Economics, Applied

Recent US Treasury Interventions in Bond and FX Markets | Steven J. Davis, Anil Kashyap | Hoover Institution

Steven Davis asks Anil Kashyap to unpack recent US interventions in the Treasury bond market and the Yen-Dollar FX market and whether they can meaningfully influence borrowing costs. They also examine fiscal pressures in the United States and Japan and what Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech signals for inflation, interest rates, and monetary 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.

The Promises and Risks of Digital Finance | Steven J. Davis, Kristalina Georgieva | Hoover Institution

How can we reap the benefits of financial innovation while ensuring a sound, trustworthy financial system? Steven Davis asks IMF head Kristalina Georgieva at Jackson Hole. Their conversation touches on tokenization, stablecoins, cross-border payments, and regulatory frameworks. Georgieva describes strong institutions as the fertile ground for dynamic and stable financial innovation as well as the foundations of sound monetary and fiscal policy, lessons from emerging economies, and the growing fiscal challenges facing advanced economies. Georgieva argues that policymakers should address debt and deficits during good economic times rather than waiting for a crisis to force action. 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.

Can Central Banks Rescue Us from High Interest Rates and Rising Debt? | Steven J. Davis, Raghuram Rajan | Hoover Institution

Raghuram Rajan, former Reserve Bank of India governor, joins Steve Davis at the Jackson Hole Symposium to offer his take on Fed chairman Kevin Warsh’s speech and Treasury secretary Scott Bessent’s recent intervention in bond markets. Rajan explains why attempts to push down long-term yields can distort important market signals, and why rising debt-servicing costs could ultimately force policymakers to pay greater attention to addressing persistent government deficits. Rajan and Davis address the long-term behavior of real interest rates, the risks of assuming unusually low real interest rates at a point in time will continue in the future, and the need for more fiscal prudence amid high levels of government debt. They also discuss the limits of central banks, which can address liquidity problems and market dysfunction but cannot rescue governments from an underlying fiscal crisis. 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.

The Fiscal Outlook and Housing Affordability | Steven J. Davis, Tom Barkin | Hoover Institution

Tom Barkin, president and CEO of the Richmond Fed, chats with Steve about Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium. They also discuss Ken Rogoff’s lunchtime remarks about the end of low real interest rates and what that means for the US fiscal outlook. They wrap up with reflections on lessons learned about housing (un)affordability by driving around Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and North and South Carolina. 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.

Kevin Warsh, the Fed, and the Future of Payments | Steven J. Davis, Jeffrey Schmid | Hoover Institution

Jeffrey Schmid sits down with Steven Davis at the 49th edition of the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium. They chat about Kevin Warsh’s keynote speech, innovations in the payments system, digital assets, competition for banks, and what it means for crisis management by the Fed and other central banks. 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.

An Economic and Moral Case for Capitalism | Steven J. Davis, Ross Levine | Hoover Institution

Steven Davis chats with Ross Levine about how the rule of law and competition foster prosperity and freedom in a system of market-based capitalism. They highlight the moral dimensions of the case for capitalism and its limits. They explain why the state is necessary for well-functioning markets, and how state power can undermine competition, prosperity, and freedom. They also discuss the toughest challenge facing a capitalist, or any, society – how to ensure widespread opportunity. 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.

AI-Powered Business Formation | Steven J. Davis, Liya Palagashvili | Hoover Institution

Steven Davis chats with Liya Palagashvili about her new paper on “Artificial Intelligence and the Rise of Independent Work.” They start with a discussion of why, as a matter of economics, it’s plausible that generative AI tools make it easier to operate solo businesses. They then turn to Liya’s evidence, which suggests that AI has helped spur the growth of one-person businesses since 2024 in the United States. They close with a discussion of how this development should inform our thinking about labor market policies. 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.

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AI for Hearing-Impaired Workers: A Good-News Story | Steven J. Davis, Yanyou Chen, Mitchell Hoffman | Hoover Institution

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. 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.

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Focused Deterrence: A Strategy for Reducing Homicides in American Cities | Steven J. Davis, Aaron Chalfin, Max Kapustin | Hoover Institution

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. 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.

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Prescription for Disaster: Drug Deaths in America | Steven J. Davis, William Evans, Ethan Lieber | Hoover Institution

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.

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Chokepoints and Supply-Chain Vulnerabilities | Steven J. Davis, Soumaya Keynes, Chad Bown | Hoover Institution

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.

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Should States Enforce Noncompete Agreements? | Steven J. Davis, Evan Starr | Hoover Institution

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.

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Online Buddies for Jobseekers | Steven J. Davis, Michèle Belot, Philipp Kircher | Hoover Institution

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.

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The Economic Price of War | Steven J. Davis, Jonathan Federle, Moritz Schularick | Hoover Institution

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.

America’s Mid-Life Mortality Gap | Steven J. Davis, Jonathan Skinner | Hoover Institution

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 and Trade Deficits | Steven J. Davis, Brent Neiman | Hoover Institution

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.

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What Next for Venezuela? | Steven J. Davis, Ricardo Hausmann | Hoover Institution

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.

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From Asia, with Skills and Aspirations | Steven Davis, Gaurav Khanna | Hoover Institution

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 Licensing Racket, and How to Fix It | Steven Davis, Rebecca Haw Allensworth | Hoover Institution

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.

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Cool New Work on Remote Work | Steven Davis, Nicholas Bloom | Hoover Institution

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.

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