Should Kids Pay Back Their Parents for Raising Them?

Season 6, Episode 2

This week on Freakonomics Radio: When one athlete turned pro, his mom asked him for $1 million. Our modern sensibilities tell us she doesn’t have a case. But does she?

Plus, Steve Levitt talks about what he learned from his dad, good and bad. Next, Stephen Dubner shares one of the best lessons he ever learned, over a diner meal with his dad, who taught him to play a game called Powers of Observation. Finally, we hear from Joshua Gans, the Australian economist and author of Parentonomics: An Economist Dad Looks at Parenting.

To learn more, check out the podcasts from which this hour was drawn: “Should Kids Pay Back Their Parents for Raising Them?” and “Things Our Fathers Gave Us.”

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