S5 Ep27: The Economics of Brexit
The latest CEPR ebook investigates the impact of Brexit so far on the economies of the UK and EU. Tim Phillips talks to three of the authors: Jonathan Portes, Thomas Sampson and Sarah Hall.
26m Jun 23, 2022
26m
S5 Ep26: The consequences of war for the EU
Recorded live at CEPR Paris Symposium 2022: What are the long-term consequences of the conflict in Ukraine for the EU? Lucrezia Reichlin and Philippe Martin discuss the impact of the war on trade, energy security, fiscal policy, and green transition with Tim Phillips.
15m Jun 22, 2022
15m
S5 Ep25: Piketty on equality
Recorded live at CEPR Paris Symposium 2022: Thomas Piketty’s short new book promises A brief history of equality. He tells Tim Phillips about why institutions are precarious, why policymakers should consider the consequences for inequality before they intervene – but also why we should be optimistic about the long-term trends in equality.
13m Jun 17, 2022
13m
S5 Ep24: Male and female voices in economics
We know women are under-represented in economics. But if male economists are more comfortable expressing a strong opinion, does this increase the perceived imbalance? Sarah Smith tells Tim Phillips about new research into the difference between male and female voices in economics.
17m Jun 10, 2022
17m
S5 Ep23: The price of war
How hard will sanctions on Russia bite? Anna Pestova and Mikhail Mamonov tell Tim Phillips about the depth of the economic hardship that the Russian people will suffer in 2022.
20m Jun 03, 2022
20m
S5 Ep22: What is the purpose of a finance professor?
Alex Edmans asked this question in his keynote at the Financial Management Association Annual Meeting and offered some provocative answers. He tells Tim Phillips about passion, luck, originality, and the value of teaching.
20m May 27, 2022
20m
S5 Ep21: The food crisis has no respect for borders
This week António Guterres, secretary-general of the UN, warned that the war in Ukraine would tip tens of millions into food insecurity. Guido Porto and Bob Rijkers tell Tim Phillips about who suffers and how much from food price inflation.
16m May 20, 2022
16m
S5 Ep20: What can helicopter money do?
If you're going to drop lots of money from a helicopter, what will happen to the economy? When would it make a difference, and to who? Helicopter money is increasingly being taken seriously as policy. Ricardo Reis tells Tim Phillips whether helicopter money really can solve our economic problems.
23m May 13, 2022
23m
S5 Ep19: Helping fathers to acknowledge paternity
If fathers don't acknowledge paternity, it affects both mother and child. Should the state increase financial support for single parents, should we incentivise marriage – or is there another option? Anna Raute tells Tim Phillips that the surprising impact of an unrelated German social policy suggests there may be.
15m May 06, 2022
15m
S5 Ep18: The limits of microfinance
Microfinance has helped millions of the world's poor build better lives. But can it help the world's poorest people, who spend most of their lives growing food to feed their families, to diversify into other jobs? Jack Thiemel tells Tim Phillips about the impact of one of these projects, and what it tells us about the best ways to help the ultra-poor.
10m Apr 29, 2022
10m
S5 Ep17: Inequality and creative destruction
Governments are desperate to create innovation hubs or attract tech companies to kickstart economic growth, but that creates winners and losers. Richard Blundell tells Tim Phillips how policy can balance the impact of innovation on inequality and create policies so that creative destruction and social mobility can go hand-in-hand.
19m Apr 22, 2022
19m
S5 Ep16: How Fox News inspired vaccine hesitancy
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, some cable news hosts cast doubt on the effectiveness of vaccines. Matteo Pinna tells Tim Phillips about his research on the impact of Fox News on vaccination rates.
12m Apr 15, 2022
12m
S5 Ep15: Forced displacement, then and now
Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine: forced migration is constantly in the news, but these events have been happening for hundreds of years. Sascha Becker tells Tim Phillips about new research that is discovering the economic impact of mass displacement in history, both on refugees and on communities – and the lessons we can learn from the past.
23m Apr 07, 2022
23m
S5 Ep14: Motivated science and green innovation
Scientists create innovation. Is this because they are paid to do it, or because they care about the outcome? Tim Besley tells Tim Phillips how motivated science drives down the cost of innovation and may accelerate the green transition.
16m Apr 01, 2022
16m
S5 Ep13: Will Ukraine's economy survive the war?
Are the Ukrainian economy and financial system holding up to Russia's bombardment? Yevhenii Skok tells Tim Phillips whether emergency policies have been able to maintain liquidity and financial stability, how much damage has been done to Ukraine's productive capacity, and what a post-war financial rebuild would look like.
17m Mar 25, 2022
17m
S5 Ep12: Do schools change our religious attitudes?
Does compulsory religious education make us more likely to believe as adults, and does it make us more ethical? Ludger Woessmann, Larissa Zierow, and Benjamin Arold explain to Tim Phillips what educational reform in Germany can tell us.
17m Mar 18, 2022
17m
S5 Ep11: Women's liberation, household revolution
Until the second half of the 19th century, coverture laws granted married men almost unlimited power over the household. Moshe Hazan and David Weiss tell Tim Phillips about how abolition changed the number of children in a family, and how well those children were educated?
12m Mar 11, 2022
12m
S5 Ep10: Raising the pressure on Putin
Which economic sanctions against Russia are lawful, which are politically feasible, and which will bite? Luis Garicano - economist and MEP - describes what has been done so far and what more can be done.
17m Mar 05, 2022
17m
S5 Ep9: The lockdown supply shock
China's Covid lockdown in early 2020 shocked the business world. How did this surprise disruption affect the firms that rely on imported Chinese products? Isabelle Mejean tells Tim Phillips about the economic impact in France, and which firms were most resilient. 
15m Mar 04, 2022
15m
S5 Ep8: A positive inflation target for the euro area
Inflation reduces economic welfare by distorting demand. But what is the inflation rate that minimises these distortions? Maybe it's a lot higher than our models assume, Klaus Adam tells Tim Phillips.
12m Feb 25, 2022
12m
S5 Ep7: Anti-LGBT discrimination in transition economies
A recent experiment in Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine attempted to overcome deep-seated prejudice against the LGBT community using information. Ralph De Haas and Cevat Aksoy of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development tell Tim Phillips about which messages cut through, and what impact can they have in the face of religious and state hostility.
16m Feb 18, 2022
16m
S5 Ep6: A French revolution in state-building
One of the most remarkable achievements of the French Revolution for ordinary people was the reorganisation of local government. Cédric Chambru, Emeric Henry and Benjamin Marx tell Tim Phillips how local state capitals emerged as a result, and what this tells us about how state capacity develops.
13m Feb 11, 2022
13m
S5 Ep5: Macro-financial policies in an international financial centre
Since the GFC the UK has used innovative macroprudential and monetary policy tools to maintain stability. But the UK is an international financial centre, and so does this policy framework create spillovers in other places, and do influences from elsewhere affect stability in the UK? Yes and yes, says Thorsten Beck.
19m Feb 04, 2022
19m
S5 Ep4: Managing risk in global supply chains
Covid-19 demonstrated that modern global supply chains do not guarantee food in supermarkets or PPE in hospitals. Richard Baldwin tells Tim Phillips how risky these supply chains really are, and what we could do to shore them up.
15m Jan 28, 2022
15m
S5 Ep3: The other great migration
In the 20th century at least 6 million African Americans migrated from poor southern states to northern cities to escape discrimination and poverty, changing the course of American history. At least as many whites also migrated, taking their ideas with them. Samuel Bazzi tells Tim Phillips that they have also influenced social structures and politics in the US.
14m Jan 21, 2022
14m
S5 Ep2: AI: software for autocrats?
The Chinese government isn't just a world leader in the use of AI for facial recognition, its orders are funding innovation in its domestic industry too. But what's good news for entrepreneurs may be bad news for political protest, Noam Yuchtman tells Tim Phillips.
38m Jan 14, 2022
38m
S5 Ep1: The gender gap: Nature or nurture?
Are the differences between what men and women like decided at birth, or do we learn to prefer different things? Klaus Desmet tells Tim Phillips about new research that investigates global patterns in 45,397 Facebook interests.
19m Jan 07, 2022
19m
S4 Ep51: Europe's asylum lottery
Refugees from conflicts in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and many other countries travel thousands of miles seeking a new life in Europe. But how likely are these refugees to be recognised as asylum seekers, and does it matter in which country they apply? Tim Hatton tells Tim Phillips that, despite efforts to standardise the process of granting asylum, there are still big differences in recognition rates...
16m Dec 17, 2021
16m
S4 Ep50: Germany's stalled social mobility
New research uses German census data to track the association between success for a child and the earnings of the parent at a much higher level of detail than was previously possible. Sebastian Findeisen and Paul Schüle tell Tim Phillips about the impact of investment in education that was intended to improve social mobility.
18m Dec 10, 2021
18m
S4 Ep49: Why natural experiments won the Nobel
Josh Angrist, David Card, and Guido Imbens shared the Nobel in 2021 for their pioneering work on natural experiments that, in the words of the committee, "revolutionised empirical research". Steve Pischke tells Tim Phillips about the history of natural experiments, and the impact of the methods pioneered by this year's Laureates. © Nobel Prize Outreach 2021 Ill. Niklas Elmehed
28m Dec 03, 2021
28m
S4 Ep48: Coming out in America
Two new papers pinpoint the election of 1992 as a turning point in the attitudes of Americans to same-sex relationships, and ask, what has caused this change? Raquel Fernandez and Sahar Parsa of NYU tell Tim Phillips about the complex relationship between political and social attitudes.
20m Nov 26, 2021
20m
S4 Ep47: Pensions and fertility in Namibia
Do we have children to provide for us in our old age? Pauline Rossi tells Tim Phillips about the impact on the size of families in Namibia after the government granted a state pension – research that might have important implications for economic development in Africa. Picture credit: paolafrog@flickr
16m Nov 19, 2021
16m
S4 Ep46: Tournaments: Playing to win
Tournaments are increasingly being used in business to solve non-routine problems. Florian Englmaier tells Tim Phillips about new research into what gives these teams the will to win. Do they respond to having a common sense of identity, do they want kudos and status from other people, or are they just looking for a cash prize? 
18m Nov 12, 2021
18m
S4 Ep45: Creating a resilient society
Repeated environmental and economic crises in recent years are encouraging many people to ask, is this really the best way to run a planet? Markus Brunnermeier tells Tim Phillips how we can do a better job of coping with shocks.
12m Nov 05, 2021
12m
S4 Ep44: How crises rewire our brains
When we live through a financial crisis, many of us think differently about money afterwards. Neuroscientists can show that the experience changes the physical structure of our brains, and Ulrike Malmendier tells Tim Phillips how this should also change the way that economists think about preferences for risk.
22m Oct 29, 2021
22m
S4 Ep43: Pension reform and the incentive to work
As life expectancy increases, so does the importance of a fair pension system that reflects our contribution but won't leave anyone in poverty. Can we create a progressive pension system that doesn't discourage work? Fabian Kindermann tells Tim Phillips how it could be designed.
17m Oct 22, 2021
17m
S4 Ep42: Rethinking financial globalisation
Even after their role in the global financial crisis, globalised, minimally regulated financial markets are still regarded as inevitable and, on balance, good for us. Maurice Obstfeld of Berkeley tells Tim Phillips about the short but action-packed history of financial globalisation and asks whether we should be rethinking this aspect of capitalism too.
17m Oct 15, 2021
17m
S4 Ep41: The robots are reshoring!
Robots and offshoring are blamed for destroying manufacturing jobs in advanced economies. But could automation also be a way to make domestic manufacturing more competitive? If so, those outsourced jobs may return. Alessandra Bonfiglioli tells Tim Phillips why there may be reasons to welcome our new robot overlords.
17m Oct 08, 2021
17m
S4 Ep40: Using AI to target aid in Togo
There is often an urgent need for humanitarian assistance in low-income countries. But how can it be targeted efficiently and quickly? Joshua Blumenstock tells Tim Phillips how, in Togo, a combination of machine learning and mobile phone data dramatically increased the effectiveness of Covid assistance.
19m Oct 01, 2021
19m
S4 Ep39: Pitching with passion
If you want your startup to be funded, everybody knows you have to dial up the energy and enthusiasm when you meet investors to the maximum. But is this really good advice for startups, and is a passionate pitch really a reliable signal for an investor? Song Ma of Yale School of Management used machine learning to evaluate thousands of pitches. He tells Tim Phillips whether passionate entrepren...
23m Sep 24, 2021
23m
S4 Ep38: The flight from quality
In March 2020 we all assumed there would be some reaction to Covid-19 on Wall Street but, when markets did the opposite of what most people expected, the Fed had to step in to stabilise the economy. Anil Kashyap and Kathryn Judge tell Tim Phillips what happened, why, and how to stop it happening again.
17m Sep 17, 2021
17m
S4 Ep37: Remembering Peter Neary
Earlier in 2021 Peter Neary passed away. This special episode pays tribute to his work and examines why Peter was held in such affection by his colleagues. With contributions from Patrick Honohan, Richard Portes, Monika Mrázová, Beata Javorcik, and Abi Adams-Prassl.
17m Sep 10, 2021
17m
S4 Ep36: Share vaccines, save lives
How many lives could be saved if rich countries shared their vaccines? Less than 2% of people in low-income countries have received even one dose. Mehdi Benatiya Andaloussi tells Tim Phillips about his calculation of how many lives would be saved by the end of 2021 if vaccines were shared more fairly - and how many have been lost because this hasn't happened so far.  
16m Sep 03, 2021
16m
S4 Ep35: Does malnutrition cause disease?
The records of London's Foundling Hospital provide centuries of information on children's health. Eric Schneider tells Tim Phillips how he used this data to discover surprising information about the link between nutrition and common childhood illnesses.
14m Aug 27, 2021
14m
S4 Ep34: Propaganda, persuasion, and the Nazis
In 1932, Hitler and his followers believed that marching through the streets of Hamburg in uniform would convince its citizens to vote him into power. But did the flags, songs and stomping boots actually persuade people? Hans-Joachim Voth tells Tim Phillips how polling data (and the spread of a pandemic) reveal whether this type of propaganda actually worked.
21m Aug 20, 2021
21m
S4 Ep33: The PPE panic of 2020
In the scramble for PPE in early 2020, prices spiked, supplies dried up, and doctors were forced to use garbage bags for protection. A year on, Chad Bown has examined what happened, and he tells Tim Phillips how we can avoid a repeat.
21m Aug 13, 2021
21m
S4 Ep32: How Craigslist killed local news
Remember when your local newspaper was filled with classified advertising? Once, three-line ads for lonely hearts and used cars for sale were a guaranteed source of revenue. Then Craigslist replaced classifieds in the US, and the result, Ruben Durante tells Tim Phillips, has been less political reporting and more partisan polarisation.
19m Aug 06, 2021
19m
S4 Ep31: Covid's effect on inequality
Jonathan Ostry of the IMF has investigated a century of pandemics and discovered that not only do they make our societies less equal, but they lead to a K-shaped recovery. He tells Tim Phillips that, unlike other crises, pandemics open a permanent gap between winners and losers. Ungated paper at https://cepr.online/DP16122
19m Jul 30, 2021
19m
S4 Ep30: Does economics do enough race-related research?
Imran Rasul tells Tim Phillips about new research that shows the fraction of published economics research devoted to the causes and consequences of racial inequality is much smaller than in political science or sociology - and that this inequality has been getting worse.
18m Jul 23, 2021
18m
S4 Ep29: A cure for Friday morning fever
People everywhere sometimes pretend to be sick on a Friday because a day off work means a three-day weekend. In Italy, sick workers may now get a surprise home visit from the doctor. Tito Boeri tells Tim Phillips how effective this has been as a cure for "Friday morning fever".
13m Jul 16, 2021
13m