Economic Rockstar

By Frank Conway - Economics and Finance Lecturer - interviews Dan Ariely, DeirBusiness Education Investing

Economic Rockstar episodes

May 14, 2015032: Joe Gladstone on the 'Pay What You Want' Pricing Model and Using Big Data to Understand You Better
Joe Gladstone is an academic researcher and consultant based at the University of Cambridge, where he applies insights from behavioural economics and psychological research to better understand consumer behaviour.
Joe partners with some of the world’s largest corporations, such as Twitter, Bupa and Visa, as well as government departments, to tackle challenges that deal with behaviour change.
Joe's views on consumer behaviour have been featured in the BBC, Forbes, The Huffington Post and other media outlets.
Joe is founder of BE-events.org and BE-Recruit.com. He received his Masters from Oxford University and his Phd from Cambridge University, and has been awarded a range of competitive grants and prizes.
Find Out:
about the link between the discipline of psychology and economics.
why Joe decided to do postgraduate research in behavioral economics.
how advances in technology, especially in social media, can help behavioral scientists understand human behaviour better.
why you do not know how much you spend on coffee.
how Joe has identified the relationship between psychology and money.
how Joe has used the ‘My Personality’ app to predict your personality from what you like.
how companies can use ‘Big Data’ to target messages directly to you.
why people are willing to pay for services that they could otherwise get for free.
if TIDAL will disrupt the online music industry by taking control of their own music.
if Spotify risks losing out to TIDAL.
how important is the price of zero?
how the ‘Pay What You Want’ pricing model defies classical economic theory.
why people pay even if they are given the option to take the product for free.
how Radiohead made more in sales when offering their album on a ‘Pay What You Want’ basis.
if the ‘Pay What You Want’ model is sustainable for a business in the long run?
how Jon Bon Jovi has successfully implemented the ‘Pay What You Want’ model in his Soul Kitchen restaurant in New Jersey.
how sitting with strangers to eat in Soul Kitchen can ‘nudge’ diners to pay more than what they were initially willing to pay.
about Joe’s passion for financial literacy and financial empowerment.
if you can become immune to nudging by having a deeper understanding of it.
if knowledge prevents you from being nudged.
about behavioral economics events that could be going on in your area with BE-event.org.
how Joe maximises his time by outsourcing his work on oDesk.
and much, much more.
Check out the shownotes page to this episode at www.economicrockstar.com/joegladstone
Subscribe to the Economic Rockstar podcast on iTunes and never miss an episode.
46 min
May 07, 2015031: Matt Rousu on Experimental Auctions and the Need for Peer-Reviewed Economic Impact Studies
Dr. Matthew Rousu is a Professor and Warehime Chair in the Department of Economics at Susquehanna University. His main teaching interests include microeconomics, political economic thought, and game theory.
Matt is an expert on experimental auction design and implementation. He uses his expertise on experimental auctions to study problems in agricultural economics, environmental economics, and public health. He has published over 40 scholarly articles, as well as book chapters, non-technical articles and Opeds.
Matt has been quoted widely on many issues by The Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The NY Daily News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, US News and World Report, The Washington Post, Wikipedia, and Yahoo.com.
He has also been a guest for local radio stations mainly to discuss the local, state, and national economy.
Matt runs his own blog known as paeconomist.blogspot and is founder of the Economic Impact Review. He is the author of Political Trivia.
Matt earned a Bachelor's degree from the University of South Dakota and a Ph.D. in Economics from Iowa State University.
Find Out:
Benefits of lecturing at a liberal arts college - switch up your research interests.
about experimental auction designs.
what is consumer demand for Genetically Modified Products.
how demand for GMOs change due to differences in packaging.
how print advertisement for e-cigarettes increases their demand.
whether e-cigarettes are a ‘healthy’ alternative to traditional cigarettes.
about the impact of plain package cigarettes on consumer demand.
if the Irish government correct in enforcing plain packaged cigarettes.
how much less buyers were willing to pay for plain packaged cigarettes.
how a picture of smoking-related diseases on cigarette packaging decreases demand for cigarettes.
why Matt set up The Economic Impact Review.
why economic impact studies should go through a peer-review process.
and much much more.
Subscribe to the Economic Rockstar podcast on iTunes and never miss an episode.
Check out the shownotes page to this episode at: http://www.economicrockstar.com/matthewrousu
43 min
April 30, 2015030: Kim Holder on Rockonomix and Teaching Economics Through the Lens of Sport, Music and Movies
Kim Holder is an economics educator from the University of Western Georgia and teaches principles of macro and micro. Kim is passionate about economics, music, media, pop-culture and sports and loves using technology and social media in the classroom to get her students excited about learning. Kim is founder of Rockonomix, an inter-university contest held in the USA that encourages students to compose economic-themed lyrics to a popular song.
Find Out:
how Kim Holder uses music to assess her students taking micro and macro classes.
about Kim's passion for economics and how she uses sports to explain economic concepts.
how you can become an ‘Economic Rockstar’ in the annual Rockonomix contest.
how to motivate students to study economics.
how selfies and memes can make students aware of economics around them.
about Kim’s decision to study economics because of true love.
about Kim's summer course ‘Economics Is Everywhere’ which introduces you to micro and macro, as well as personal finance.
about the Centre for Economic Education at University of West Georgia and how it is for the wider community and not just for students.
how K-12 teachers can avail of the workshops put on by the Centre for Economic Education at University of West Georgia.
about Pop Econ and why more should be done to introduce it to students at a principles of micro and macro level.
why students should be pushed to seek out economic themes in movies.
how to use Twitter for the classroom and the best practices to communicate with students.
what Kim’s top 3 movies are that contain economic themes.
the importance of financial literacy for students who are faced with taking out college loans.
how Kim Holder escaped poverty through education.
and much much more.
To access the shownotes and all the links mentioned in this episode visit www.economicrockstar.com/kimholder
Never miss an episode by subscribing to the Economic Rockstar podcast for free on iTunes.
48 min
April 23, 2015029: John Cochrane on the Future of Finance, MOOC Education, Regulation and the Case for Free Markets
John Cochrane is the AQR Capital Management Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and is currently Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Professor Cochrane is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and past director of its asset pricing program, and an Adjunct Scholar of the CATO institute.
John is past President and Fellow of the American Finance Association, and a Fellow of the Econometric Society. He has been an Editor of the Journal of Political Economy, and associate editor of several journals including the Journal of Monetary Economics.
John’s is the author of 3 books including the book Asset Pricing. Other finance publications include articles on stock and bond markets, exchange rates, interest rates, liquidity premiums and option pricing.
John's monetary economics publications include articles on the relationship between deficits and inflation, the effects of monetary policy, and on the fiscal theory of the price level.
John currently teaches the MBA class Advanced Investments and a variety of PhD classes in Asset Pricing and Monetary Economics.
John earned a Bachelor’s degree in Physics at MIT, and earned his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of California at Berkeley.
In addition to research and teaching, John is a competitive sailplane pilot and windsurfs.
John blogs as 'The Grumpy Economist'.
Find Out:
why Professor Cochrane is known as the Grumpy Economist.
about John’s Proposed New Structure for US Debt.
how to create financial stability with a currency fit for the 21st century.
about the advantages of government debt.
what happened when Ireland guaranteed the bondholders and entered into a bailout.
the limitations to a eurozone country when faced with a bailout.
why countries should be allowed to act like companies and default.
why Greece should have defaulted and why Ireland should not have bailed out the bondholders.
about Professor Cochrane competing in the World Gliding Championship for the USA.
why Professor Cochrane delivered his Asset Pricing PhD course as a MOOC.
the costs and benefits of delivering a MOOC.
how MOOCs will become the textbook of the future.
how to monetize a MOOC and which type of course would have mass market appeal.
Ireland’s aim to become the capital of MOOCs.
how to create a social environment for students using MOOCs.
why Professor Cochrane went from a degree in physics to a PhD in Economics.
why people are stuck in the welfare system.
and much much more.
Visit www.economicrockstar.com/johncochrane to get access to the shownotes page and all the links mentioned inthis interview.
51 min
April 16, 2015028: Alice Louise Kassens on Nudging Students to Study Economics and Why Mainstream Media Should Publish Research on Mental Health
Dr. Alice Kassens is an economics professor at Roanoke College and has already built a notable reputation in her profession.
Alice is the current recipient of Roanoke’s John S. Shannon Professorship in Economics, which honors and supports a faculty member who is an outstanding teacher and accomplished scholar and who is thoroughly committed to enriching the lives of Roanoke students.
Dr Kassens’ work at Roanoke includes creating and maintaining an economics program blog and a biannual newsletter, Roanomics. She also serves as the faculty advisor for the College's Economics Club.
Alice's areas of expertise include labor and health economics. She has won several awards and fellowships, and her work has been published in numerous academic journals.
Alice is one of three economists who won Cengage Learning’s 2013 Economist Educators Best in Class Award for her method of teaching using Twitter.
Dr Kassens is president of the Virginia Association of Economics, has recently been appointed by Governor McAuliffe to his Joint Advisory Board of Economists, is a senior analyst for the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research and is a Referee for the Journal of Economic Education, the Journal of Economics and Finance Education, and the National Council on Undergraduate Research.
Alice is the author of Changing Perceptions and Waistlines - A Bayesian and Behavioral Approach and is known as the ‘Running Economist’ not because of her busy lifestyle but because she is a competitive runner.

Alice earned her bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary and her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University.

Find out:
how Alice's secrets to increasing an economics class size.
how Alice uses social media to encourage students to learn economics more effectively.
how Twitter can be used to remove the limitations to classroom-specific learning.
how Dr. Kassens collects data for the Consumer Sentiment Report for Virginia.
how to remove sample selection bias when collecting primary data.
how to analyse unobservables using observed data.
about the benefits of small-class sizes for learning.
which economist Dr. Kassens would love to collaborate with.
how being an athlete helped with a career decision to become a health economist.
why Dr. Kassens wrote a report on gender disparities in health care in Papa New Guinea.
about the gender disparity in depression levels upon losing a job.
whether men or women respond better to losing their jobs by continuing to job search.
if people lose their job because they were depressed or are they depressed because they’re unemployed?
how Dr. Kassens’ research can help people with depression if the media can report her findings to the masses.
if people reduce their expectations to live longer once they are diagnosed with Type II diabetes.
if obese people who are diagnosed with Type II diabetes respond by losing weight.
how writing a blog makes you accountable for what you do and helps you get things done.
the importance of why organisations should make their data freely accessible to academics.
and much much more.
To get access to the shownotes page and all of the links and books mentioned in this episode, please visit www.economicrockstar.com/alicekassens.
Thanks for listening and if you have yet to subscribe click here and never miss an episode.
47 min
April 09, 2015027: Craig Medico on How Economics Saved My Career, Using Technology in the Classroom and Why I’m off to Wrestling School
Craig Medico is an Economics and History educator in New York with 11 years of classroom experience. Craig is doing amazing things to get young people to understand and become interested in economics.
He is the author of No Bull Review - Macroeconomics and Microeconomics: For use with the AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics Exams (2012) and No Bull Review - Macroeconomics and Microeconomics: Top 10 Guide (2014).
Craig is the developer of several best-selling iPhone test prep apps from Study By App, LLC, including Economics AP (2010), Economics AP Free (2011), and Economics Flashcard Review (2011).
In 2010, he contributed to WNYC Radio/Public Radio International's morning news program The Takeaway.
Craig is the Macroeconomics instructor for the Junior State of America summer school at Princeton University and teaches Advanced Placement Economics at Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington, New York.
He recently completed an economics educator study tour of Peru with the Global Economic Education Alliance in association with the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences.
In his spare time, Craig records and produces educational music videos for The Social Studs.
Find out:
about Craig Medico’s education trip to Peru.
about the class distinction in Peru and how it is upsetting the quality of education for the poor.
tweet me the answer to this problem @econom_rockstar: 2 + 2 x 2 + 2
how technology can be so beneficial to learning.
how Peruvian kids are excited about the country’s economic future.
how a trip to Peru will become part of Craig’s lessons at High School.
about Craig’s opinions about using technology in education.
why Craig embraces technology in education both for himself and for his students.
if there is a disruptive technology that exists that could compromise the traditional bricks-and-mortar way of education.
what upset Craig when he saw a mother and son at a donut shop.
how economics saved Craig’s career.
how idiot-proofing economics allowed Craig to master the concepts.
about Craig’s philosophy in his teaching methods and how it helps students to learn effectively.
about the Advanced Placement programs in the United States and how to earn college credit.
about Craig’s philosophy which is based on the thoughts of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
who are George Washing-tone and Abrajamz Lincoln and what are they teaching kids?
why Craig Medico transforms into Mr Medi-KO and why he’s off to wrestling school.
about the technological challenges facing all schools today.
about some of the apps you can use to create educational content.
and muc much more.
Check out the shownotes to this great episode with Craig Medico where you can get blog posts and links to everything mentioned by Craig: www.economicrockstar.com/craigmedico
46 min
April 02, 2015 026: Thomas O'Grady on How Writing a PhD on Demographics Revealed an Opportunity in the San Francisco Housing Market
Thomas O’Grady has a PhD in Mathematical and Statistical Economics from the University of California at Berkeley. His professional career has taken him from becoming the top analyst in Soviet intelligence for a U.S. agency and receiving the Meritorious Service Medal, also awarded to Wesley Clark, John McCain and General Schwarzkopf to positions with Fortune 100 companies to building three companies of his own. Thomas has been quoted by the print media over 30,000 times and appeared on TV and radio over 300 times. He currently hosts the popular podcast Life Unsettled.

Economic Themes:
In this interview, Thomas mentions and discusses: Demographics, population, baby boomers, excess demand, shortage, housing market, rent control, employment, causality, permanent income hypothesis, life-cycle hypothesis, savings, dissaving, income inequality, income distribution and incentives.

For more information about Economic Rockstar, please visit www.economicrockstar.com.
There you will find links to other interviews and any resources mentioned in this and previous episodes.
Thanks for listening. Never miss an episode - subscribe on iTunes!
54 min
March 26, 2015025: Dan Hamermesh on the Economics of Beauty: Attractive People Are More Successful
Dan Hamermesh is Professor in Economics at the Royal Holloway University of London and at the University of Texas at Austin. Dan researches the economics of beauty. He received his Ph.D. from Yale and has since taught at Princeton, at Michigan State, and at Texas. He has held visiting professorships at universities in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, and lectured at almost 250 universities in 48 states and 33 foreign countries. His research, published in nearly 100 refereed papers in scholarly journals, has concentrated on time use, labor demand, discrimination, academic labor markets and unusual applications of labor economics (to beauty, sleep and suicide).
Professor Hamermesh has received many notable and distinguished honors and awards in recognition for his contribution to the field of economics. These include the Mincer Award and the IZA Prize in Labor Economics, the John R. Commons Award, as well as many teaching of excellence awards.
Daniel’s teaching include Microeconomics; Macroeconomics; Econometrics; Economics of Labor and Economics of Life.
Daniel is the author of many books including Demand for Labor: The Neglected Side of the Market, Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful, The Economics of Time Use and Economics Is Everywhere. He is also a regular contributor to the Freakonomics blog and podcast.
In this interview, Dan mentions and discusses:
Speculation, inter-temporal maximisation, labor economics, incentives, wages, welfare payments, comparative advantage and externalities.
Find out:
how students of economics can inspire their professors in a two-way mutual learning process.
why we should think about economics in things we see or do in the real world.
how economics can be used beyond the theoretical framework we see in textbooks.
how economics is everywhere - we just need to think, see and interpret.
how economics is enjoying a revival in reaching to mass audiences.
the benefits of economics books like Freakonomics, Beauty Pays, Dollars and Sex and Happiness By Design.
why we should read interesting books on economics.
if happiness is related to how beautiful or attractive you are.why better-looking men are happier.
how to recognise if you are beautiful.
what good-looking attorneys, prostitutes, politicians and NFL quarter-backs have in common.
and much, much more.
Visit: www.economicrockstar.com/danhamermesh to access the shownotes to this episode as well as the links to the books mentioned.
40 min
March 19, 2015024: Greg Davies on Behavioral Finance and Controlling Your Emotions When Making Trading Decisions
Greg Davies is Managing Director and Head of Behavioural Finance at Barclays. He joined the firm in December 2006 to develop and implement commercial applications drawing on behavioural portfolio theory, the psychology of judgment and decision making, and decision sciences.
Today Greg leads a global team of behavioural and quantitative finance specialists, and is responsible for the design and global implementation of Barclays’ Investment Philosophy.
Greg is an Associate Fellow at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and his first (co-authored) book, ‘Behavioral Investment Management: An Efficient Alternative to Modern Portfolio Theory’, was published in January 2012.
He is co-curator and co-creator of Open Outcry - a reality opera based on the stock market trading floor.
Greg has authored papers in multiple academic disciplines, presents at academic and industry conferences, and is a frequent media commentator on Behavioural Finance. He is an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Behavioural and Experimental Finance.
Greg studied at the University of Cape Town and obtained a degree in Economics, Philosophy and Finance. He followed this with an MPhil in Economics and a PhD in Decision Theory and Behavioural Finance from the University of Cambridge.
Find out:
what is Behavioral Economics/Finance
the disconnection between economics and psychology.
how Kahneman and Tversky were ‘swimming up-stream’ to bring common sense to economics.
why viewing the world through biases is harmful to behavioral finance.
why the ever-increasing list of biases may not be good for the behavioral finance field.
about System 1 and System 2 as popularised by Daniel Kahneman.
why it’s good to allow emotions to part of the portfolio decision-making process.
how to acquire the emotional comfort you need for your long-term financial objectives.
how to buy emotional insurance for your long-term investment portfolio.
how to avoid costly short-term emotional mistakes.
how psychometric tests can extract measures of financial personality.
why a set of nudges are designed to help high net-worth individuals to make better decisions.
how to build a tailored portfolio to meet your clients needs.
why you should consider including expected anxiety into your portfolio building along with risk and return.
what an opera experiment has to do with replicating the open outcry system of a trading floor.
how music can control your emotions while trading markets.
how Barclays Capital are improving the understanding of their clients by turning the lens on themselves.
To access the links mentioned in this episode, visit www.economicrockstar.com/gregdavies
To be in with a chance to win this weeks prize, visit www.economicrockstar.com/giveaway
51 min
March 12, 2015023: Loretta Napoleoni on Financing Terrorism and the Creation of the Islamic State
Loretta Napoleoni is an expert on terrorist financing, and advises several governments and international organizations on counter-terrorism and money laundering.
As Chairman of the countering terrorism financing group for the Club de Madrid, Loretta brought heads of state from around the world together to create a new strategy for combating the financing of terror networks.
Loretta is a regular media commentator for CNN, Sky and the BBC and advises several banks on strategies to counter the current ongoing crisis. She lectures regularly around the world on economics, terrorism and money laundering.
Loretta is also a columnist and writes about terrorism, money laundering and the economy for several European financial papers including El Pais, The Guardian and Le Monde.
Loretta began her career as an economist, working for several banks and international organizations in Europe and the US. She has a Phd in economics and a Masters of Philosophy in International Relations and one in terrorism.
She is the bestselling author of numerous books including The Islamist Phoenix, Maoanomics, Rogue Economics, Terror Incorporated and Insurgent Iraq.
Her books are translated into 18 languages including Chinese and Arabic.
“I studied economics because I thought that economics was the way to change the world” - Loretta Napoleoni.
Economic Themes:
In this interview, Loretta mentions and discusses: Islamic Finance, gold, barter, quantitative easing, reserve currency, consumerism, the Marshall Plan, labor, wages, sex trade, slavery, demand, profit, trade unions, capitalism and growth.
Find out:
about Loretta’s involvement in the feminist revolution in the 1970s in Italy where she was one of the founding members of the Italian Feminist Movement.
why she studied economics and the subsequent irony of working for a Russian bank.
why Loretta sold her company to do a PhD in terrorism at the London School of Economics.
about Loretta’s contact with the Italian Marxist organisation, The Red Brigade.
how terrorists fund their activities.
who initially sponsored ISIS or the Islamic State initially and how they may regret this.
why Jihadi John and others were attracted to the Islamic State.
how Saudi Arabia’s sponsor of a war by proxy against the Assad regime in Syria resulted in the creation of IS.
about The Caliphate and why IS wants to re-create a modern version of this region.
about the functioning economy of the Islamic State.
if the Islamic State has a functioning banking system.
if the Islamic State is using gold coins, dollars or a bartering system.
about the how women are treated in the Islamic State.
and much much more. To access the shownotes page and links mentioned in this episode visit http://www.economicrockstar.com/loretta
45 min

About Economic Rockstar

From the publisher's feed

Economic Rockstar is created for you, the economist, financial analyst, teacher or student. If you are looking to expand your knowledge or awareness, Frank Conway delivers the information you just…

Share Economic Rockstar

Sign up to save your podcasts

Economic Rockstar

Economic Rockstar episodes

About Economic Rockstar