Hundreds of millions of people around the world are deaf or hard of hearing, which can impair job performance. Can AI tools help? Steven Davis speaks to two researchers who study the effects of a new AI tool on the productivity and wages of hearing-impaired workers in the food delivery business. They also discuss how the profit motive drove the adoption and diffusion of the new AI tool, raising the wages and earnings of hearing-impaired workers.

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Economics, Applied brings together top leaders and researchers to break down key economic developments, offering evidence-based insights and practical lessons for navigating today’s economy. Economic change is constant. Subscribe to keep up: hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied. 

Steven Davis speaks to Aaron Chalfin and Max Kapustin about “focused deterrence,” a strategy that concentrates policing and social services on persons at high risk of gang-related gun violence. After Baltimore implemented this strategy in early 2022, its homicide rate fell 60% over three years. Aaron and Max explain the strategy, and Steve asks them what we know about how and why it works. They also discuss prospects for bringing “focused deterrence” to other American cities.

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Economics, Applied brings together top leaders and researchers to break down key economic developments, offering evidence-based insights and practical lessons for navigating today’s economy. Economic change is constant. Subscribe to keep up: hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied. 

Steve speaks with William Evans and Ethan Lieber about the heartbreaking rise of deaths due to drug misuse in the United States. A major shift in prescription practices for pain management after 1995 drove higher levels of opiate use and misuse and contributed to an explosion of illicit opiates in the 21st century. It’s a disturbing story of professional misjudgments, deceptive marketing, policy mistakes, and unintended consequences. Reforms in prescription practices, while overdue, will mitigate but not solve current-day problems of drug abuse and misuse.

ABOUT ECONOMICS, APPLIED

Economics, Applied brings together top leaders and researchers to break down key economic developments, offering evidence-based insights and practical lessons for navigating today’s economy. Economic change is constant. Subscribe to keep up: hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied. 

Cross-border supply chains bring great efficiencies but also present vulnerabilities that adversaries can exploit. How should we think about these vulnerabilities and their implications for economic and national security? How can we identify, assess, and respond to these vulnerabilities? Steve asks two noted trade policy experts, Chad Bown and Soumaya Keynes.

ABOUT ECONOMICS, APPLIED

Economics, Applied brings together top leaders and researchers to break down key economic developments, offering evidence-based insights and practical lessons for navigating today’s economy. Economic change is constant. Subscribe to keep up: hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied. 

Steven Davis speaks to Evan Starr, a leading expert on the economics of noncompete clauses. They discuss the prevalence of noncompete clauses in employment agreements; the pros and cons for employers, workers, and society; where to draw the line in disallowing noncompete clauses; the role of antitrust in policing noncompete clauses; their effects on the pace of innovation; and whether the United States should adopt a national policy on noncompete clauses.

ABOUT ECONOMICS, APPLIED

Economics, Applied brings together top leaders and researchers to break down key economic developments, offering evidence-based insights and practical lessons for navigating today’s economy. Economic change is constant. Subscribe to keep up: hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied. 

When job loss leads to a long spell of unemployment, it causes a big blow to self-esteem, a lasting drop in living standards, and serious hardship for the job loser’s family. Is there a low-cost way to help job losers navigate the search process and find rewarding new work? Yes, say two economists at Cornell University, based on their insightful new study. Steve discusses the study and underlying thinking with the authors.

ABOUT ECONOMICS, APPLIED

Economics, Applied brings together top leaders and researchers to break down key economic developments, offering evidence-based insights and practical lessons for navigating today’s economy. Economic change is constant. Subscribe to keep up: hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied. 

How does war affect national output, productivity, and consumer prices in belligerent countries and economies worldwide? Two economists, Jonathan Federle and Moritz Schularick, investigate how war and its intensity relate to national output, productivity, consumer prices, and international trade. They exploit 150 years of data for 60 countries. Steven Davis chats with them about what they learned.

ABOUT ECONOMICS, APPLIED

Economics, Applied brings together top leaders and researchers to break down key economic developments, offering evidence-based insights and practical lessons for navigating today’s economy. Economic change is constant. Subscribe to keep up: hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied. 

Mortality rates fell sharply for college-educated Americans in recent decades but not for other Americans. Mortality trends also differ sharply between rural and urban areas of the United States and across US counties. Steven Davis asks Jonathan Skinner about these puzzling and troubling trends, and how to explain them. According to Jonathan’s recent research, “Deaths of despair,” “the China shock," obesity, and income inequality don’t explain the trends. Instead, the explanation turns on differences in smoking trends and the consequences for mortality. 

ABOUT ECONOMICS, APPLIED

Economics, Applied brings together top leaders and researchers to break down key economic developments, offering evidence-based insights and practical lessons for navigating today’s economy. Economic change is constant. Subscribe to keep up: hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied. 

Tariffs: How high? Who pays? And what’s their impact on trade deficits?

Steven Davis speaks to Brent Neiman about President Trump’s approach to tariff policy and the latest data on trade deficits. While tariffs are up in 2025, Brent’s research reveals that actual tariff rates are only half as high as headlines suggest. Steve and Brent also discuss who pays Trump’s tariffs, how we know, the damage caused by uncertainty around tariffs, and the value of commitment in the conduct of trade policy.

ABOUT ECONOMICS, APPLIED

Economics, Applied brings together top leaders and researchers to break down key economic developments, offering evidence-based insights and practical lessons for navigating today’s economy. Economic change is constant. Subscribe to keep up: hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied. 

US military forces captured Nicolás Maduro last month, but the Chavista regime remains intact, at least for now. How can Venezuela find its way back to the rule of law, human rights, democracy, and prosperity? What role should the United States play? Steven Davis asks renowned economist Ricardo Hausmann.

ABOUT ECONOMICS, APPLIED

Economics, Applied brings together top leaders and researchers to break down key economic developments, offering evidence-based insights and practical lessons for navigating today’s economy. Economic change is constant. Subscribe to keep up: hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied.