Design Economics Podcast (Episode 19)
Join host Vinny Tafuro for a conversation with Misty Heggeness, associate professor at the University of Kansas, former principal economist at the U.S. Census Bureau, and author of Swiftynomics: How Women Mastermind and Redefine Our Economy. Misty reveals how the economics profession has long ignored the contributions of women in the labor market, in households, and in the data itself. Through the lens of Taylor Swift’s career and songwriting, Misty makes the case that pop culture isn’t a detour from serious economics; it’s an on-ramp. The conversation also explores care privilege, the CARE Board dashboard, and what it means to push feminist economics into the mainstream rather than accept a seat at the side table.
Guest Links
Book
- Swiftynomics: How Women Mastermind and Redefine Our Economy, Misty L. Heggeness
Referenced in this episode
- Claudia Goldin, Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University
- Nancy Folbre, Director of Program on Gender and Care Work, PERI; Professor Emerita of Economics, UMass Amherst
- Shelly Lundberg, Leonard Broom Professor of Demography, Distinguished Professor of Economics, UC Santa Barbara
- Frances Perkins, U.S. Secretary of Labor 1933-1945
- The 19th* newsroom
- Female Founders Fund
- The Economics of Taylor Swift (ECON 164/364), University of Kansas
About Misty
Misty L. Heggeness is a proud Swiftie and an economist who studies the intersection of gender, poverty, inequality, and the high-skilled workforce. Her research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Economist, and Science—and has helped shape federal policy over the past decade. She is the founder and co-director of the Kansas Population Center, an associate professor of economics and public affairs, and an associate research scientist at the Institute for Policy and Social Research at the University of Kansas. She is also an innovator and founder of The Care Board, a dashboard of economic statistics on care.