The Good Fight

Alvin E. Roth, Nobel Prize–winning economist and market designer, explains how market design can fix broken exchanges. He discusses kidney shortages and the debate over paid donation. He explores kidney exchanges, moral disgust around buying organs, and pragmatic experiments on payments. He also compares organ markets to plasma, drugs, and sex work to show how norms shape economic outcomes.

Timothy Garton Ash, historian and commentator on European politics, reflects on Britain’s populist surge and parallels across the continent. He traces party fragmentation, the strains on mainstream conservatives and Labour, and how polarization over Gaza and economic challenges reshape national politics. The conversation surveys prospects for electoral reform and the resilience of European democracies.

Laurenz (Laurence) Guenther, a political economist studying representation, populism, and immigration, discusses the large cultural representation gap between voters and political elites. He compares identical surveys across countries, highlights big divergences on immigration, crime, gender, and EU issues, and explores why socially conservative but economically left voters lack a clear party home.

Lant Pritchett, a development economist focused on state capability and economic growth, explains why building strong state institutions matters more than charity. He contrasts mitigation-focused aid with national transformation. Short takes cover how ideas and strategy drive growth, why small trials miss system change, and what truly unlocks prosperity.

David Bromwich, Sterling Professor of English at Yale and noted literary critic, reflects on higher education. He talks about grade inflation and proposals to recalibrate grading. He examines political conformity on campus and its impact on debate. He critiques opaque admissions and suggests clearer, merit-based standards.

Luis Garicano, Professor of Public Policy at LSE and former MEP, studies technology, labor markets, and institutions. He argues AI could be as transformative as the industrial revolution for cognitive work. He details which knowledge tasks AI handles now, why productivity gains may be constrained, how AI complements rather than fully replaces workers, and the political and transitional risks of adoption.

Jacob Mchangama, Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech and research professor, explains why online speech is under pressure worldwide. He discusses how dictators adapted to the internet, the rise and use of hate speech laws, shifting political coalitions for tech regulation, and risks of identity-based policies like age verification and ending anonymity.

Michael Shermer, founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and author on science and truth, joins to tackle conspiracy theories and how to tell plausible claims from wild ones. He outlines practical criteria for spotting real conspiracies. They also debate what truth means and how fallible science and evidence help us find it.

Ivan Krastev, prominent political scientist known for work on democracy and populism, explains why long incumbencies can crumble and how institutions and electoral quirks shaped Hungary’s recent shift. He discusses leadership, campaign tactics that flipped rural votes, the surprising limits of competitive authoritarianism, and geopolitical ripple effects from actions like a U.S. blockade.

Andrés Velasco, Dean of LSE’s School of Public Policy and former Chilean finance minister, discusses oil shocks, financial fragility, and the London Consensus. He weighs the risk that the Middle East war could echo the 1970s, flags AI-driven valuations and private credit as potential triggers, and outlines warning signs to watch in markets.