Economics is called the dismal science in part because it is about hard choices — situations where we can't have our cake and eat it too. Last year it seemed as if COVID wasn't one of them. Keeping the virus at bay gave Australia one of the world's lowest death tolls and one of its shortest recessions. The Delta variant changed that and made the "costs" of fighting the pandemic much harder to bear. The Economists discusses the "trade offs" of the pandemic and the road ahead. Guests: Stephen Duckett, Health and Aged Care Program Director, Grattan Institute Peter Harris, Former Productivity Commission chair, former CEO, National COVID-19 Coordination Commission Advisory Board

Professor Richard Thaler has spent his career investigating how people really behave – how we save for retirement, what we choose to eat, how we use energy. Through understanding the many reasons for human misjudgement, such as being too optimistic, or facing too many choices, Richard Thaler's work has helped people make better decisions. The concept is known as "nudge" and nudge units are now commonplace in governments and businesses around the world to develop better policy. Guest: Professor Richard Thaler, Professor of Behavioural Science and Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and co-author of "Nudge".

The underlying strength in the Australian economy has again beat many expectations; the nation's economy rose 0.7 per cent in the June quarter. However, the figures are like a look in the rear-view mirror and do not capture the full pain of the latest lockdowns. Is the latest economic news set to be as good as it gets? Guests: Josh Frydenberg, Federal Treasurer Jo Masters, Chief Economist, EY Oceania    

Huge amounts of information, known as administrative data, are being used by government and researchers to know what you need, even before you need it.  How are linkages between data sets, and tracking types of people and businesses over time helping to improve decision making?   Guests: Dr David Gruen, Australian Statistician, Head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Bob Breunig, Director, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Australian National University

A landmark report has urged the world's governments to come up with a better form of national accounting from GDP, to reflect the value and depletion of nature. Plus, an update on carbon markets and the emerging field of biodiversity offsets. Guests: Diane Coyle, Bennett Professor of Public Policy, University of Cambridge Geoff Summerhayes, Senior Advisor, Pollination, former executive board member, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

House prices in Australia are climbing at rates we’ve seldom seen. In all age groups, there is more renting and less home ownership than there used to be. Is housing supply part of the problem? Guests: Peter Tulip, Chief Economist, Centre for Independent Studies and former senior research manager at the Reserve Bank of Australia Cameron Murray, Research Fellow, Henry Halloran Trust, University of Sydney Rachel Ong ViforJ, Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow, Professor at the School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Curtin University    

China has argued the tariffs on Australian goods such as wine and barley, are justified by Australia “dumping” products at low cost on the Chinese market and propping up the sectors with unfair subsidies – claims Australia denies. What’s behind the complaints and is there an exit strategy to restore trade? Guests: Dr Craig Emerson, economic consultant, former Minister for Trade David Uren, Senior Fellow, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

Australia's annual inflation rate has jumped to 3.8%, up from just 1.1%. Inflation is also rising in the United States – but is it really a worry? Plus, the Australian-led innovation to bring the Consumer Price Index into the 21st century. Guests Professor Kevin Fox, Director, Centre for Applied Economic Research, UNSW Business School Nicki Hutley, economic consultant, advisor to Social Outcomes and Climate Council, former Senior Partner, Deloitte Access Economics

The closure of Australia’s border to immigration has provided a rare chance to assess in stark terms how important immigration is to Australia. So far, unemployment is at record lows and we’re spending money at home. While there may be short term benefits – what are the longer-term implications? Guests: Saul Eslake, Corinna Economic Advisory, former chief economist of ANZ Bank and of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Gabriela D'Souza, Senior Economist, Committee for Economic Development of Australia

Australia's unemployment rate has fallen to 4.9 per cent, with almost 30,000 jobs created in June according to the official Bureau of Statistics data. The last time it was this low was a decade ago. Can Australia get even more people into work? Guests: Emeritus Professor Sue Richardson, Flinders University, former director of the National Institute of Labour Studies Emeritus Professor Bill Mitchell, Chair in Economics, Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity, University of Newcastle