The Pie: An Economics Podcast
Business & Finance
About
Economists are always talking about The Pie – how it grows and shrinks, how it’s sliced, and who gets the biggest shares. Join host Tess Vigeland as she talks with leading economists from the University of Chicago about their cutting-edge research and key events of the day. Hear how the economic pie is at the heart of issues like the aftermath of a global pandemic, jobs, energy policy, and more.
Episodes
- Life as a Lab: John List on the Art and Ethics of Field Experiments
Have you taken a Lyft, shopped at Walmart, or used Facebook in the last decade? If so, you've likely been a participant in one of John List's experiments. In this episode of The Pie, List, Professor of Economics and Director of the Becker…
- Wealth of Institutions: Randall Kroszner on Why Markets Stayed Calm While the Fed Came Under Fire
Earlier this year, former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that political pressure on the Federal Reserve could turn the U.S. into "a banana republic." And yet long-term interest rates, inflation expectations, and the dollar have sho…
- A Conversation with Raghuram Rajan: Corporate Governance, Community, and Political Economy
In this Extra Slice of The Pie, guest host Ben Krause sits down with Raghuram Rajan, Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth, for a wide-ranging conversation on everything from what 25,000 CEO let…
- The Uneven Promise of School Choice: Who Applies vs. Who Benefits
When public school districts offer options like magnet schools and dual-language programs, families who are richer, whiter, and higher-achieving are more likely to opt in. Meanwhile, students who would benefit most are least likely to appl…
- The War in Iran: Oil, Cyber Warfare, and Alliances
On February 28, the US and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran. Four weeks later, the conflict shows no signs of ending. Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz, taking roughly 10% of global oil supply off the market. Energy prices have…
- The Geography of Human Capital: Why Rich Regions Stay Rich
People in the Netherlands average nearly 11 years of schooling, compared to about 2.5 for those in the Central African Republic. Why don't these gaps close? In this episode, Esteban Rossi-Hansberg of the University of Chicago explains rece…
- Eugene Fama on 60 Years of Finance Research, Index Funds, and Market Efficiency
If you have money in an index fund, you are benefiting from Eugene Fama's work. In this Extra Slice of The Pie, the Nobel laureate and "father of modern finance" reflects on a career that reshaped how trillions of dollars are invested, inc…
- The Transformation of Capitalism: 250 Years After Adam Smith
Two hundred fifty years after The Wealth of Nations , capitalism looks nothing like Adam Smith imagined (and nothing like Karl Marx predicted, either). Smith envisioned small, decentralized producers, while Marx foresaw concentration domin…
- Laboratories of Autocracy: What Happens When China Shuts Down Its Policy Experiments
The common perception of Chinese governance is a strong, centralized state. For decades, however, the vast majority of the country's policies originated with local governments, as officials experimented, competed, and copied each other's s…
- Who Really Paid for the Tariffs? Brent Neiman on Liberation Day's Economic Aftermath
Who bore the cost of 2025's sweeping tariffs? UChicago economist Brent Neiman returns to The Pie to discuss his new research with co-author Gita Gopinath examining the effects of last year's tariffs. Neiman reveals a gap between statutory…
- Venezuela After Maduro: What Comes Next?
Days after the Trump administration's surprise military operation captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, a panel of UChicago scholars gathered to make sense of what it means for Venezuela, the United States, and the region. Professor C…
- Why Banks Exist and Why They Fail: Douglas Diamond on Runs, Regulation, and the Risks of Short-Term Debt
Financial crises are "everywhere and always" a problem of short-term debt. In this Extra Slice of The Pie, Nobel laureate Douglas Diamond explains his groundbreaking research on why banks exist in the first place, and why they're vulnerabl…
- At What Age Does Family Income Most Shape Your Future? Timing and Intergenerational Mobility
Standard measures of intergenerational mobility treat parental income as a single average across childhood. In this episode, Steven Durlauf, Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy and Director…
- The Pie, Wrapped: Innovation, Faith, Purpose, and Market Power
As we close out 2025, host Tess Vigeland highlights research from UChicago scholars. Hyuk Su Kwon, Assistant Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, explains the design of electric vehicle subsidies. Eduardo Montero, Assistant Pro…
- A Conversation with Roger Myerson: Harmonicas, Xenophon, and Why Your Mayor Matters More Than You Think
In this wide-ranging conversation, Nobel Prize–winning economist Roger Myerson reflects on a career studying how rules shape human behavior, from optimal auction design to Ukraine's decentralization reforms. Myerson explains the foundation…
- Chat2Learn: Using Simple Conversation Prompts to Boost Early Childhood Development
Large gaps in language skills between children from different socioeconomic backgrounds emerge early and persist throughout schooling. In this episode, Ariel Kalil, Professor of Public Policy at UChicago's Harris School, discusses her rese…
- Human Capital for Humans: An Accessible Introduction to the Economic Science of People
What's the greatest driver of economic growth? Love. In this episode, UChicago economist Pablo Peña presents his new book Human Capital for Humans, inspired by Nobel laureate Gary Becker's legendary doctoral course. In conversation with ho…
- Liberalism and the Great Enrichment: Why Ideas, Not Capital, Made the Modern World
Deirdre McCloskey argues the world's jump from $2 to $50 per day in average income came from a radical 18th-century shift: equality of permission, or letting ordinary people have a go at bettering themselves. She traces how liberating huma…
- Economics for Everyone: Teaching the World to Think Like an Economist
According to the TIAA Institute, American adults correctly answered just 49% of basic financial questions in 2024, suggesting a fundamental gap in economic literacy. In this episode Robert Shimer, Professor of Economics at the University o…
- You Might Also Like: Farmer’s A.I. Manac, from Shocked
A warmer world is here. Now what? Listen to Shocked, from the University of Chicago’s Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, and hear journalist Amy Harder and economist Michael Greenstone share new ways of thinking about climate ch…
- Economic Cheat Codes: How Game Theory Can Help You Win at Work, Love, and Life
The secret to winning in a rigged economy isn't changing the rules, argues Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather, but mastering the game. In this episode, Fairweather, the first Black woman to earn a PhD from UChicago's Economics Depart…
- Moving to Opportunity: Together?
When couples move for work, whose career takes the hit? UChicago economist Matt Notowidigdo discusses research showing that when heterosexual couples relocate, men's incomes increase by 10-15% while women's earnings barely budge, generatin…
- The Economics of Early Childhood: Why the First Five Years Matter Most
Nobel laureate James Heckman explains why ages zero to five are critical for brain development and lifelong outcomes. He discusses the Perry Preschool Program's surprising health benefits 35 years later, why low-cost home-visiting programs…
- The Law of Unintended Consequences: How Dobbs Changed Contraceptive Choices
What happened to contraceptive choices when the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision reversed Roe v. Wade in 2022? UChicago's Yana Gallen uses health insurance claims from millions of Americans to examine the ripple effects and reveal surprising…
- Finding Your Why at Work: The Economics of Purpose
Can a day of self-reflection improve workplace performance? UChicago economist Virginia Minni reveals findings from a randomized trial involving nearly 3,000 employees who participated in a "Discover Your Purpose" workshop. Minni explains…
- Stuck: How Housing Regulation Ended America's Mobility Revolution
University of Chicago economist Peter Ganong and Atlantic deputy executive editor Yoni Appelbaum discuss the decline in American geographic mobility since 1970 and the role of housing regulation in restricting access to opportunity-rich ci…
- Building Costs vs. Housing Prices: Why Construction Isn't Driving the Crisis
Historically, one major reason has consistently been cited for the growth in housing costs in this country: the rising cost of building homes. But that relationship is changing. In this episode, University of Chicago economist Chad Syverso…
- Pay Isn’t Everything: How Economists Put a Price on Job Perks
Economists often focus on wages when studying the labor market, but paychecks tell only part of the story. University of Chicago economist Evan Rose and his co-authors surveyed 20,000 Danish workers to put a dollar value on the intangible…
- Decoding Educational Content: A Computational Comparison Between Public and Religious School Textbooks
Textbooks don't just teach facts, they shape how children understand the world and their place in it. In this episode, UChicago economist Anjali Adukia discusses her study of textbooks across public schools, religious private schools, and…
- When Religion Meets the Marketplace: Faith, Farming, and Trade-Offs
What happens when your religion forbids the production of crops that dominate your local economy? In this episode, UChicago economist Eduardo Montero unpacks new research on the economic costs of religious prohibitions, and how these trade…
- Green Bubble Stigma: Texting, Status, and Market Power
A text bubble might seem trivial, until it shapes market dynamics, personal identity, and federal lawsuits. In this episode, UChicago economist Leo Bursztyn discusses how Apple’s green bubble design creates a powerful lock-in effect that r…
- AI, the Economy, and Public Policy
How is AI impacting the economy today? What might this mean for tomorrow? This episode brings you inside a discussion hosted at BFI in April. Moderated by Caroline Grossman, Executive Director of the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innov…
- Tariffs, Trade, and a Misused Model
Economist Brent Neiman recently returned to UChicago from his position as Deputy Undersecretary for International Finance at The US Treasury, only to find his research being used (and misused) in the Trump administration’s sweeping new tar…
- Between a Chip and a Hard Place: The Economics of Security and Sovereignty in Taiwan
What does Taiwan’s precarious position reveal about global power, economic leverage, and the unraveling of diplomatic norms? In this episode, economist Chang-Tai Hsieh returns to unpack Taiwan’s tangled political history, its deep economic…
- An Extra Slice of the Pie: Choosing with Uncertainty
How can policymakers make choices when confronted with uncertainty? What happens when the public loses confidence in scientific authority? Are scientists, including economists, overconfident? Nobel Laureate and UChicago economist Lars Hans…
- Tariffs, Trust, and the Twilight of Norms: U.S.–China Relations in the Trump Era
What happens when trust in longstanding economic norms starts to break down? In this episode, economist Chang-Tai Hsieh explores the geopolitical and economic consequences of the Trump administration’s foreign policy, particularly its appr…
- War Economies: How Ukraine and Russia Are Adapting in Year Three
More than three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war continues to reshape not only geopolitical alliances but also the economies of both countries. In this episode of The Pie, host Tess Vigeland is joined by Konstan…
- Crypto’s Fatal Flaw: Trust, Scale, and the Economics of Blockchain
Crypto’s most groundbreaking innovation, permissionless consensus, may also be its greatest vulnerability. In this episode, Chicago Booth economist Eric Budish breaks down the core mechanics of blockchain trust, the staggering energy costs…
- Will They or Won't They? A Former Fed Official on This Week’s Interest Rate Decision
This week, the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meets to decide whether to adjust interest rates or keep them steady. What should we expect amid today's economic and political uncertainty? On this episode of The Pie, Randy Kroszner,…
- Should Performance Reviews Be Scrapped?
Many of us react to the term “performance review” with a shudder. It’s that awkward periodic conversation in which we have to hear feedback, share our assessments of each other, and, occasionally, clash with our colleagues. But do performa…
- The Future of U.S. Energy Policy Under Trump
President Donald Trump has declared a “national energy emergency,” expanding executive powers to shape U.S. energy policy in his second term. What could this mean for the future of American energy? In this episode of The Pie, Ryan Kellogg,…
- The Economics of Health Insurance: Denials, Pre-Authorizations, and Cost Control
Host Tess Vigeland and economists from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy discuss the economic factors behind US health insurance denials, pre-authorizations, and efforts to reduce wasteful hospital care.
- Powering Innovation: How Government Subsidies Accelerate Electric Vehicle Breakthroughs
The automotive industry is at the forefront of a global shift toward sustainability, with nations setting ambitious electric vehicle (EV) adoption targets. But how do government subsidies and industrial policies shape the pace of EV innova…
- Five Years Later: How COVID-19 Reshaped Our Economy and Lives
It’s been five years since the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the world. In this episode of The Pie, Matt Notowidigdo, Professor at the Chicago Booth School of Business, explores the pandemic’s lasting effects on education, work, and daily…
- Unlocking Higher Education: Undergraduate Re-Enrollment and Graduate Student Lending
Why do so many students leave college before completing their degree, and how can we help them return? Lesley Turner, Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, discusses results from a mentoring exper…
- What Economics Taught Us in 2024
Americans attend church less often than they claim. Recessions can improve our health. Pesticides pose hidden dangers. And perceptions of monetary policy shape our reality. In this special year-end episode of The Pie, we dive into some of…
- Balancing Purse and Peace: Tax Collection, Public Goods, and Protests
Many low-income countries face a dilemma: keep taxes low and remain unable to build state capacity, or raise taxes and risk political unrest. In this episode of The Pie, Ben Krause, Executive Director of the Becker Friedman Institute for E…
- Pricing Pollution: Measuring Carbon Externalities for US Corporations
A company’s value includes not just the goods and services it provides but also the societal costs it imposes. In this episode of The Pie, Lubos Pastor, Charles P. McQuaid Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth, explor…
- Deadly Prescriptions: What Happens When Doctors Compete for Patients
When some US states allowed nurse practitioners to prescribe controlled substances without physician oversight, a serious unintended consequence took hold: Doctors found themselves competing with those nurses for patients. Molly Schnell, B…
- An Extra Slice of the Pie, with James Robinson: History, Politics, and the Road to an Economics Nobel
James Robinson, a University Professor with appointments in both UChicago’s Harris School of Public Policy as well as the Political Science Department in the Division of Social Sciences, is the university’s latest faculty member to win the…