11/2/2017 Episode was about the origin of behavioral economics. Summed up succinctly by the creator of the field (Richard Thaler), who won a Nobel Prize: traditional economics can be boiled down to two words “people optimize.” Thaler’s response that summarizes behavioral economics: “no they don’t” The idea is that people do not act rationally inContinue reading “Planet Money Podcast – “Nudge, Nudge, Nobel””
Tag Archives: Planet Money
Podcast: Planet Money – The Chicken Tax
Podcast introduces an interesting question: when you think of mid-size sedans in the US, you can name a bunch of models made by both foreign and domestic car companies. But when you think of pickup trucks, you only really think about US companies. Why do US automotive companies dominate the US pickup truck marketContinue reading “Podcast: Planet Money – The Chicken Tax”
Planet Money – Currency
From 5-16-12: -Only 30% of transactions (consumer to business transactions) are conducted using paper currency
Planet Money – Cost of College
From 5-15-12: -high sticker price of colleges is not the same as what people actually pay. -high sticker price connotes “better” education and allows schools to offer higher scholarships -some people will pay the higher price enabling schools to offer high scholarships and aid to those who went/can’t -actually cost of private college thatContinue reading “Planet Money – Cost of College”
Planet Money – Fiscal Cliff
-financial cliff coming up Jan 1 2013- deficit reduction and bush era tax cuts ending
Planet Money – Dollar Coins
From 4-24-12: -unemployment claims on the rise -legislation pending to replace dollar Bill with dollar coins -arguments for: coins last longer, save money, vending machine, costs .15 lasts 30 years. Arguments against: cheaper to make, does not last as long, coin jar effect(people don’t like to use coins as much as bills)
Planet Money – New Economy
From 3-13-2012: -For ways to succeed in the new economy: 1. Stay on top of technological change. 2. Specialize. 3. Buffer against unexpected economic shocks that are inevitable. 4. Offer something at a premium that no one else can. -As of Dec, Jan and Feb 2012 economy adding 200k jobs a month. Very optimistic aboutContinue reading “Planet Money – New Economy”
Planet Money – Government Spending
From 2-28-12: -Greece economy projected to shrink by 7% in 2012. Bad number. In Great Recession, U.S. economy shrank by about 4% -View of government spending from economics perspective: government spending necessary for public goods: lighthouses, defense, security, autopsies, etc (criteria for public good- no marginal cost, no exclusivity) Post office not a publicContinue reading “Planet Money – Government Spending”
Planet Money – Debt
From 2-27-2012: Solutions for countries to get out of debt. -Four traditional ways: Forgiveness, Inflation, GDP growth, Default -”Jubilee” loan forgiveness: ancient idea that loans should be forgiven in 50 years -Debt to GDP ratio indicates a country’s solvency. Debt to GDP ratio of 90 is high limit; Greece anticipated to get up toContinue reading “Planet Money – Debt”
Book Summaries. Less than 272 words. 