EconTalk

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EconTalk is an award-winning weekly talk show and podcast about economics in daily life. Host Russ Roberts talks to featured guests, professors, authors, and Nobel Prize winners about the economics behind current events, markets, the Great Depression, free trade, and the curiosities of everyday decision-making. Topics include school, health, business, finance, jobs, politics, book reviews, what's behind the recent mortgage and housing troubles, family, and more.

EconTalk is an award-winning weekly talk show and podcast about economics in daily life. Host Russ Roberts talks to featured guests, professors, authors, and Nobel Prize winners about the economics behind current events, markets, the Great Depression, free trade, and the curiosities of everyday decision-making. Topics include school, health, business, finance, jobs, politics, book reviews, what's behind the recent mortgage and housing troubles, family, and more.

More Information

Location:

Indianapolis, IN

Genres:

Economics

Business News

Podcasts

Description:

Twitter:

@EconTalker

Language:

English

Contact:

8335 Allison Pointe Trail Indianapolis, IN 46250 (317) 842-0880

Website:

http://www.econtalk.org/

Email:

mail@econtalk.org

Episodes

Russ Roberts on the Information Revolution, Politics, Yeats, and Yelling

7/16/2018

EconTalk host Russ Roberts does a monologue on how political discourse seems to have deteriorated in recent years and the growth in outrage, tribalism, and intolerance for those with different views from one's own. Roberts suggests that part of the problem is the revolution of the market for information caused by the internet that allows people to customize what they see to fit their own political narratives and worldview. In short, the market for news works to make us feel good rather...

Duration:01:01:30

Patrick Deneen on Why Liberalism Failed

7/9/2018

Political Scientist and author Patrick Deneen of the University of Notre Dame talks about his book Why Liberalism Failed with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. By liberalism, Deneen means the modern enterprise--the push for self-actualization free of the constraints of tradition, family, and religion that typifies modern culture. He argues that both the left and the right have empowered the state and reduced liberty. He argues for a smaller, more local, more artisanal economy and a return to the...

Duration:01:14:58

Arnold Kling on Morality, Culture, and Tribalism

7/2/2018

Economist and author Arnold Kling talks about the economic impact of culture and morality with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Drawing on a recent essay on the importance of social interactions, Kling explores the role of culture and norms and their broad impact on economic life. At the end of the conversation, Roberts discusses the implications of human sociality for the way economics is taught and the way economists think about public policy.

Duration:01:06:51

Michael Pollan on Psychedelic Drugs and How to Change Your Mind

6/25/2018

Journalist and author Michael Pollan talks about his book, How to Change Your Mind, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Pollan chronicles the history of the use of psychedelic drugs, particularly LSD and psilocybin, to treat addiction, depression and anxiety. He discusses his own experiences with the drugs as well. Much of the conversation focuses on what we might learn from psychedelic drugs about their apparent spiritual dimension, the nature of consciousness, and the nature of the mind.

Duration:01:12:27

Richard Reinsch on the Enlightenment, Tradition, and Populism

6/18/2018

Richard Reinsch, editor of Law and Liberty and the host of the podcast Liberty Law Talk, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the Enlightenment. Topics discussed include the search for meaning, the stability of liberalism, the rise of populism, and Solzhenitsyn's indictment of Western values from his Harvard Commencement Address of 1978.

Duration:01:06:41

Moises Velasquez-Manoff on Cows, Carbon Farming, and Climate Change

6/11/2018

Journalist and author Moises Velasquez-Manoff talks about the role of dirt in fighting climate change with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Velasquez-Manoff explains how changes in farming can allow dirt and plants to absorb carbon and potentially reduce climate change. At the end of the conversation he discusses the state of the science on hygiene, parasites, and auto-immune disorders that he discussed in his previous appearance on EconTalk in 2014.

Duration:01:14:20

Janet Golden on Babies Made Us Modern

6/4/2018

Historian and author Janet Golden talks about her book, Babies Made Us Modern, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Golden chronicles the transformation of parenting in first half of the 20th century. It's a fascinating story of how our knowledge of infant health and behavior grew dramatically but remains imperfect. At the same time, government, business, and private organizations responded to that imperfect knowledge.

Duration:01:03:03

Iain McGilchrist on the Divided Brain and the Master and His Emissary

5/28/2018

Psychiatrist and author Iain McGilchrist talks about his book, The Master and His Emissary, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. McGilchrist argues we have misunderstand the purpose and effect of the divided brain. The left side is focused, concrete, and confident while the right side is about integration of ourselves with the complexity of the world around us. McGilchrist uses this distinction to analyze the history of western civilization. This is a wide-ranging conversation that includes...

Duration:01:26:08

Glen Weyl on Radical Markets

5/21/2018

Economist Glen Weyl of Microsoft Research New England and Visiting Senior Research Scholar at Yale University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his book (co-authored with Eric Posner) Radical Markets. Weyl urges a radical transformation of land and housing markets using a new federal real estate tax based on self-assessment. Owners would be required to sell their houses at the self-assessed price. Weyl argues this would eliminate the market power home owners have in the re-sale...

Duration:01:03:27

Peter Boettke on Public Administration, Liberty, and the Proper Role of Government

5/20/2018

Peter Boettke of George Mason University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the proper role of the state in the economy. This is a wide-ranging conversation on political economy. Topics include Adam Smith's view of the state, the tension between the state as enabler of real vs. crony capitalism, the potential for the poor to flourish in a market economy, and the challenges of democracy.

Duration:01:12:46

Joel Peterson on Leadership, Betrayal, and the 10 Laws of Trust

5/7/2018

How did the CEO of a real estate development company become chairman of an airline? How can a competent manager learn to trust his subordinates? Joel Peterson, chairman of the Board at JetBlue Airways and author of The 10 Laws of Trust, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his career at Trammel Crow and JetBlue and how the concept of trust, outlined in his book, has helped his career. He closes the conversation with a discussion of how he overcame his personal weaknesses that would...

Duration:01:13:16

Ryan Holiday on Conspiracy, Gawker, and the Hulk Hogan Trial

4/30/2018

Author Ryan Holiday discusses his book, Conspiracy, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. This is a crazy episode about a crazy book about a crazy set of events--the Hulk Hogan lawsuit against the website Gawker, a lawsuit that was secretly funded by Peter Thiel. Holiday explains how this happened and the lessons for all of us related to conspiracies, patience, strategy, and revenge. Along the way, Holiday discusses his techniques for reading and lessons for how to grab someone's attention when...

Duration:01:17:50

Jonah Goldberg on The Suicide of the West

4/23/2018

Jonah Goldberg of National Review talks about his latest book, Suicide of the West, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Goldberg argues that both capitalism and democracy are at risk in the current contentious political environment. He argues that we take for granted what he calls "the miracle"--the transformation of the standard of living in the democracies with market economies. Goldberg argues that unless we actively work to preserve our political and economic systems, the forces of...

Duration:01:27:24

Jerry Muller on the Tyranny of Metrics

4/16/2018

Historian and author Jerry Muller of Catholic University talks about his latest book, The Tyranny of Metrics, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Muller argues that public policy and management are overly focused on measurable outcomes as a measure of success. This leads to organizations and agencies over-focusing on metrics rather than their broader mission. The conversation includes applications to education, crime, and health care.

Duration:01:04:45

Vincent Rajkumar on the High Price of Cancer Drugs

4/9/2018

Can a life-saving drug be too expensive? What explains the high price of cancer drugs? Dr. Vincent Rajkumar of the Mayo Clinic talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the high price of cancer drugs--drugs that can cost an American with cancer $300,000 per year and require multiple years of treatment. Rajkumar explains how little a role market forces play in setting prices and what might be done to improve the situation.

Duration:01:12:37

Michael Munger on Traffic

4/2/2018

Does rush-hour traffic drive you crazy? Is a congestion tax on car travel a good idea? Michael Munger of Duke University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the economics of traffic and congestion taxes. It takes a while to get there (how appropriate!) but they eventually agree that a tax on congestion while reducing travel time is harmful to many drivers and may be best thought of as any tax placed on a particular good--a way to raise government revenue from the pockets of the...

Duration:01:14:08

Edward Glaeser on Joblessness and the War on Work

3/26/2018

Why are fewer men working over the last few decades? Is a universal basic income a good policy for coping with the loss of employment? Economist Edward Glaeser of Harvard University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about what Glaeser calls the war on work--the policy changes that have reduced employment among prime-aged men. Glaeser does not see the universal basic income as a viable solution to the decrease in work especially if technology ends up reducing employment opportunities...

Duration:01:06:04

Beth Redbird on Licensing

3/19/2018

Economists often oppose the expansion of licensing in America in recent years because it makes it harder for people with low skills to get access to opportunity. Sociologist Beth Redbird of Northwestern University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about a different perspective. Redbird finds that licensing expands opportunity for women and minorities and has little impact on wages. She argues that licensing helps historically disadvantaged groups discover ways into various careers they...

Duration:01:02:28

Arnold Kling on Economics for the 21st Century

3/12/2018

Economist, blogger, and author Arnold Kling talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the state of economics in the 21st century. Kling argues that economics would be more useful if it took account of intangibles like culture, incorporated the role of financial intermediation in the economy, and modeled some of the the subtleties of the labor market--how wages are set and the role of team production.

Duration:01:04:50

Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Rationality, Risk, and Skin in the Game

3/5/2018

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of Skin in the Game, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the ideas in the book. This is the third episode of EconTalk with Taleb related to the general topic of skin in the game and how it affects decision-making and policy in an uncertain world. This episode focuses on rationality, religion, and the challenge of thinking about probability and risk correctly in a dynamic world.

Duration:01:14:26