Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses? (Update)
11 April 2024 - 49 minsPeople who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We explain why firms keep producing incompetent managers — and why that’s unlikely to change.
SOURCES:Nick Bloom, professor of economics at Stanford University.Katie Johnson, freelance data and analytics coach.Kelly Shue, professor of finance at the Yale University School of Management.Steve Tadelis, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business.
RESOURCES:“People Management Skills, Employee Attrition, and Manager Rewards: An Empirical Analysis,” by Mitchell Hoffman and Steven Tadelis (Journal of Political Economy, 2021).“Promotions and the Peter Principl...
Series Episodes
638. Are You Ready for the Elder Swell?
In the U.S., there will soon be more people over 65 than there are under 18 — and it’s not just lifespan that’s improving, it’s “healthspan” too. Unfortunately, the American approach to aging is stuck in the 20th century. In less than an hour, we try to unstick it. (Part three of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”)
54 mins
27 June Finished
What Do Medieval Nuns and Bo Jackson Have in Common? (Update)
In this episode from 2013, we look at whether spite pays — and if it even exists.
36 mins
25 June Finished
637. What It’s Like to Be Middle-Aged (in the Middle Ages)
The simplicity of life back then is appealing today, as long as you don’t mind Church hegemony, the occasional plague, trial by gossip — and the lack of ibuprofen. (Part two of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”)
45 mins
20 June Finished
636. Why Aren’t We Having More Babies?
For decades, the great fear was overpopulation. Now it’s the opposite. How did this happen — and what’s being done about it? (Part one of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”)
50 mins
13 June Finished
An Economics Lesson from a Talking Pencil (Update)
A famous essay argues that “not a single person on the face of this earth” knows how to make a pencil. How true is that? In this 2016 episode, we looked at what pencil-making can teach us about global manufacturing — and the proper role of government in the economy.
39 mins
11 June Finished
635. Can a Museum Be the Conscience of a Nation?
Nicholas Cullinan, the new director of the British Museum, seems to think so. “I'm not afraid of the past,” he says — which means talking about looted objects, the basement storerooms, and the leaking roof. We take the guided tour.
50 mins
6 June Finished
