Economics of the Ukrainian Crisis
With Russian on the march in Crimea, NPR’s Planet Money podcast recently discussed the economics of the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine and the role natural gas plays in the dispute.
Here is a description of the podcast from the Planet Money Blog:
On today’s show, how a policy that made natural gas very cheap for every household in Ukraine almost bankrupted the nation. And how that led, in part, to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?
A fundamental skill which all good lawyer possess is the ability to effectively communicate ideas. According to the most recent episode of the Freakonomic Radio podcast, “the brain’s greatest attribute is knowing what other people are thinking.” This attribute is key to communication.
This episode, although not explicitly about public policy, is helpful for any lawyer or layman in understand how the brain works and how to better communicate and negotiate.
Here is a description of the show:
In the episode, Stephen Dubner talks to Nicholas Epley. Here’s how Epley introduces himself:
EPLEY: I’m a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago. I’m in the Booth School of Business, and I study mind-reading.
What’s a B-school professor doing studying mind-reading? Well, as he says:
EPLEY: If you can’t understand what other people think [and] how you’re being seen by other people, it’s very hard to lead or manage them effectively.
Epley has written a book on research in the field of mind-reading, including some of his own studies. It’s called Mindwise: How We Understand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want
. A few things you’ll learn in the episode that you never thought you wanted to know, but do:
A Barry Manilow t-shirt can teach us a lesson about the spotlight effect.
Stephen Dubner is a “fanilow” (sort of).
“Another One Bites the Dust” — when played backward — contains a secret message that, in the end, may help people communicate better.
Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?
A fundamental skill which all good lawyer possess is the ability to effectively communicate ideas. According to the most recent episode of the Freakonomic Radio podcast, “the brain’s greatest attribute is knowing what other people are thinking.” This attribute is key to communication.
This episode, although not explicitly about public policy, is helpful for any lawyer or layman in understand how the brain works and how to better communicate and negotiate.
Here is a description of the show:
In the episode, Stephen Dubner talks to Nicholas Epley. Here’s how Epley introduces himself:
EPLEY: I’m a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago. I’m in the Booth School of Business, and I study mind-reading.
What’s a B-school professor doing studying mind-reading? Well, as he says:
EPLEY: If you can’t understand what other people think [and] how you’re being seen by other people, it’s very hard to lead or manage them effectively.
Epley has written a book on research in the field of mind-reading, including some of his own studies. It’s called Mindwise: How We Understand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want
A Barry Manilow t-shirt can teach us a lesson about the spotlight effect.
Stephen Dubner is a “fanilow” (sort of).
“Another One Bites the Dust” — when played backward — contains a secret message that, in the end, may help people communicate better.
Why Elder Law Professors Love La Crosse, Wisconsin
The most recent episode of the Planet Money podcast was about La Crosse, Wisconsin, which it describes as “The Town That Loves Death.” Despite this ominous description, La Crosse, Wisconsin is not as sinister as it sounds. Instead, it is a city that any elder law professor would be proud to live in as 96% of adult citizens of La Crosse, Wisconsin have express advance directives to prepare for their passing.
Here is a description of the podcast from the Planet Money website:
People in La Crosse, Wisconsin are used to talking about death. In fact, 96 percent of people who die in this small, Midwestern city have specific directions laid out for when they pass. That number is astounding. Nationwide, it’s more like 50 percent.
In today’s episode, we’ll take you to a place where dying has become acceptable dinner conversation for teenagers and senior citizens alike. A place that also happens to have the lowest healthcare spending of any region in the country.
Freakonomics on Marriage Part II
Last week, we linked to the first part of Freakonomics podcast on motivations for marriage. This week, to quote the late Paul Harvey, is “the rest of the story.”
Here is a description of “Why Marry? (Part 2)”:
In last week’s podcast, “Why Marry? (Part 1),” we talked with economists Justin Wolfers and Claudia Goldin about how marriage has changed over the last half century. How popular is marriage these days? Are married people happier? Isdivorce as prevalent as we hear?
Now it’s time for “Why Marry? (Part 2).” (You can download/subscribe at iTunes, get the RSS feed, listen via the media player above, or read the transcript.) With the U.S. marriage rate at an all-time low, around 50 percent, we try to find out the causes, and consequences, of the decline of the institution.
First, to get a picture of who marries today and who does not, we talk with Ivory Toldson, a professor of counseling psychology at Howard University and research analyst at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. He tells us:
TOLDSON: People who are less educated tend to be married less than people who are more educated. People who have higher incomes are more likely to be married than those who have lower incomes. And people in smaller cities are more likely to be married than people in larger cities. And that’s true across all races.
One area of particular interest to Toldson is the marriage rate among African-Americans. He talks about his research into the question “Are there enough successful black men for the black women who want them?” The answer is nuanced — but surprising nonetheless.
We also hear from Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster and strategist and co-author of the bookWhat Women Really Want
. Lake has spent much of her career looking into the intersection of marriage and politics. For instance:
LAKE: We asked married men and married women: Do you usually vote the same way as your spouse? And 73 percent of married men said confidently yes, and 49 percent of married women say yes. And I call that the “sure honey” factor.
Lake talks about one of the most striking consequences of the low marriage rate: the number of unmarried women who are having children. She tells us that in 1980, 18 percent of births were to unmarried women, while the number today is just over 40 percent. There are inevitable economic ramifications to such a dramatic shift:
LAKE: Two-thirds of unmarried women say that there was some basic cost that they had in their families that they couldn’t make ends meet in the last year. They couldn’t pay the bill compared to 40 percent of married mothers.
For years, marriage has been promoted as a way to fight poverty, particularly for women with children. But would these mothers be better off if they were married? The answer isn’t clear.
What is clear is that the old model of marriage is nowhere near as attractive as it once was. So how about a new model? What would happen if marriage were treated more like an employment contract?