This episode features an interview of economics professor Thomas Sowell from 2008 by Russ Roberts, host of EconTalk. They discuss the misleading nature of measured income inequality, CEO pay, why nations grow or stay poor, the role of intellectuals and experts in designing public policy, and immigration.
Tag: economics
David Friedman: A Law Professor’s Perspective on Unschooling (15m)
This episode features an audio essay written by economics and law professor David Friedman in 2015, as published in Unschooling Dads: Twenty-two Testimonials on Their Unconventional Approach to Education, edited by Skyler J. Collins.
If the Only Way You Can Get Your Great Idea Implemented…
Economics textbooks are full of clever-and-appealing policy proposals. Proposals like: “Let’s redistribute money to the desperately poor” and “Let’s tax goods with negative externalities.” They’re so clever and so appealing that it’s hard to understand how any smart, well-meaning person could demur. When you look at the real world, though, you see something strange: Almost no one actually pushes for the textbooks’ clever-and-appealing policy proposals.
Walter Block: Defending the Moneylender (15m)
This episode features an audio essay written by economics professor and Austro-libertarian Walter Block from 1976, and which comprises Chapter 17 of Defending the Undefendable.
Fake Credentials
You might have a medical degree and be a doctor. You might be an expert in your field. People might come to you for medical advice and help. Some patients might even get better while you are “caring” for them. But if you were trained to believe in (and treat) the four humors or that evil spirits cause disease, you aren’t credible as a doctor. Your degree is worthless in the real world of medicine. You’re a fake doctor.
Two-and-a-Half Cheers for Elizabeth Warren’s Student Debt Plan
There’s a strong historical correlation between easy availability of student loans and soaring costs of a college or university education. It’s basic economics. By artificially lowering loan risk to direct money at a good or service, government increases debt and drives up the price of that good or service.
Donald Boudreaux: Market Failure, Government Failure and the Economics of Antitrust Regulation (1h6m)
This episode features an interview of economics professor Donald Boudreaux from 2007 by Russ Roberts, host of EconTalk. They talk about when market failure can be improved by government intervention. After discussing the evolution of economic thinking about externalities and public goods, the conversation turns to the case for government’s role in promoting competition via antitrust regulation. Boudreaux argues that the origins of antitrust had nothing to do with protecting consumers from greedy monopolists. The source of political demand for antitrust regulation came from competitors looking for relief from more successful rivals.
David Friedman: A Consequentialist Theory of Anarcho-Capitalism (1h47m)
This episode features a lecture by economics professor David Friedman from 2013. He looks at anarcho-capitalist political theory from its consequences in the economy and to society.
Tom Woods: Economics Is About Social Cooperation, Not Money or Greed (31m)
This episode features a lecture by historian and Austro-libertarian Tom Woods from 2015. What is it, fundamentally, that fascinates us about economics? Some people hear economics and think greed. But to the contrary, what fascinates us about economics is the phenomenon of social cooperation, which takes place on a global scale despite the lack of any global authority directing it.
Doug French: Why Democracy Doesn’t Work (58m)
This episode features a talk by economics professor Doug French from 2013. The true believers always tell us we are just one election away from liberty. It never happens. French blends Hoppe, Hayek, and Maslow to explain why, despite voters best intentions, sociopaths are elected and freedom is lost.