Freakonomics on WRVO-1: NPR News

In-depth yet accessible economics coverage, Stephen Dubner, co-author of the book Freakonomics.

In their books Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner use the tools of economics to explore real-world behavior. As boring as that may sound, what they really do is tell stories — about cheating schoolteachers, self-dealing real-estate agents, and crack-selling mama's boys. Those Freakonomics stories — and plenty of new ones — are now coming to the radio, with Dubner as host. Just like the books, Freakonomics Radio explores "the hidden side of everything." It will tell you things you always thought you knew but didn't, and things you never thought you wanted to know, but do.

Program website: www.freakonomics.com

Program Descriptions:

January 22nd - The Power of the President...and the Thumb - We ask a simple, heretical question: How much does the President of the United States really matter? Stephen Dubner talks to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, economists Austan Goolsbee and Justin Wolfers, and constitutional scholar Bernadette Meyler about how the President's actual influence can be measured; and Steve Levitt weighs in on how he thinks the President shapes the nation, and whether he'll be voting in the next election.

Also in this episode, we look at another supposed truism: hitchhiking is terribly dangerous. True? The fact is that hitchhiking has practically disappeared in America. But why? Was it really as dangerous as we believed? Even if so, what other factors were at play? Among our guests are data wizard Bill James, who says our risk aversion to hitchhiking makes it more dangerous, and transportation scholar Alan Pisarski, who looks at how hitchhiking can inform future transportation policy. Would our society be better off with more hitchhiking?

January 29th - Eat and Tweet - We look at the tension between "slow food" – a return to the past – and the food future. You'll hear from slow-food champion Alice Waters and uber-modernist Nathan Myhrvold, who advocates bringing more science into the kitchen – including, perhaps, a centrifuge, a pharmaceutical freeze drier and a... food printer?

Also in this episode: we delve into the social mores of Twitter. Is it a two-way street? Do you have to follow someone on Twitter to garner a large following yourself? Or are the mores of digital friendship different from those in real life? Twitter is a tool that has created a funny kind of friendship -- one that's less social than most people think. We'll hear about the Twitter give-and-take from sociologist Duncan Watts. Also, Justin Halpern parleyed his hit Twitter feed "Sh*t My Dad Says" into a best-selling book and a TV show; we learn about the one guy he follows. And Steve Levitt weighs in on just how important (or not) Twitter is in his life.

February 5th - Is a 'No-Lose Lottery' the Answer to America's Savings Problem? -  A recent Harvard survey found that half of all Americans, if faced with an emergency, couldn't come up with $2,000 in 30 days. We have a famously low savings rate. Most people would rather spend than save -- and one of our favorite expenditures is playing the lottery. Last year, we spent more than $58 billion on lottery tickets, or roughly $200 per person. As entertainment goes, the lottery is pretty cheap – a dollar and a dream, and all that. But as an investment, it offers a dreadful return, which is why the lottery is sometimes called "a tax on stupid people."

This episode of Freakonomics Radio looks at a little-known financial tool that might help people save more money while still giving them the thrill of the lottery. It's called a Prize-Linked Savings (PLS) account, and it pools a sliver of the interest from all depositors and pays out cash lottery prizes. It combines the thrill of the lottery with the safety of a savings account – thus, a "no-lose lottery." In places like England and South Africa, millions of people have been coaxed into saving money via a PLS plan, but state and federal officials in the U.S. aren't very interested. Why? Here's a hint: guess who runs (and profits from) the lotteries in our country?

Also in this episode, we take a broader look at financial literacy – or, really, financial illiteracy. In general, Americans aren't very good at the basics of saving, investing and retirement planning. So Freakonomics Radio wants to know: How do we improve our grade? We'll hear ideas for putting financial literacy in school curriculums, and from someone who thinks we shouldn't even try to learn it. And if we can't, can the solution be found in a Los Angeles hospital? Guests also include two members of President Obama's economic team and National Book Award-winner Sherwin Nuland.