Economics Amplified

When facing a grim diagnosis of a life-shortening incurable disease, ignorance may be bliss—or at least a desirable state—and knowledge will change your life choices, according to research by Emily Oster, a faculty member with the Institute's Chicago Price Theory Initiative. If you experience technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to bfi@uchicago.edu.

For decades or centuries, economists and decision theorists have struggled to use probability to understand how individuals respond to risk and ambiguity. When investors or consumers face a complex economic environment, it is challenging to represent the uncertainty they face with probability theory. At this Friedman Forum, Lars Peter Hansen, a leader in this field, demonstrates how to think about this problem—and why it matters. If you experience technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to bfi@uchicago.edu.

To create an optimal and efficient tax system, it's essential to understand the whole tax burden and how people respond to taxes. That was the idea behind the Mirrlees Review, a comprehensive examination of theory and data led by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. In this Friedman Forum, University of Chicago Visiting Fellow Richard Blundell discusses the review process and his recommendations for tax reform. If you experience technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to bfi@uchicago.edu.

James J. Heckman, the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, is known for both his theoretical work and empirical research. In this Friedman Forum, he discusses an economist's tools and approach, and shows how they can be applied to address serious policy issues. If you experience technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to bfi@uchicago.edu.

The recession of 2007 has thrown the domestic and global economy off a long-term historical growth path. In this Friedman Forum, 1995 Nobel Laureate Robert E. Lucas Jr. shares his viewpoint: that it's not clear when or whether we will return to that level of growth. If you experience technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to bfi@uchicago.edu.

Thomas J. Sargent, co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in economics, outlines the early fiscal history of the United States, using detailed and entertaining tales of early financial crises and bailouts to illustrate today's policy challenges. If you experience technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to bfi@uchicago.edu.