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. 

The United States has looked to Asia for software developers, scientists, engineers, and physicians in recent decades. How has that worked out for Americans? For other countries? 

Immigrants from five Asian countries — India, China, South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines — account for much of the growth in U.S. software developers, scientists, engineers, and physicians since 1990. What forces drove this migration of foreign talent? What are the economic effects in the United States? In the source countries? Steve talks about these matters with Gaurav Khanna, who has done extensive research on high-skilled immigration and its economic consequences. 

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. 

The U.S. occupational licensing system is riddled with problems and conflicts of interest. How can we fix it?

Rebecca Allensworth joins Steven Davis to talk about her new book on occupational licensing, which covers one-fifth of all American jobs. Licensing reduces supply, limits competition, raises prices, and harms consumers, benefiting incumbent practitioners at the public's expense. The US approach to licensing is especially prone to conflicts of interest and poor performance. Professor Allensworth offers several proposals to fix the licensing system, and Davis offers his thoughts as well.

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. 

Nicholas Bloom joins Steven Davis to discuss cool new research presented at the annual Hoover-SIEPR conference on remote work: How much do employers save on wages when they let employees work from home? Why does remote work raise productivity in some settings but lower it in others? Do children perform better at school when parents work from home? What does the rise of remote work mean for cities? 

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. 

Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) member Jeffrey Schmid speaks with Steven Davis about inflation, labor market conditions, and US monetary policy. They discuss the state of the economy, the thinking behind recent monetary policy decisions, the public’s intense dislike of inflation, central bank credibility, how the recent government shutdown challenged policymakers, and the need to rethink economic statistics.

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 Catherine Pakaluk, author of an audacious book on highly educated American women who choose to have many children. How do these women explain and understand their choices to have large families? What do their stories say about the broader forces that influence fertility decisions? What are the lessons for families and communities? 

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.