A wave of political demonstrations in recent years has grabbed headlines and helped to reshape the political landscape. But it's an open question as to whether these protest movements actually change opinions in the long run.

In a paper in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, authors Daniel Hungerman and Vivek Moorthy found that activism can have a lasting impact on local communities. In particular, they found that areas with unusually bad weather on the original Earth Day in 1970, which would have presumably lowered the participation rate, saw weaker support for the environment and worse newborn health outcomes 10 to 20 years later.

Hungerman says that while climate change is a global phenomenon, their work is a reminder that bringing people together still makes a difference at the local level.

He recently spoke with Tyler Smith about how the first Earth Day shaped communities' views about the environment and what his research contributes to the broader conversation around climate change.

Fans have frequently experienced the frustration of event tickets selling out in a matter of minutes and then being resold for twice as much or more. This combination of underpriced tickets in the primary market and rent-seeking speculation in the secondary market has long puzzled economists.

In a paper in the American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, authors Eric Budish and Aditya Bhave show that auctions are an easy way to fix broken ticket markets by looking at changes Ticketmaster made in 2003.

However, the benefits of using auctions in primary markets are unlikely to be felt by consumers. Budish says that other reforms, such as preventing resales, could be a way for artists and sports teams to reward their die-hard followers.

Budish recently spoke with Tyler Smith about Ticketmaster's efforts to curb secondary markets with auctions, and how reforming the primary market for tickets benefits sellers as well as society.

Graduate school should be about learning how to push the frontiers of knowledge. Many students, however, also learn that getting a PhD can push them into emotional and psychological trouble.

In a paper in the Journal of Economic Literature, authors Valentin Bolotnyy, Matthew Basilico, and Paul Barreira surveyed eight top-ranked economics PhD programs across the country and found high levels of significant depression and anxiety symptoms among students.

Their survey indicates that some norms in the field, such as working alone and downplaying emotional distress, may be exacerbating the profession's mental health issues.

Bolotnyy recently spoke with Tyler Smith about the prevalence of mental distress among economics PhD students and what universities can do to remedy the situation, such as encouraging a more collaborative research environment.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of counseling designed to change unhelpful patterns of thinking. A strong, evidence-based track record has led to its widespread use in high-income countries. But it may also be an important tool for helping people in some of the poorest countries in the world.

In a paper in the American Economic Review: Insights, authors Nathan Barker, Gharad Bryan, Dean Karlan, Angela Ofori-Atta, and Christopher Udry found that group-based CBT in rural Ghana significantly improved mental and perceived physical health, as well as cognitive and socioemotional skills—even for individuals who did not report mental distress.

The findings may be paired with more traditional economic assistance to get the most out of anti-poverty programs, says Nathan Barker.

Barker recently spoke with Tyler Smith about his experiment in Ghana and why CBT can be beneficial for everyone, not just people suffering poor mental health.

When most Americans look for financial advice, they don't turn to academic journals for guidance. Instead, they're likely to get information from financial personalities like Dave Ramsey or Robert Kiyosaki, whose books have sold millions of copies.

But how good is that advice? In a paper in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, author James J. Choi looked through 50 of the most popular personal finance books on the market and found that they sometimes deviate from the advice of economists.

However, that doesn't necessarily mean the popular authors are wrong. Choi says that while popular finance books may occasionally give bad advice, economists may learn something deeper about how people make financial decisions and the constraints they operate under if they take the popular authors' prescriptions more seriously.

Choi recently spoke with Tyler Smith about popular financial advice on a range of issues, such as savings rules and mortgage types, and how closely this advice matches modern economic theory.

Religion is a deep source of tradition and meaning for many people around the world, especially those in developing countries. But religious practices can sometimes stand in the way of long-term economic growth, according to a paper in the American Economic Review.

Authors Eduardo Montero and Dean Yang found that ill-timed patron saint day festivals in Mexico lead to lower levels of development. In particular, celebrations coinciding with important agricultural seasons lowered household incomes, over the course of centuries, by roughly 20 percent.

But that doesn't necessarily mean these festivals made people worse off overall. Montero and Yang say that it's up to communities and their leaders to decide what the right balance is between cultural traditions and economic growth.

The authors recently spoke with Tyler Smith about patron saint day festivals and why they hampered long-run economic development in Mexico.

Major charity appeals can bring in hundreds of millions of dollars. But many worry that these efforts shift money away from other charities or merely move donations forward in time.

In a paper in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, authors Kimberley Scharf, Sarah Smith, and Mark Ottoni-Wilhelm found that charity fundraisers do in fact lift donations without being offset elsewhere. The findings show that fundraisers can increase the size of the overall charitable pie.

However, major appeals still have some spillover effects on the timing of donations to other charities. As a result, Smith says that organizations should focus on sustaining fundraising efforts in order to ensure that funds don't disappear in the longer term.

Sarah Smith recently spoke with Tyler Smith about how donors respond to major charity appeals in the United Kingdom and what fundraisers should take away from the results.

The pandemic has taken a toll on the education system. School enrollment has decreased, teacher turnover has ticked up, and students have experienced substantial learning losses.

But there is at least one silver lining, according to a paper in the American Economic Review: Insights.

Authors Andrew Bacher-Hicks, Joshua Goodman, Jennifer Greif Green, and Melissa K. Holt found that school bullying and cyberbullying dropped by more than 30 percent as schools shifted to remote learning in the spring of 2020.

Their results are based on real-time tracking of internet searches, which they show contain useful information about actual bullying behavior.

Bacher-Hicks and Goodman recently spoke with Tyler Smith about their approach to studying bullying trends and the degree to which bullying originates in schools and then migrates online.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of kids enter the US foster care system. And yet, improving their welfare remains an understudied topic among economists, according to a paper in the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

Authors Anthony Bald, Joseph J. Doyle Jr., Max Gross, and Brian A. Jacob lay out an economic framework for understanding the US foster care system.

They detail what economists have learned about both the demand side and supply side of foster care, such as the causes of child maltreatment and the incentives to provide high-quality care.

Doyle recently spoke with Tyler Smith about the history and impact of foster care in the United States, as well as opportunities for future research.

From the 1970s to the 1990s, the share of students leaving college with a degree steadily declined. But according to a paper in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, the trend since then has taken a turn for the better.

Authors Jeffrey T. Denning, Eric R. Eide, Kevin J. Mumford, Richard W. Patterson, and Merrill Warnick documented a large increase in graduation rates over the last three decades. By digging into the records of nine large public universities, a public liberal arts college, and a nationally representative survey, the researchers concluded that grade inflation is the most likely driver, ruling out explanations such as better student preparation.

Denning says that more research is needed to determine whether this grade inflation is beneficial on the whole. But it should be something that school administrators consider when making decisions about grading standards.

Denning recently spoke with Tyler Smith about the impact of grade inflation on college completion rates and the upsides it has as a policy tool.