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Host Russ Roberts and his guest, Pete Boettke, invited us to dive into the “meat and potatoes” of governance in this EconTalk episode. Their wide-ranging conversation on political conversation covered a lot of ground… So much so I find it really hard to narrow down to just a few questions for your further consideration…

So let’s try this…

1. What question(s) would you like to ask Boettke on the general topic of public administration? Are there any particular points on which you disagree with Boettke? What are they, and what’s the nature of your disagreement?

2. What does Boettke mean by “public administration,” and how does he think our understanding of it affects the way economics is practiced?

3. What does it mean to “sustain the mythology” of the US Constitution? To what extent do you think that’s an effective practice, and why? (Related, whose job is it- or should it be- to sustain this mythology?)

4. What are some of the problems with decentralizing government functions? What things might be better handled at the local versus the federal level? (Note: Even Russ admits that not everything benefits from bottom-up solutions…)

5. For me at least, this was perhaps the most significant question raised in this week’s conversation, and it’s a question I do not know how to answer. How about you? How do we market freedom and economic liberty to people who don’t see it helping them very much? (You might read this question as Boettke suggests; how do we get back to the “soul of classical liberalism?”