EconTalk http://www.econtalk.org/ en Copyright 2012 Mon, 14 May 2012 06:30:00 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Owen on Parenting, Money, and the First National Bank of Dad David Owen, author of The First National Bank of Dad, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about how to educate our children about money and finance. Owen explains how he created his own savings accounts for his kids that gave them an incentive to save and other ways to teach them about postponing gratification, investing, keeping money in perspective and other life lessons. The conversation closes with a discussion of the value of reading to your kids.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/05/owen_on_parenti.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/05/owen_on_parenti.html Books David Owen Education Family Finance Money, Banking, Monetary Policy Mon, 14 May 2012 06:30:00 -0500 Schmidtz on Rawls, Nozick, and Justice David Schmidtz of the University of Arizona talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the work of John Rawls and Robert Nozick. The conversation covers the basic ideas of Rawls and Nozick on inequality and justice and the appropriate role of the state in taxation and property rights.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/05/schmidtz_on_raw.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/05/schmidtz_on_raw.html Books David Schmidtz Income Inequality Law and Institutions Philosophy and Methodology Mon, 07 May 2012 06:30:00 -0500 Taylor on Rules, Discretion, and First Principles John Taylor of Stanford University's Hoover Institution talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his new book, First Principles: Five Keys to Restoring America's Prosperity. Taylor argues that when economic policy adhere to the right basic principles such as keeping rules rather than using discretion, then the economy thrives. Ignoring these principles, Taylor argues, leads to bad economic outcomes such as recessions, inflation, or high unemployment. Taylor illustrates these ideas with a whirlwind tour of the last half century of American economic policy and history. The focus is on monetary and fiscal policy but Taylor also discusses health care reform and other policy areas. The conversation closes with a look at the likelihood that economic policy will change dramatically after 2012.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/04/taylor_on_rules.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/04/taylor_on_rules.html Books Financial Crisis of 2008 History John Taylor Money, Banking, Monetary Policy Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:30:00 -0500 Cowen on Food Tyler Cowen of George Mason U. and author of An Economist Gets Lunch, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about food, the economics of food, and his new book. In this wide-ranging conversation, Cowen explains why American food was once a wasteland, the environmental impacts of plastic and buying local, why to stay away from fancy restaurants in the central city, and why he spent a month shopping only at an Asian supermarket while living in Northern Virginia.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/04/cowen_on_food.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/04/cowen_on_food.html Books Family Information and Technology Tyler Cowen Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:30:00 -0500 Autor on Disability David Autor of MIT talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program. SSDI has grown dramatically in recent years and now costs about $200 billion a year. Autor explains how the program works, why the growth has been so dramatic, and the consequences for the stability of the program in the future. This is an illuminated look at the interaction between politics and economics and reveals an activity of government that is relatively ignored today but will not be able to be ignored in the future.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/04/autor_on_disabi.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/04/autor_on_disabi.html David Autor Government Budgets and Taxation Health Income Inequality Labor Mon, 16 Apr 2012 06:30:00 -0500 Burkhauser on the Middle Class Richard Burkhauser of Cornell University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the state of the middle class. Drawing on recently published papers, Burkhauser shows that changes in the standard of living of the middle class and other parts of the income distribution are extremely sensitive to various assumptions about how income is defined as well as whether you look at tax units or households. He shows that under one set of assumptions, there has been no change in median income, but under a different and equally reasonable set of assumptions, median income has grown 36%. Burkhauser explains how different assumptions can lead to such different results and argues that the assumptions that lead to the larger growth figure are more appropriate for capturing what has happened over the last 40 years than those that suggest stagnation.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/04/burkhauser_on_t.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/04/burkhauser_on_t.html Growth Income Inequality Philosophy and Methodology Richard Burkhauser Mon, 09 Apr 2012 06:30:00 -0500 Eugene White on Bank Regulation Eugene White of Rutgers University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the regulation of banks and financial crises. White argues that most regulation tries to limit the choices of banks to restrain them from making choices that create instability or fragility. A better approach, White argues, is to change the incentives facing bankers so that they would be encouraged to make prudent choices without the need for top-down monitoring. He shows how in the 19th century various regulations and market results encouraged stability and prudence while some regulations made the system more fragile. White discusses the lessons for the current crisis and what might be done to improve the current state of regulation.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/04/eugene_white_on.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/04/eugene_white_on.html Business Cycles, Recessions, and the Great Depression Eugene White Money, Banking, Monetary Policy Regulation Mon, 02 Apr 2012 06:30:00 -0500 Boudreaux on Public Debt Don Boudreaux of George Mason University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the nature of public debt. One view is that there is no burden of the public debt as long as the purchasers of U.S. debt are fellow Americans. In that case, the argument goes, we owe it to ourselves. Drawing on the work of James Buchanan, particularly his book Public Principles of Public Debt: A Defense and Restatement, Boudreaux argues that there is a burden of the debt and it is borne by future taxpayers. Boudreaux argues that all public expenditures have a cost--the different financing mechanisms simply determine who bears the burden of that cost. Boudreaux discusses the political attractiveness of debt finance because the taxes lie in the future and those who will pay for them may not be clearly identified. The conversation closes with a discussion of the role of expectations in both politics and economics of debt finance.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/03/boudreaux_on_pu.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/03/boudreaux_on_pu.html Books Don Boudreaux Finance Government Budgets and Taxation Public Choice Mon, 26 Mar 2012 06:30:00 -0500 Acemoglu on Why Nations Fail Daron Acemoglu of MIT and author (with James Robinson) of Why Nations Fail talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the ideas in his book: why some nations fail and others succeed, why some nations grow over time and sustain that growth, while others grow and then stagnate.  Acemoglu draws on an exceptionally rich set of examples over space and time to argue that differences in institutions--political governance and the inclusiveness of the political and economic system--explain the differences in economics success across nations and over time. Acemoglu also discusses how institutions evolve and the critical role institutional change plays in economic success or failure. Along the way, he explains why previous explanations for national economic success are inadequate. The conversation closes with a discussion of the implications of the arguments for foreign aid and attempts by the wealthy nations to help nations that are poor.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/03/acemoglu_on_why.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/03/acemoglu_on_why.html Books Daron Acemoglu Law and Institutions Political Science Poverty and Development Mon, 19 Mar 2012 06:30:00 -0500 Derman on Theories, Models, and Science Emanuel Derman of Columbia University and author of Models. Behaving. Badly talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about theories and models, and the elusive nature of truth in the sciences and social sciences. Derman, a former physicist and Goldman Sachs quant [quantitative analyst], contrasts the search for truth in the sciences with the search for truth in finance and economics. He critiques attempts to make finance more scientific and applies those insights to the financial crisis. The conversation closes with a discussion of career advice for those aspiring to work in quantitative finance.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/03/derman_on_theor.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/03/derman_on_theor.html Books Emanuel Derman Finance Philosophy and Methodology Mon, 12 Mar 2012 06:30:00 -0500 Calomiris on Capital Requirements, Leverage, and Financial Regulation Charles Calomiris of Columbia University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about corporate debt, capital requirements, and financial regulation. This is an in-depth conversation about how debt works on a firm's balance sheet and the risks that debt vs. equity pose for the survival of the firm. Calomiris applies these insights to financial regulation--how it works in practice and the firm's choices in responding to various interventions including bailouts and capital requirements. The conversation closes with a discussion of some of the government interventions in the financial crisis.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/03/calomiris_on_ca.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/03/calomiris_on_ca.html Charles Calomiris Finance Financial Crisis of 2008 Money, Banking, Monetary Policy Regulation Mon, 05 Mar 2012 06:30:00 -0500 Weinberger on Too Big to Know David Weinberger of Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and author of Too Big to Know, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the ideas in the book--how knowledge and data and our understanding of the world around us are being changed by the internet. Weinberger discusses knowledge and how it is attained have changed over time, particularly with the advent of the internet. He argues the internet has dispersed the power of authority and expertise. And he discusses whether the internet is making us smarter or stupider, and the costs and benefits of being able to tailor information to one's own interests and biases.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/02/weinberger_on_t.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/02/weinberger_on_t.html Books David Weinberger Information and Technology Philosophy and Methodology Mon, 27 Feb 2012 06:30:00 -0500 Adam Davidson on Manufacturing Adam Davidson of NPR's Planet Money talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about manufacturing. Based on an article Davidson wrote for The Atlantic, the conversation looks at the past, present, and future of manufacturing. Davidson visited an after-market auto parts factory in Greenville, South Carolina and talked with employees there as well as with executives at corporate headquarters. What is the future of factory work in America? Why are some manufacturing jobs in America while others are in China or elsewhere? The conversation looks at these questions as well as how well or poorly the U.S. education system prepares students for the world of work.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/02/adam_davidson_o.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/02/adam_davidson_o.html Adam Davidson Education Labor Marketing, Management, Strategy, and Leadership The Media Mon, 20 Feb 2012 06:30:00 -0500 David Owen on the Environment, Unintended Consequences, and The Conundrum David Owen of the New Yorker and author of The Conundrum talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the ideas in his book. Owen argues that innovation and energy innovation have increased energy use rather than reduced it and similarly, other seemingly green changes do little to help the reduce humanity's carbon footprint or are actually counter-productive. Only large reductions in consumption are likely to matter and that prescription is unappealing to most people. Owen points out that New York City, ironically perhaps, is one of the greenest places to live because of the efficiencies of density. The conversation concludes with a discussion of how to best approach global warming given these seeming realities.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/02/david_owen_on_t.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/02/david_owen_on_t.html Books David Owen Family Information and Technology Regulation The Media Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:30:00 -0500 William Black on Financial Fraud William Black of University of Missouri-Kansas City and author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about financial fraud, starting with the Savings and Loan debacle up through the current financial crisis. Black explains how bank executives can use fraudulent loans to inflate the size of their bank in order to justify large compensation packages. He argues that "liar loans" were a major part of the crisis and that policy changes made it easy to generate such loans without criminal repercussions.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/02/william_black_o.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/02/william_black_o.html Books Finance Financial Crisis of 2008 History Marketing, Management, Strategy, and Leadership William Black Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:30:00 -0500