EconTalk
Russ Roberts
EconTalk: Conversations for the Curious is an award-winning weekly podcast hosted by Russ Roberts of Shalem College in Jerusalem and Stanford's Hoover Institution. The eclectic guest list includes authors, doctors, psychologists, historians, philosophers, economists, and more. Learn how the health care system really works, the serenity that comes from humility, the challenge of interpreting data, how potato chips are made, what it's like to run an upscale Manhattan restaurant, what caused the 2008 financial crisis, the nature of consciousness, the conflicts and history of the Middle East, and more. EconTalk has been taking the Monday out of Mondays since 2006. All 1000+ episodes are available in the archive. Go to EconTalk.org for transcripts, related resources, and comments.
Episodes
Mentioned books
11 snips
Apr 23, 2007 • 1h 4min
Alvin Rabushka on the Flat Tax
Alvin Rabushka, economist and Hoover Institution senior fellow known for co-authoring The Flat Tax. He explains a single-rate, postcard-sized return, how identical rates stop tax shifting, why lower rates reduce demand for tax planners, international flat-tax experiments, and political obstacles to overhauling complex codes.
Apr 16, 2007 • 56min
Don Boudreaux on the Economics of "Buy Local"
Proponents of buying local argue that it is better to buy from the local hardware store owner and nearby farmer than from the Big Box chain store or the grocery store headquartered out of town because the money from the purchase is more likely to "stay in the local economy." Don Boudreaux of George Mason University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the economics of this idea. Is it better to buy local than from a seller based out of town? Is it better to buy American than to buy foreign products? Does the money matter? In this conversation, Boudreaux and Roberts pierce through the veil of money to expose what trade, whether local, national, or international, really accomplishes.
Apr 9, 2007 • 59min
John Bogle on Investing
The legendary John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group and creator of the index mutual fund, talks about the Great Depression, the riskiness of bond funds, how he created the Index 500 mutual fund--now the largest single mutual fund in the world--how the study of economics changed his life and ours, and Sarbanes-Oxley. At the end of the conversation, he reflects on his life and career.
10 snips
Apr 2, 2007 • 1h 2min
Mike Munger on the Division of Labor
Mike Munger, economist and political scientist at Duke University known for work on public choice, discusses specialization and the division of labor. He explores how markets, expectations, and infrastructure enable trade. They cover technology, automation, and how scaling tasks transforms production. The conversation looks at personal tradeoffs between variety and efficiency and why trading with strangers expands prosperity.
Mar 26, 2007 • 1h 10min
Kevin Kelly on the Future of the Web and Everything Else
Author Kevin Kelly talks about the role of technology in our lives, the future of the web, how to time travel, the wisdom of the hive, the economics of reputation, the convergence of the biological and the mechanical, and his impact on the movies The Matrix and Minority Report.
Mar 19, 2007 • 58min
David Leonhardt on the Media
David Leonhardt of the New York Times talks with Russ Roberts about media bias, competition between old and new media, global warming, and the role of information as an incentive to provide better health care.
Mar 12, 2007 • 56min
Tyler Cowen on Liberty, Art, Food and Everything Else in Between
Tyler Cowen, co-blogger (with Alex Tabarrok) at MarginalRevolution.com, talks about liberty, global warming, using the courts vs. regulation to protect people, the challenges of leading a country out of poverty, the political economy of cuisine, and a quick overview of the Washington, DC. art museum scene.
Mar 5, 2007 • 55min
Gregg Easterbrook on the American Standard of Living
Author Gregg Easterbrook talks about the ideas in his latest book, The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse. How has life changed in America over the last century? Is the average person getting ahead or are the rich taking all the gains? Easterbrook argues that life is better for the average American in almost every dimension. The paradox is that despite those gains, we don't seem much happier.
Feb 26, 2007 • 55min
Viviana Zelizer on Money and Intimacy
Viviana Zelizer, Princeton University sociologist, talks about the ideas in her new book, The Purchase of Intimacy. Does money ruin intimacy? Does intimacy ruin our commercial transactions? Zelizer and host Russ Roberts have a lively conversation on the sometimes contentious border between economics and sociology.
17 snips
Feb 19, 2007 • 1h 6min
Richard Epstein on Property Rights and Drug Patents
Richard Epstein, a law scholar at the University of Chicago and Hoover Institution, discusses property rights, patents, and drug regulation. He compares physical and intellectual property. He explains how patents incentivize risky pharma innovation and how regulatory delays and third-party payers shape drug markets. He also explores FDA roles, counterfeit risks from reimportation, and alternatives to blanket bans.
