Words & Numbers

This week on Words and Numbers, it's all about you, the listener. Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they answer questions from listeners posed in the Words and Numbers: Backstage Facebook group. Don't miss out on the next opportunity to have your questions answered on air! Join the Words and Numbers: Backstage Facebook group, where the conversation continues. Show Notes: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Datasets Do we have the right to silence speech? Is there a case for progressive taxes? What is causing the youth unemployment? Why does government only grow? How can markets encourage us to use scarce resources judiciously Will prostitution ever be legal?     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Adam Smith is widely regarded as the "father of economics," but what isn't as widely known is that he never considered himself an economist. He thought of himself as a philosopher. And, indeed, in the tradition of the Scottish Enlightenment, he was one. In the Scottish Enlightenment, study was largely divided into two categories: natural science and moral science. Natural science largely explains itself, but moral science was an attempt to ground ethics and morality in as much scientific reality and fact-based reasoning as possible, and it's from that branch of study that the subject of economics bloomed. If you want to make moral statements, if your heart is in the right place, then you need to have your facts straight. And while, over time, we've seen a more and more tightly defined division of labor and specialization, particularly in academia, perhaps it's time to get back to a more holistic form of study when it comes to economics and ethics. Join Antony Davies, James Harrigan, and special guest David Schmidtz as they discuss this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers. Show Notes: Manipulating matter at the atomic level People are fleeing California’s taxes Jim Bakker David Schmidtz   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are individuals, but we're also members of society. Economics generally deals with individual action whereas politics deals with the behavior of society as a whole. Economics, as a discipline, seeks to understand, explain, and sometimes predict human behavior. Politics, on the other hand, seeks to control the behavior of society at large. When we talk about freedom, what kind of freedom are we talking about? Is it the ability to decide which goods and services we purchase and from whom without restriction? Is it being able to choose who represents our interests in government and which laws they create? And which is more important? Or is either of them? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they take a deep dive into what, exactly, economics and politics actually are and what freedom in those spheres might actually mean on this week's episode of Words and Numbers. Show Notes: Brain implant improves memory Oliver North named president of the NRA Foolishness of the Week The Pope doesn’t understand economics The Pope and Libertarianism   Topic of the week: What is economics? Economics informs the decision to marry How people choose when they know that they don’t know what to pick Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Recently, Senator Chuck Schumer introduced a bill that would decriminalize marijuana on the federal level. He stated that the legality of marijuana should be a matter left up to individual states. This ringing endorsement of federalism might carry a little more weight if Senator Schumer hadn't spent a large part of his political career trying to micromanage Americans' behavior at the national level. Hillary Clinton is widely considered to be a staunch supporter of the LGBT community; however, she was publicly opposed to marriage equality until 2013. These are just two of the innumerable examples of politicians changing their stances on policy issues in the face of evolving public opinion. This is not a new phenomenon or exclusive to a single political party. Not only is it common for politicians to modify their positions of political principles to match changing public opinion, you'd be hard-pressed to find one who doesn't. We are dealing with political followership, not political leadership. So, what does that get us? Antony Davies and James Harrigan talk about this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers. Show Notes Tariff dodgers-01 Tariff dodgers-02 PSU’s outing club may not go outside Foolishness of the week: Nutrition labeling for pizza Topic of the week: Political leaders and followers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In today's strange climate of political correctness, free speech exists in a weird place. Safe spaces, First Amendment zones, the attitude of victimization, and accusations that "your fav is problematic" abound. And yet, important things, challenging things, dangerous things still need to be said and are being said. One critical "loophole" for dodging the would-be censors to get these ideas out into the world is comedy. Comedians live in a peculiar kind of in-between that allows for a certain audacity in messaging that doesn't quite exist for, say, politicians or activists. Special guest Lou Perez from We The Internet joins James and Antony to talk about messaging, humor, and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.   Quick hits More registered voters than citizens https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/08/election-fraud-registered-voters-outnumber-eligible-voters-462-counties/ UK bans straws https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-chogm-plastic/britain-to-ban-sale-of-plastic-straws-in-bid-to-fight-waste-idUSKBN1HP338 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/16/scientists-accidentally-create-mutant-enzyme-that-eats-plastic-bottles Toastabag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2KxiFL8XsA Foolishness of the week New Yorker complains about Chik-fil-A https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/chick-fil-as-creepy-infiltration-of-new-york-city Topic of the week: Free Speech with Lou Perez http://www.louperez.net/ https://twitter.com/LOUontheSUBWAY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every year, the American people spend about $30 billion on accountants and software to file their taxes. That's on top of taxes themselves. Approximately 26 percent of the average American's income is collected, in some form or another, in taxes. This includes all forms of taxation, such as state and local taxes, as well as federal. If we look at just federal taxation, that still comes to a very respectable 16 to 18 percent (on average) of GDP. But how does that all break down when it comes to federal taxation? Are the poor really getting bent over the taxation barrel every April? Are the rich not really paying their "fair share"? And how did we even get to this point? Join Antony Davies and James Harrigan as they discuss this and more on this week's Tax Day edition of Words and Numbers.   The top 1% earn 20% of all income but pay almost 40% of all federal taxes.   https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/114th-congress-2015-2016/reports/51361-householdincomefedtaxesonecol.pdf     Country comparison of tax revenue from all levels of government per GDP US = 26%; Denmark = 45%; Ireland = 22%. This ignores borrowing. If government taxed enough to balance budget, US would be at 31%, putting it on par with Canada. http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-do-us-taxes-compare-internationally   Overview of federal taxes https://files.taxfoundation.org/20170201091804/TaxFoundation-FF540.pdf   60% of US households receive more money back from the federal government than they pay https://taxfoundation.org/60-percent-households-now-receive-more-transfer-income-they-pay-taxes/   How taxes and transfers trap the poor https://mises.org/library/dead-zone-implicit-marginal-tax-rate   The income tax was originally a tax on the rich. https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-10-05/income-tax-history-is-a-warning-about-our-future-under-clintons-estate-tax   Number of pages in the Standard Federal Tax Reporter https://taxfoundation.org/how-many-words-are-tax-code/   Fun tax facts https://www.factretriever.com/taxes-facts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Much has been said about the high cost of higher education in America. And it is, indeed, quite expensive and getting more so at an alarming rate. For all that, though, at least we can say that America gets what it pays for in that we have the best higher education system in the world. In fact, it's one of our biggest exports, totaling more than $35 billion—fully 5 percent of America's export market—as of 2015. The same cannot be said for our primary and secondary education systems, with the US consistently ranking at around the middle of the pack among developed nations in standardized test scores. The thing of it is, the average annual cost per student in an American public high school is about the same as the average annual cost per student in an American public university. With the price of educating young people being generally the same for public high schools and public universities, why is there such a huge discrepancy in the outcomes for the students? Is there any way to remedy this situation? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they discuss this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers. Quick hits Administrative bloat in health care and higher education http://hereandnow.legacy.wbur.org/2011/11/02/university-cost-bloated https://www.athenahealth.com/insight/expert-forum-rise-and-rise-healthcare-administrator Homeland Security monitoring journalists http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/04/07/homeland-security-database-would-track-journalists-media-influencers-report.html Foolishness of the week http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/381946-michelle-obama-my-husband-was-the-good-parent-compared-to-trump Topic of the week: Public schools Cost per public school student is around $13,000. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66 http://www.governing.com/gov-data/education-data/state-education-spending-per-pupil-data.html Standardized test scores about the same for most and least expensive public schools https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile?chort=2&sub=MAT&sj=AL&sfj=NP&st=AB&year=2013R3 Net tuition and fees at private 4-year colleges is $15,000. https://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/average-net-price-over-time-full-time-students-private-nonprofit-four-year-institutions Performance evidence for school vouchers https://www.cato.org/blog/evidence-school-choice-works Comparison of US school students to students in other countries http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/ Higher education is a major US export https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2017/01/31/sealing-the-border-could-block-one-of-americas-crucial-exports-education/ Value of a high school diploma https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2012/08/28/public-high-schools-are-not-doing-their-jobs   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's no way to sugar-coat it. Social Security is going to fail. There are, of course, ways to possibly extend its life for a few years, or even decades, but ultimately, like all Ponzi schemes, it will collapse. By the federal government's and the Social Security Board of Trustees' own admissions, the Social Security program will be paying out more than it takes in in just 4 years. At current rates (and assuming the federal government fully pays back the more than $5 trillion it "borrowed" from Social Security's accounts), the program will be completely out of money in about 17 years. What does this situation mean for current working Americans? Is there any way to solve this problem? Join Antony Davies and James Harrigan as they discuss this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.   Quick hits   Splitting up Amazon https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/29/former-walmart-us-ceo-congress-consider-splitting-up-amazon.html   National pencil day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/days-2/national-pencil-day-march-30/   Foolishness of the week: Cancer warnings on coffee   https://fee.org/articles/why-californias-lawsuit-industry-wants-you-to-think-coffee-causes-cancer/?utm_source=FEE+Email+Subscriber+List&utm_campaign=ca27aafa08-MC_FEE_DAILY_2018_04_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_84cc8d089b-ca27aafa08-107137661   https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/general-info/cancer-warning-labels-based-on-californias-proposition-65.html   https://www.refinery29.com/2018/04/195249/coffee-cancer-warning-label-california-starbucks-dunkin-donuts-reaction?bucketed=true   https://nypost.com/2018/03/30/de-blasio-eyes-vacancy-tax-for-greedy-landlords-seeking-top-dollar/?utm_source=facebook_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons   Topic of the week: Social Security   https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/social-security-administration-spending-tops-1-trillion-first-time https://www.ssa.gov/policy/trust-funds-summary.html https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v75n1/v75n1p1.html https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v70n3/v70n3p111.html https://www.ssa.gov/history/nestor.html https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/us/how-privatized-social-security-works-in-galveston.html https://www.state-journal.com/2018/01/25/you-asked-can-kentucky-teachers-retirement-system-participants-receive-social-security/ https://www.teacherpensions.org/blog/why-aren%E2%80%99t-all-teachers-covered-social-security https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matt-bevin-kentucky-lawmakers-pass-pension-overhaul-despite-teacher-ire/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pundits are declaring that America is a nation divided. In fairness, this is a true statement, but it's not a new phenomenon. America has been a nation divided since at least the election of 1800. That said, the division is not a dichotomous one. Recent data show that a large and growing number of Americans self-identify as neither Republican nor Democrat, but as Independent. It would appear that a large number of Americans are growing increasingly tired of the ever-more extreme stances of the two major parties, instead favoring more moderate approaches to governance. An excellent microcosmic example of this is the recent special election in Pennsylvania Congressional District 18, a district that in the 2016 presidential election voted in favor of Donald Trump by 20 percentage points. Despite its deeply red tendencies and both the President and Vice President campaigning in support of the Republican congressional candidate, PA18 narrowly elected a Democrat to represent it. A Democrat, it should be noted, who publicly distanced himself from major Democratic leaders and campaigned on issues more typically associated with right-wing politicians. What does this mean for American politics going forward? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they discuss this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers. Quick hits The singular “they” http://theweek.com/articles/758082/why-need-accept-singular?utm_source=links&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=facebook https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/06/06/he-or-she-versus-they/  South Korea encourages people not to work so much https://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/south-korea-start-turning-computers-12237489  Foolishness of the Week: YouTube bans all gun related content https://thenextweb.com/google/2018/03/21/youtube-banning-gun-videos-now-theyre-reappearing-pornhub/  https://reason.com/blog/2018/03/23/youtube-says-it-will-be-shutting-down-gu  Topic of the week: Moderation http://www.insidesources.com/move-toward-moderation/   http://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx        Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The American federal government has a serious spending problem. The federal debt, the sum total of all the money the government has borrowed, has hit $21 trillion, with a cool $1 trillion of that coming from Trump's first year in office. That is, undeniably, a lot of money, and media outlets all over the country are crowing about it being the first time a single-year deficit has been so high, but it simply isn't so. Even by fairly kind calculations, it's happened at least three times before—once under George W. Bush and at least twice under Barack Obama. Regardless, the federal debt is soaring, and eventually, that debt is going to come due. And when it does, what does that mean for Americans individually and on the whole? Join Antony Davies and James Harrigan as they discuss this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices