, safe, and reliable childcare. The Annie E. Casey Foundation has been at the forefront of documenting the challenges facing children and their families, and suggesting policies to alleviate these problems. Lisa Hamilton, the President and CEO of the Foundation joins EconoFact Chats to discuss their research on these issues and the policies they advocate to support families with children. Lisa became the President of the Annie E. Casey Foundation in 2019 after serving in a variety of other roles there, including Chief Program Officer and Vice President of External Affairs.

The world is facing a 'poly-crisis' of interconnected economic, environmental, geo-political, and governance challenges. Lawrence Summers is particularly well placed to discuss these issues, given his wide experience in government, and the impact his research has had on economics. In a wide-ranging discussion, Larry discusses the unprecedented fall in world poverty over the past half-century, the role of America in fostering a well-functioning rules-based global system, the current experience with inflation, policies to address inequality, and the role of economists in policy making. Larry is a University Professor at Harvard University. He has served as the Director of the National Economic Council, the Secretary of the Treasury, Chief Economist at the World Bank, President of Harvard University, and Managing Partner at D.E. Shaw.

Are policies from over a century ago that addressed concerns about large trusts like Standard Oil and the American Tobacco Company appropriate today? Or does the source of the market power of high-tech companies like Meta and Alphabet require a new paradigm? Naomi Lamoreaux joins EconoFact Chats to discuss the historical shifts in anti-trust policy from the late 19th and early 20th century to today, and the ongoing tension between rewarding innovation and curtailing anticompetitive activities. Naomi is a senior research scholar at the University of Michigan Law School, and the Stanley B. Resor Professor Emeritus of Economics, and Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University.

The United States economy surprised many in 2023 with its low inflation, high employment, and strong economic growth. In spite of this, American consumer sentiment had been relatively negative until recently, but now has begun to improve in line with this good performance. 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 join EconoFact Chats to discuss the sources of the good economic performance, the disconnect with consumer sentiment, some reasons for continued economic optimism, as well as key risks going into 2024.

Economists tend to think of technological change as a good thing. But, as Daron Acemoglu, and Simon Johnson highlight in their new book 'Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity,' the path technological development takes has, for millennia, been linked with political power and to prevailing ideas of how to attain progress. And often the political and social milieu served to concentrate the gains from technological change to a privileged few. Simon Johnson joins EconoFact Chats to discuss his new book, highlighting what the driving vision for technological progress has been over various periods of development, the broader social impact of inventions that come about, and whether technological progress can be made more responsive to broader societal needs. Simon is the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He served as Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund in 2007-08. Note: This podcast was first published on 23rd July, 2023.

Distrust is based on experience – and there are many historical experiences that give rise to distrust among African-Americans of economic institutions in the United States, including the laws of the Jim Crow era and discrimination in hiring, lending, and access to education and health care. Trevon Logan discusses historical experiences, and the long shadow cast by them, in this EconoFact Chats episode.  Part of this discussion centers on the Green Book, published annually between 1936 and 1966, that offered guidance to Black travelers about public accommodations like restaurants and motels that they could patronize. Trevon’s research analyzes how the locations of establishments listed in the Green Book correlate with the presence of anti-discriminatory laws, the educational and racial profiles of towns and cities, and the history of overt racist acts like lynchings in those places.    Trevon is a Hazel C. Youngberg Trustees Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Ohio State University. He is also the inaugural director of the National Bureau of Economic Research Working Group on Race and Stratification in the Economy. Note: This podcast was first published on 18th September, 2022.

For many Americans, episodes of stress are often temporary. But for marginalized communities -- especially black people, and those living in poverty, stress is, too often, an ongoing part of life. And this has dire consequences on health and well-being. Our guest on EconoFact Chats this week, Arline Geronimus has done pioneering work in understanding the consequences of chronic stress, especially as it relates to maternal and infant health; contributing, counterintuitively, to poorer birth outcomes for babies born to older black mothers, as compared to those born to younger ones. Arline is a Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan. She is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academies of Science. Her newest book is “Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society.” Note: This podcast was first published on 28th May, 2023.

Football and basketball teams at Division I universities generate billions in revenue. But the student-athletes themselves do not receive salaries. Should they? Most have scholarships for their tuitions, but to what degree are they students, as well as athletes? And how does the money raised through these big-ticket sports support other, less high-profile sports, and the academic mission of these colleges and universities, if at all? Andrew Zimbalist joins EconoFact Chats to discuss these issues. Andy is the Robert A. Woods Professor Emeritus of Economics at Smith College. He has consulted in the sports industry for numerous players' associations, cities, companies, teams, and leagues. Note: This podcast was first published on 18th December, 2022.

About one-fifth of women who graduated from college between 1900 and 1920 were in the labor force in their mid to late twenties. In contrast, more than four-fifths of women graduating from college between 1980 and 2000 worked outside the home in their mid to late twenties. A flip side of this is the proportion of women married by age 30; 50% for those who graduated college between 1900 and 1920 and about 25% for those graduating between 1980 and 2000.  These statistics reflect choices that women have made and continue to make about balancing a career with raising children, and the choices that men have made and continue to make as well. On this episode of EconoFact Chats, Michael Klein speaks with Claudia Goldin of Harvard University about her recent book, Career and Family: Women's Century-Long Journey toward Equity, highlighting a wealth of statistics and examining cultural shifts shaping these choices. Claudia is the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University. She is a former President of the American Economic Association, and co-directs the National Bureau of Economic Research's Gender in the Economy Study Group. Note: This podcast was first published on 29th January, 2023.

The federal government’s debt is just under 100 percent of GDP – and it is projected to grow to 115 percent of GDP in a decade, and 180 percent of GDP in thirty years.  Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody’s Analytics, discusses the reasons debt increased significantly before the pandemic, its dramatic rise since then, and its expected further increase. He also explains how high debt adversely affects people’s living standards as well as the ability of the government to respond to both ongoing needs and future economic crises. He offers some proposals for dealing with the debt, including a carbon tax, raising the payroll tax on high-income individuals, and establishing a bipartisan commission to address the country’s fiscal challenges. Along with his role as Chief Economist at Moody’s Analytics, Mark also serves on the Board of Directors of MGIC, the nations largest private mortgage insurance company and is the lead director of the Reinvestment Fund, one of the nation’s largest community development financial institutions that makes investments in underserved communities.

Zero-sum thinking - the belief that gains for some necessarily come at the expense of others - can shape support for economic redistribution, race- and gender-based affirmative action, and immigration policies. Drawing on new survey data, Stefanie Stantcheva joins EconoFact Chats to discuss her research on what determines whether people view the world as zero sum. Her analysis demonstrates that viewing the world in zero-sum terms is not a left vs. right issue. Rather factors such as people’s ancestry, where they live, with whom they interact, and their generation influence their views on this point – and, through this, their views on a range of economic and social policies. Stefanie is the Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy at Harvard, and the founder of the Social Economics Lab.