Sep 16 2024 56 mins
"If what you are doing is not important, and if you don't think it is going to lead to something important, why are you at Bell Labs working on it?"
– Richard Hamming
This week, join Cyrus Palizban and new guest, David H. Solomon, professor of finance at Boston College, as we discuss David’s work on behavioral finance, media roles, and recent research on birth rates. The discussion centers on a quote by Richard Hamming about importance, which David connects to his own work, namely: the intricacies of birth rates, the impact of child car seat laws, and how local diversity affects fertility rates. Above all, this episode emphasizes the value of disciplined academic inquiry and highlights the importance of asking challenging questions
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:16 David Solomon's Background
00:46 Exploring Behavioral Finance
01:15 Richard Hamming's Inspirational Quote
02:02 The Importance of Working on Significant Problems
03:33 Challenges in Academia and Research
05:31 Birth Rates and Economic Implications
06:31 The Puzzle of Declining Birth Rates
13:48 Empirical Analysis and Coding
17:20 The Impact of Child Car Seat Laws on Birth Rates
24:59 Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Policy
28:01 Exploring the Relationship Between Racial Diversity and Birth Rates
29:47 Understanding the Herfindahl Index and Racial Isolation
31:52 Implications for Homogeneous Countries
34:37 Historical Consistency of Birth Rate Trends
37:53 Challenges and Backlash in Academia
41:04 The Role of Tenure in Academic Research
44:28 The Broader Context of Non-Profit Institutions
49:16 Personal Reflections on Birth Rates and Parenthood
55:23 Concluding Thoughts and Future Research Directions
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