Economics is called the dismal science in part because it is about hard choices — situations where we can't have our cake and eat it too. Last year it seemed as if COVID wasn't one of them. Keeping the virus at bay gave Australia one of the world's lowest death tolls and one of its shortest recessions. The Delta variant changed that and made the "costs" of fighting the pandemic much harder to bear. The Economists discusses the "trade offs" of the pandemic and the road ahead. Guests: Stephen Duckett, Health and Aged Care Program Director, Grattan Institute Peter Harris, Former Productivity Commission chair, former CEO, National COVID-19 Coordination Commission Advisory Board

Professor Richard Thaler has spent his career investigating how people really behave – how we save for retirement, what we choose to eat, how we use energy. Through understanding the many reasons for human misjudgement, such as being too optimistic, or facing too many choices, Richard Thaler's work has helped people make better decisions. The concept is known as "nudge" and nudge units are now commonplace in governments and businesses around the world to develop better policy. Guest: Professor Richard Thaler, Professor of Behavioural Science and Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and co-author of "Nudge".

The underlying strength in the Australian economy has again beat many expectations; the nation's economy rose 0.7 per cent in the June quarter. However, the figures are like a look in the rear-view mirror and do not capture the full pain of the latest lockdowns. Is the latest economic news set to be as good as it gets? Guests: Josh Frydenberg, Federal Treasurer Jo Masters, Chief Economist, EY Oceania    

Huge amounts of information, known as administrative data, are being used by government and researchers to know what you need, even before you need it.  How are linkages between data sets, and tracking types of people and businesses over time helping to improve decision making?   Guests: Dr David Gruen, Australian Statistician, Head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Bob Breunig, Director, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Australian National University

A landmark report has urged the world's governments to come up with a better form of national accounting from GDP, to reflect the value and depletion of nature. Plus, an update on carbon markets and the emerging field of biodiversity offsets. Guests: Diane Coyle, Bennett Professor of Public Policy, University of Cambridge Geoff Summerhayes, Senior Advisor, Pollination, former executive board member, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

House prices in Australia are climbing at rates we’ve seldom seen. In all age groups, there is more renting and less home ownership than there used to be. Is housing supply part of the problem? Guests: Peter Tulip, Chief Economist, Centre for Independent Studies and former senior research manager at the Reserve Bank of Australia Cameron Murray, Research Fellow, Henry Halloran Trust, University of Sydney Rachel Ong ViforJ, Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow, Professor at the School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Curtin University    

China has argued the tariffs on Australian goods such as wine and barley, are justified by Australia “dumping” products at low cost on the Chinese market and propping up the sectors with unfair subsidies – claims Australia denies. What’s behind the complaints and is there an exit strategy to restore trade? Guests: Dr Craig Emerson, economic consultant, former Minister for Trade David Uren, Senior Fellow, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

Australia's annual inflation rate has jumped to 3.8%, up from just 1.1%. Inflation is also rising in the United States – but is it really a worry? Plus, the Australian-led innovation to bring the Consumer Price Index into the 21st century. Guests Professor Kevin Fox, Director, Centre for Applied Economic Research, UNSW Business School Nicki Hutley, economic consultant, advisor to Social Outcomes and Climate Council, former Senior Partner, Deloitte Access Economics

The closure of Australia’s border to immigration has provided a rare chance to assess in stark terms how important immigration is to Australia. So far, unemployment is at record lows and we’re spending money at home. While there may be short term benefits – what are the longer-term implications? Guests: Saul Eslake, Corinna Economic Advisory, former chief economist of ANZ Bank and of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Gabriela D'Souza, Senior Economist, Committee for Economic Development of Australia

Australia's unemployment rate has fallen to 4.9 per cent, with almost 30,000 jobs created in June according to the official Bureau of Statistics data. The last time it was this low was a decade ago. Can Australia get even more people into work? Guests: Emeritus Professor Sue Richardson, Flinders University, former director of the National Institute of Labour Studies Emeritus Professor Bill Mitchell, Chair in Economics, Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity, University of Newcastle

What is the Reserve Bank of Australia doing to taper its economic support as it becomes more confident about Australia’s recovery? Plus, fewer high school students, and fewer girls are choosing to study economics. A school is three times more likely to offer the subject if it is in a well-off area compared to a poorer area. What are the implications? Guests: Su-Ling Ong, Managing Director, Chief Economist, RBC Capital Markets Leith Thompson Second Master Economics, Sydney Grammar School

Over the next 40 years, Australia’s population is expected to age and become smaller than expected. What are the implications and is it really a problem? Guests: Professor John Piggott, Director, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR), UNSW Professor Miranda Stewart, tax specialist, University of Melbourne Law School  

How do we measure the costs and benefits of lockdowns and how can we move forward to fully open the economy? Plus, the "statistical" value of a human life – how this measure underpins government decision making. The Economists are back on RN! Guests: Bob Gregory, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University and former board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia Kip Viscusi, Professor of Law, Economics, and Management, Vanderbilt University, Nashville Tennessee

GDP figures say that Australia is heading towards recession for the first time in 29 years. Now what? As 2020 brought bushfires, drought and floods, we were already in financial trouble. But the measures taken to save lives in the face of COVID-19 have pushed the economy over the edge. Nicki Hutley, partner at Deloitte Access Economics and Terry Rawnsley from SGS Economics and Planning, join us to pull apart the GDP 'sausage' and tell us what it all means.

If economics was made more relatable, it would be easier to understand. Justin Wolfers says we should start by teaching it differently. He says that although the guiding principles have largely remained, they need to be pulled apart and used in everyday decision-making to be useful. And if you don't want to study at university, there are some great resources to guide you through say, a pandemic. Justin Wolfers is a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan and a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He co-authored (with Betsey Stevenson) Principles of Economics.

The hardships caused by the COVID-19 shutdown are not evenly distributed. In the US, 40% of the workforce who earn just $40,000 a year, have lost their jobs. Australians in a similar position will also face harsher conditions than higher earners. But it goes beyond employment into poverty-specific issues like homelessness and neglect. Stefanie Schurer explains why most of the suffering will land on the shoulders of children. Professor Schurer is at Sydney University. She is chief investigator at the NHMRC of Research Excellence of both Child and Indigenous Youth Well-being. Also How does the Australian Bureau of Statistics gather data in the fast-moving times of the coronavirus? David Gruen, lead statistician of the ABS and former chief economist to the prime minister, joins us.

The COVID-19-induced recession will be nothing like any recession, indeed depression, we have seen before. The difference this time is that the government is not reacting to poor market performance. Rather, it has actively directed business across Australia to close its doors. Bob Gregory is a former board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia. He says that the economy will be 'grim for six to nine months' and after that, it is impossible to know. Bob Gregory is Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University. Also Behavioural economist Bob Slonim explains why we need to think more creatively to inspire more downloads of the COVIDSafe app. Former research director of the prime minister's BETA unit, Bob Slonim is now at Sydney University.

As the dust starts to settle on the Australian economy, what will work look like? Many of us hope to still have jobs but wonder how they will change. Jessica Mizrahii from Deloitte Access Economists assures us not to worry, that the future of work is still human. But when we have money in our pockets again, how will we spend it? Also Ross Garnaut joins us. Will we finally change our approach to transforming energy and mining?

Pandemics require individuals to contribute to the greater good. Behavioural economist, Stephen Whyte says that it is possible to 'nudge' people towards actions that improve their lives. Staying at home, social- distancing and downloading the COVIDSafe app are pro-social behaviours we can implement ourselves. But how do we incentivise big companies to put the necessary resources into finding a vaccine? Joshua Gans, author of Economics in the Age of COVID-19 explains.

Competition in the free market is best for everyone. Except when it's not. In the time of COVID-19, it most definitely is not. Rod Sims is chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. He says that when we are fighting a pandemic-induced war, the economy is flipped on its head. We must all work together to supply what people need, even if it involves co-operating with rival companies. But once all parties have sat at the same table, how do we prevent collusion after the 'war' is over?