Category: 3-EconSometimeCommentary

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For years, the playwright David Adjmi was considered “polarizing and difficult.” But creating Stereophonic seems to have healed him. Stephen Dubner gets the story — and sorts out what Adjmi has in common with Richard Wagner.

The post What Does It Cost to Lead a Creative Life? appeared first on Freakonomics.

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We all know the government uses taxes to pay for things. But what about using taxes to control behavior? This week on Summer School, Professor Darrick Hamilton of The New School, helps us explore the true power of the tax code. Can taxes help lift people out of poverty? What about saving the planet?

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We send 10 billion of them every day. Where do they come from? Zachary Crockett hearts this topic.

 

• SOURCES:
  • Jennifer 8. Lee, co-founder of Emojination.

 

• RESOURCES:
  • "Apple Removes The Gun Emoji, Replaces It With A Squirt Gun," by Carl Franzen (Popular Science, 2021).
  • "Ford’s secret fight for a pickup truck emoji," by Mark Dent (The Hustle, 2019).
  • "The WIRED Guide to Emoji," by Arielle Pardes (WIRED, 2018).
  • "How the iPhone won over Japan and gave the world emoji," by Sam Byford (The Verge, 2017).
  • "About Emoji," (Unicode Consortium).

 

What people might picture when they think of "Made in America" ... might not look like the "Made in America" we have today.

The U.S. does have a domestic manufacturing industry, including a garment manufacturing industry.

In today's episode: We buy a garment made by factory workers in the U.S. – a basic purple sports bra – and learn how many people it took to make it, how much workers got paid to work on it ... and whether garment manufacturing is a job Americans want, or even know how, to do.

Plus: why domestic garment manufacturing exists at all in the U.S., and whether the industry can grow.

Other episodes:

- What "Made in China" actually means

This episode was reported and hosted by Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by Willa Rubin with production help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Marianne McCune, and it was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez who also helped with research. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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The Gulf States and China are spending billions to build stadiums and buy up teams — but what are they really buying? And can an entrepreneur from Cincinnati make his own billions by bringing baseball to Dubai?

The post Why Governments Are Betting Big on Sports appeared first on Freakonomics.

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Government. The Big G. We like to imagine the free market and the invisible hand as being independent from political influence. But Nobel laureate, Simon Johnson, says that influence has been there since the birth of economics. Call it political economy. Call it government and business. Call it our big topic each Wednesday through Labor Day.

We're kicking off another semester of Planet Money Summer School asking the biggest question: Why are some nations rich and others poor? With stories from India, New York City and Peru, we look at the ways in which government bureaucracy can help make or break an economy.

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On this episode, Nathan Goodman speaks with Abby Hall on the "boomerang effect," where U.S. military tools and tactics used abroad—like drones—are repurposed for domestic border enforcement. Hall discusses how restrictive immigration policies, such as the Secure Fence Act and Operation Streamline, often lead to unintended consequences like increased migrant deaths and overwhelmed asylum systems. She advocates for more open immigration pathways to improve both humanitarian outcomes and resource allocation. The conversation also highlights how past U.S. interventions in Latin America have contributed to current migration patterns and emphasizes the importance of humility and flexibility in policy research.

Dr. Abigail R. Hall is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Tampa and a Senior Affiliated Scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She has published numerous books, including her most recent satirical book, How to Run Wars: A Confidential Playbook for the National Security Elite co-authored with Christopher J. Coyne (2024). She holds a PhD in Economics from George Mason University and is an alum of the Mercatus PhD Fellowship.

Show Notes:

• Hall's article, "Border Fencing, Migrant Flows, and Crossing Deaths"
• Hall's article, "The Unintended Consequences of U.S. Asylum Policy"

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CC Music: Twisterium

Before she decided to become a poker pro, Maria Konnikova didn’t know how many cards are in a deck. But she did have a Ph.D. in psychology, a brilliant coach, and a burning desire to know whether life is driven more by skill or chance. She found some answers in poker — and she’s willing to tell us everything she learned.

The post How to Make Your Own Luck (Update) appeared first on Freakonomics.

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When security cameras and facial recognition tools fail, law enforcement investigators fall back on a witness's memory and an artist's hand. Zachary Crockett's nose was a little bigger than that.

 

• SOURCES:
  • Lois Gibson, forensic artist.
  • David Sarni, adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

 

• RESOURCES:
  • "Fighting Crime With Pencil and Paper," by J. David Goodman (New York Times, 2013)
  • "Something Sketchy About Identifying Suspects," by Stephen Owsinski (National Police Association).
  • "Forensic Art Certification Scope and Role," (International Association for Identification).
  • "Forensice Art Composites," (Samantha Steinberg).