Emily Oster is not only a leading academic economist tenured at Brown University, but also through her popular writing, one of the most trusted sources on the subject of pregnancy and child rearing.

And over the last year, she's been an early and influential voice advocating for school reopening.

I often say economics is just the thoughtful application of common sense, and Emily, more than just about anyone else I know, has found ways to take what is useful about economics and integrated into all aspects of her everyday life.

And she's been doing that since a very tender age. When she was only nine

years old, she started a weekly newsletter for the residents of her block, replete with data

analysis, pie charts, and graphs. And even before that, as a precocious two-year-old, her nighttime

ramblings lying alone in bed, were so remarkable they were tape- tape recorded and analyzed, resulting in a book

called Narratives from the Crib, which is still in print today, more than 30 years later,

now with an introduction written by Emily Oster herself.

Welcome to people I mostly admire with Steve Levitt.

I first met Emily Oster almost 20 years ago.

I was visiting the Harvard Economics Department for a day to give a lecture to the economics faculty.

And as is customary with such visits, the remainder of your day is filled in with one-on-one meetings with faculty members.

And sometimes they fill in the slots with the most promising graduate students. it's the remainder of your day is filled in with one-on-one meetings with faculty members.

And sometimes they fill in the slots with the most promising graduate students.

As I looked over my schedule that day, there was only one name I didn't recognize.

Who is this Emily Oster? I asked, one of your star PhD candidates.

The organizer responded, well, actually, she's one of our undergraduates, but I think you'll find it worth your time.

And I have to say, I was deeply perplexed until I met Emily, and she began to describe her undergraduate thesis on the relationship between crop values in the middle ages and the frequency of witch trials.

It was like I was talking to a young version of myself,

except that she was female, and ten times better than I was at her age doing the weird sort of economics I always loved. I've been her biggest fan ever since. And you know what's so

funny about the whole thing? I remember our meeting like it was yesterday, every detail, but Emily has no

...