Words & Numbers Episode 494: The Dark Ages Never Went Away
In this episode, we explore everything from missing teaspoons and land acknowledgments to capital punishment and medieval economic thinking. We examine what everyday shortages reveal about prices and incentives, debate China’s use of executions for online scams, and unpack why symbolic gestures like mandatory land acknowledgments often collapse under scrutiny. We’re also joined by Andrew Heaton, host of The Political Orphanage podcast, to discuss zero-sum thinking, inequality versus poverty, and why so many economic intuitions still haven’t escaped the Dark Ages. Along the way, we look at profit caps, price controls, and the persistent temptation to treat economics like theology rather than systems thinking.
00:00 Introduction and Overview
00:28 Land Acknowledgment
01:30 The Curious Case of the Disappearing Teaspoons
03:31 What Teaspoons Teach Us About Prices and Resources
06:04 China Executes Online Scammers
08:21 When Capital Punishment Expands Too Far
09:51 Foolishness of the Week: Mandatory Land Acknowledgments
13:13 Free Speech, Property Theory, and a Faculty Lawsuit
18:32 Andrew Heaton Joins the Show
21:12 Economics Thinking That Never Escaped the Dark Ages
24:42 Zero-Sum Thinking and the Origins of Envy
27:37 Why Humans Think in Proportions, Not Absolutes
29:53 Inequality vs. Poverty
34:59 Greed, Merchants, and Medieval Economics
37:20 Why Price Controls Never Work
41:08 Theology vs. Economics
42:43 Why Profit Caps Backfire
48:09 Supply and Demand Is Not Optional
51:48 Systems Thinking vs. Witch Hunts
55:01 Why Bad Incentives Create Bad Outcomes
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