The Pie: An Economics Podcast

A text bubble might seem trivial, until it shapes market dynamics, personal identity, and federal lawsuits. In this episode, UChicago economist Leo Bursztyn discusses how Apple’s green bubble design creates a powerful lock-in effect that reinforces Apple’s market dominance.

How is AI impacting the economy today? What might this mean for tomorrow? This episode brings you inside a discussion hosted at BFI in April. Moderated by Caroline Grossman, Executive Director of the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, the conversation features: Anders Humlum, Assistant Professor of Economics, Chicago Booth; Sanjog Misra, Professor of Marketing, Chicago Booth & Faculty Director of the Center for Applied AI; Samir Mayekar, Associate VP and Managing Director, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; and Alex Tamkin, Research Scientist at Anthropic and lead researcher on the new Anthropic Economic Index.

Economist Brent Neiman recently returned to UChicago from his position as Deputy Undersecretary for International Finance at The US Treasury, only to find his research being used (and misused) in the Trump administration’s sweeping new tariff policy. In this episode, Neiman walks us through what the original study actually showed, how it got misinterpreted, and why today’s tariff regime marks one of the most consequential trade shifts in decades.

What does Taiwan’s precarious position reveal about global power, economic leverage, and the unraveling of diplomatic norms? In this episode, economist Chang-Tai Hsieh returns to unpack Taiwan’s tangled political history, its deep economic entanglement with China, and the global stakes of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). From fears of abandonment to the high-stakes semiconductor supply chain, Hsieh explores how Taiwan balances sovereignty, security, and survival in an increasingly transactional world.

How can policymakers make choices when confronted with uncertainty? What happens when the public loses confidence in scientific authority? Are scientists, including economists, overconfident? Nobel Laureate and UChicago economist Lars Hansen, a leading authority on uncertainty in economic decision-making, tackles these and related questions in this Extra Slice of The Pie, hosted by BFI Executive Director, Ben Krause. The answers will surprise you.