Economic Rockstar

Kate Bahn is an economist at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. Kate is also the co-founder and managing editor of Lady Economist, an amazing blog with rich content on how economics impacts women and girls. Kate’s economics writing has been featured in the Guardian, the Nation, the Chronicle of Higher Education and Good Magazine among others. She is also an active member of the International Association for Feminist Economics. Kate received her PhD in Economics from the New School for Social Research, where she also worked as a researcher for the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. Kate’s scholarly research includes labor economics, gender in the economy, caring labor, and retirement. In this episode you will learn: what is a monopsony market why early-career teachers leave their profession within the first five years. about the International Association for Feminist Economics. about the economics of retirement. whether women are more risk averse than men or whether it is

Peter T. Leeson is Duncan Black Professor of Economics and Law at George Mason University. He is also a Senior Fellow at the F.A. Hayek Program for the Advanced Study of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics as well as the North American Editor of Public Choice. Peter is author of The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates and Anarchy Unbound: Why Self-Governance Works Better Than You Think. In this episode you will learn: why Peter decided to study the economics of pirates. the similarities between The Invisible Hand and The Invisible Hook. how pirates were rational thinkers and social revolutionaries. how the Pirate Code created a social order that was economically beneficial to the crew. why unemployed sailors became buccaneers and pirates. the signalling effect of the Jolly Roger flag and why pirates used it as they approached a merchant ship. and much much more. Check out the show notes page for all resources and links mentioned in this episode at www.economicrockstar.com/peterleeso

Robin Hanson is associate professor of economics at George Mason University He is also a research associate at Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute and chief scientist at Consensus Point. Robin has pioneered prediction markets, also known as information markets and idea futures, since 1988. Robin has a passion to understand everything, and to save the world. He is addicted to “viewquakes”, loves to argue one on one, and values honesty and passion. He blogs at OvercomingBias.com which has had over eight million visits. His book The Age of Em: Work, Love and Life When Robots Rule the Earth will be available in May 2016. Check out the show notes page at www.economicrockstar.com/roberthanson.

In this essay, I present a personal essay based on the work of Hayek, most notably concerning his thoughts and discussion on how knowledge cannot be scientifically calculated for use within a centrally planned organisation, which is argued in his own essays 'The Use of Knowledge in Society' (1968) and 'Competition as a Discovery Procedure' (1984).    Check out the show notes page to this episode at economicrockstar.com/hayek where you can receive a transcript of the essay as well as the links to all of the references mentioned during the episode.

Darshak Patel is currently a Lecturer of economics at the University of Kentucky, USA. After a one-year Visiting Assistant Professor appointment at Roanoke College, Darshak served three years as an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Tennessee Martin.  Darshak’s research and teaching interests include labor economics, microeconomics, industrial organization, the economics of education, and sports economics.   Darshak graduated with a PhD in Economics at the University of Kentucky with his dissertation exploring the use of  option value theory to explain student decision-making in post-secondary schooling.  In this episode you will learn: whether using Twitter to enhance the students’ learning outcomes is effective. how video scrapbooking can be integrated into the economics curriculum. the benefits and difficulties of using social media platforms to teach economics. what option value theory is. about Milton Friedman’s recommendation to the US government to introduce a tax to finance

Chronis Lalas is a recent graduate from the University of Macedonia, Greece with a BA in Economics. Chronis blogs at The Newbie Economist and aspires to be a behavioral economist that will optimize Fortune 500 corporations’ marketing campaigns through analyzing their existing customers’ behavior. In this episode you will learn: about Prospect theory. about the reciprocity shown by TOMS shoe store in Thessaloniki, Greece. how playing French music influences the purchase of French wine. how the names of products and how they are pronounced can change the way consumers think about the product. and much more. Check out all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at www.economicrockstar.com/chronis

Diane Coyle is Professor of Economics at the University of Manchester and runs the consultancy Enlightenment Economics. Diane specialises in competition analysis and the economics of new technologies and globalisation. Diane is the author of several books, including GDP: A Brief But Affectionate History, The Economics of Enough, The Soulful Science, Sex, Drugs and Economics and Paradoxes of Prosperity. Diane has a PhD from Harvard and was awarded the OBE in January 2009. In this episode you will learn: what is GDP and how it is measured. the complications with understanding the meaning of GDP. the historical origins of GDP and why it is used to measure our economy. the complications in measuring GDP. how GDP data is still collected in such an ‘old-fashioned’ way and the new methods to collecting data. about the uncertainty and margin of error in GDP statistics. why it is wrong to make fiscal policy, monetary policy and interest rate decisions on GDP statistics. what proxy variables were used to

Daron Acemoglu is the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. Daron’s principal interests are political economy, development economics, economic growth, technology, income and wage inequality, human capital and training, and labour economics. Daron received his M.Sc. in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics and his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. Daron is co-author of ‘Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty’ which can be found at whynationsfail.com In this episode you will learn: why nations fail and others prosper. why Daron despises the term capitalism refereeing it as ‘and ugly term’. why macro variables are second order to the type of institution when explaining the prosperity of a country. why we should study political systems in an economics course. how economic decisions get made. if democracy is good for economic growth. if the political economy or the type of institution of a country expl

Leigh Caldwell is a behavioural economist based in London. Leigh, together with Elina Halonen, runs the Irrational Agency, which takes the latest scientific discoveries in psychology and behavioural economics, blends it with their hands-on experience of marketing and business, and turns them into powerful, incisive market research techniques. In 2012, Leigh condensed his experience in pricing and the marketing of several of his businesses into a new book The Psychology of Price: How to use price to increase demand, profit and customer satisfaction. Leigh is co-founder of the London Behavioural Economics Network, writes for the Pricing Revolution and the Knowing and Making blogs, and regularly features as an economics commentator on BBC News, Radio 4, Research Magazine and other media. In this episode, you will learn: the importance of academics and practitioners working together to further the discipline of economics. why finding the sweet-spot between controlled experiments and realism is difficult yet i

This is the second part of the 'Best of 2015' of the Economic Rockstar podcast. This episode provides you with a glimpse of what type of guests and conversations I've had on the show this past year.   Previous episodes that feature in this Best of 2015 are:  022 Josh Angrist on Taking the Con Out of Econometrics. 060 Manu Saadia on Trekonomics – The Economics of Star Trek: Scarcity, Productivity and Public Goods 017 Marina Adshade on Understanding Economics the Sexy and 'Hard' Way. 049 Jon Haywood with Jez Groom on How a Cleverly Designed Nudge Can Change People’s Behavior – Including How We Pee. 019 Mark Thornton on the Decriminalization of Marijuana and the Skyscraper Curse. 027 Craig Medico on How Economics Saved My Career, How I’m Embracing Technology in the Classroom and Why I’m off to Wrestling School. 020 George Magnus on The Age of Ageing, China and the EU. 028 Alice Louise Kassens on Nudging Students to Study Economics and Why Mainstream Media Should Publish Research on Mental Health. 030 Kim Holder 

In this episode, I've created a 'mix-tape' of the best episodes of the year. This is Part 1 of a 2 part compilation of episodes that you and I considered to be the highlights of the year. Although I did my utmost to choose a 'best of' compilation that captured the essence of this podcast, it was extremely difficult to leave out some of my amazing guests. I loved all my guests and every single one of them gave up their time to speak to me about their career, their research and personal lives. They exposed themselves to you, my amazing listeners, and answered questions that they had not seen before. It was almost impossible to choose who to leave in and who to leave out. Both end of year ‘Best of 2015’ episodes gives us a snapshot of some topics that were discussed - like a time capsule for the Economic Rockstar podcast of 2015. If you’ve been with me all year, then this episode will act as a refresher and take you back to some of the debates that abound the fields of economics. If you’re new to the show or

Oliver Payne is Founder and Director of The Hunting Dynasty. He is a behavioural specialist, author, commentator, ex-ad creative, & manager. Since the late 2000’s Oliver has been working with psychology specifically through The Hunting Dynasty looking to find and build interventions that change behaviour. Oliver is author of ‘Inspiring Sustainable Behaviour: 19 Ways To Ask For Change’ which wrangles together environmental and social psychology, behavioural economics, and decision theory. He is an advisor on the Influence Advisory Panel populated by experts from academia, politics, military, government and civil society. Oliver is a speaker on behaviour at NATO (Latvia), for Government departments (Whitehall), Start-ups (Netherlands), Science Museum (London) and others. He is the Co-founder of the London Behavioural Economics Network which meets monthly and is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, and an Affiliate of the British Psychological Society. Oliver’s company The Hunting Dynasty recently won the

Todd Tresidder is an entrepreneur and founder of Financial Mentor. Todd educates and supports Business Owners And Investors To Achieve Financial Freedom And Personal Freedom. As a serial entrepreneur since childhood, Todd built many businesses and retired at age 35 from his position as a Hedge Fund Investment Manager responsible for a 20+ million dollar portfolio. Todd raised his net worth from less than zero at age 23 to self-made millionaire 12 years later by using the same personal finance and investment strategies taught on this web site. Todd is an early pioneer and expert in statistical and mathematical risk management systems for investing and became financially independent from age 35 through investing – not marketing. Todd has a B.A. in Economics from University of California. Check out the podcast at www.economicrockstar.com. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by clicking here.    

Stephen Terry is Assistant Professor of Economics at Boston University. In 2013 he was a Dissertation Intern, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and, from 2007 to 2009, Stephen was a Research Associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Stephen  received a PhD in Economics from Stanford University in 2015 as well as an  MA in Economics in 2011. Stephen also has an MA in Mathematics from the University of Oklahoma and a BA in Economics from University of Texas at Arlington. Stephens research interests include short-termism, uncertainty and real business cycles. In this episode you will learn: about Stephen's experience with the two-body or joint location problem. about Stephen’s PhD process and the experience he developed along the way. of some suggestions if you’re considering undertaking a PhD. the differences and similarities in the mathematics of economics and the mathematics of other disciplines such as physics and chemistry. if there is a divergence or a convergence in the branches of mac

Roger Whitney began his career as a Financial Advisor in 1991 and witnessed first-hand the rise and fall of the 'New Economy' and the Dot-com bubble that ended in 2000. This experience made Roger realise that financial management is about people, not money, and that they are served best by advisors that are fiduciaries to their clients and have the heart of a teacher.   In 2003 Roger left, at the time, the largest private bank in the world and co-founded WWK Wealth Advisors. Today, they are a firm of 14 professionals managing over $200 million in assets.  Roger is a lifelong learner and holds many degrees and certifications. He has a B.A. in International Relations, is a Certified Investment Management Analyst and a Certified Private Wealth Advisor.   Roger also teaches courses on Wealth Management, Retirement Planning and Employee Benefits.  Roger’s blog, The Retirement Answer Man, was recently awarded the 2015 PLUTUS award for the best Retirement focused blog and podcast. You can check it out at rogerwhitn

Manu Saadia fell into science fiction and Star Trek fandom at the age of eight, back in Paris, France, where he was born and raised. Manu  studied history of science and economic history in Paris and Chicago. After many happy years in the Ivory Tower, he yielded to his childhood passion for the future. Manu embarked on his continuing mission to explore strange new worlds by boldly going where many have gone before: Los Angeles, CA, where he advise and (occasionally) builds tech companies. Manu received the 2005 Wayne C. Booth Graduate Student Prize for Excellence in Teaching at the University of Chicago. His book, Trekonomics, is currently available for pre-order at www.inkshares.com and will be released in 2016. In this episode you will learn: why Manu Saadia wrote Trekonomics. about the Star Trek Economics panel at Comic Con. why economists love Star Trek. about inkshares and how it can help authors publish their book. how traditional media rather than social media boosted pre-order sales of Trekon

Shawn Humphrey is currently an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Mary Washington. Shawn is the founder of the Two Dollar Challenge, La Ceiba Microfinance, the Month of Microfinance, and the Poverty Action Conference.   Shawn describes himself as a Tribal Teacher, a Diligent Do-Gooder and a Global Grassroots Mobilizer. In this episode you will learn: about the social entrepreneurial journey that Shawn found himself pursuing. about Shawn’s Tribal Teaching pedagogy and if this is the future of education. why Shawn wanted to help the poor in Honduras and to encourage people to experience poverty. about Shawn’s family experiencing poverty in the 1970s and how their standing in the community led him to believe that there was a better way to treat and help people out of poverty. about how La Ceiba are helping the poor in Honduras. about the importance of building relationships with individuals that seek assistance from La Ceiba. the problems with micro-finance due to group lending an

Morton Jerven is Professor of Economic History and Development at the School for International Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. In 2014, Morton was appointed Associate Professor in Global Change and International Relations at Noragrica at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Morton has published widely on African economic development, and particularly on patterns of economic growth and on economic development statistics. Upon the release of his book, Poor Numbers: How We Are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do about It, Morton caused uproar across Africa and had been expelled from two conferences. His latest book Africa: Why Economists Get It Wrong is now available on Amazon. Morton is an economic historian, with an MSc and PhD from the London School of Economics.   In this episode, you will learn: why Morten was expelled from two conferences in Africa about the knowledge problem that exists in economic statistical data. whether economic data from African

Alvin E. Roth is the Craig and Susan McCaw Professor of Economics at Stanford University. He is also the Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration Emeritus at Harvard University. Professor Roth has made significant contributions to the fields of game theory, experimental economics and market design and is known for his emphasis on applying economic theory to solutions for "real-world" problems. In 2012, Alvin won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences jointly with Lloyd Shapley "for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design” Alvin has a B.S form Columbia University,  and earned his MS and Ph.D. from Stanford University. Alvin’s latest book Who Gets What and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design is now available on Amazon. In this episode you will learn: what economics is and if we need money to allow a market to operate efficiently. about the price discovery process in economics. what is match-making markets and how similar the labor market

Campbell R. Harvey is Professor of Finance at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He served as Editor of The Journal of Finance from 2006-2012 and is President-elect of the American Finance Association.   Campbell’s research interests include statistical methods, risk management, asset allocation, real assets and cryptocurrencies. He is the Investment Strategy Advisor to the Man Group plc, the world’s largest, publicly listed, global hedge fund. In this episode you will learn:  why it’s important to use t-statistics and significance tests and how it can be improved. about the very simple idea Professor Campbell Harvey applies to his statistical modelling to improve the robustness of his tests. why it’s wrong to use 2 standard deviations to have 95% confidence when running many tests. about ‘Significant’, the XKCD cartoon that illustrates the vulnerability of statistical significance testing. w