EconTalk http://www.econtalk.org/ en Copyright 2013 Mon, 20 May 2013 06:30:00 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Epstein on the Constitution Richard Epstein of New York University and Stanford University's Hoover Institution talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the U.S. Constitution. Topics covered in this wide-ranging conversation include how the interpretation of the Constitution has changed over time, the relationship between state and federal power, judicial activism, the increasing importance of administrative agencies' regulatory power, and political influences on the Supreme Court.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/05/epstein_on_the_1.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/05/epstein_on_the_1.html Books History Law and Institutions Regulation Richard Epstein Mon, 20 May 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Frakt on Medicaid and the Oregon Medicaid Study Austin Frakt of Boston University and blogger at The Incidental Economist talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about Medicaid and the recent results released from the Oregon Medicaid study, a randomized experiment that looked at individuals with and without access to Medicaid. Recent released results from that study found no significant impact of Medicaid access on basic health measures such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels, but did find reduced financial stress and better mental health. Frakt gives his interpretation of those results and the implications for the Affordable Care Act. The conversation closes with a discussion of the reliability of empirical work in general and how it might or might not affect our positions on social and economic policy.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/05/frakt_on_medica.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/05/frakt_on_medica.html Austin Frakt Health Law and Institutions Psychology Mon, 13 May 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Bernstein on Communication, Power and the Masters of the Word William Bernstein talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his latest book, Masters of the Word. Bernstein traces the history of language, writing, and communication and its impact on freedom. The discussion begins with the evolution of language and the written word and continues up through radio and the internet. A particular focus of the conversation is how tyrants use information technology to oppress their people but at the same time, technology can be used to liberate people from oppression.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/05/bernstein_on_co.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/05/bernstein_on_co.html Books History Information and Technology Political Science The Media William Bernstein Mon, 06 May 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Galbraith on Inequality James Galbraith of the University of Texas and author of Inequality and Instability talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about inequality. Galbraith argues that much of the mainstream analysis of inequality in the economics literature is flawed. Galbraith looks at a variety of different measures and ways of analyzing income data. In the podcast he focuses on how much of measured inequality is due to changes in specific counties or industries. Other topics discussed include the state of economics in the aftermath of the Great Recession and the importance of the government safety net and other social legislation.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/04/galbraith_on_in.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/04/galbraith_on_in.html Books Business Cycles, Recessions, and the Great Depression Growth Income Inequality James Galbraith Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Glaeser on Cities Edward Glaeser of Harvard University and author of The Triumph of Cities talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about American cities. The conversation begins with a discussion of the history of Detroit over the last century and its current plight. What might be done to improve Detroit's situation? Why are other cities experiencing similar challenges to those facing Detroit? Why are some cities thriving and growing? What policies might help ailing cities and what policies have helped those cities that succeed? The conversation concludes with a discussion of why cities have such potential for growth.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/04/glaeser_on_citi.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/04/glaeser_on_citi.html Books Education Edward Glaeser Growth Mon, 22 Apr 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Sachs on the Crisis, the Recovery, and the Future Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University and author of The Price of Civilization talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the state of the American economy. Sachs sees the current malaise as a chronic problem rather than a short-term challenge caused by the business cycle. He lists a whole host of issues he thinks policymakers need to deal with including the environment, inequality, and infrastructure. He disagrees with the Keynesian prescriptions for stimulating the economy and believes that the federal government budget deficits are a serious problem. The conversation closes with a discussion of the state of economics.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/04/sachs_on_the_cr.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/04/sachs_on_the_cr.html Books Business Cycles, Recessions, and the Great Depression Education Financial Crisis of 2008 Income Inequality Jeffrey Sachs Public Choice Mon, 15 Apr 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Admati on Bank Regulation and the Bankers' New Clothes Anat Admati of Stanford University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about her new book (co-authored with Martin Hellwig), The Bankers' New Clothes. Admati argues that the best way to reduce the fragility of the banking system is to increase capital requirements--that is, require banks to finance their activities with a greater proportion of equity rather than debt. She explains how debt magnifies returns and losses while making each bank more fragile. Despite claims to the contrary, she argues that the costs of reducing debt are relatively small for society as a whole while the benefits are substantial.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/04/admati_on_bank.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/04/admati_on_bank.html Anat Admati Books Finance Financial Crisis of 2008 Money, Banking, Monetary Policy Regulation Mon, 08 Apr 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Topol on the Creative Destruction of Medicine Eric Topol of the Scripps Research Institute and the author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the ideas in his book. Topics discussed include "evidence-based" medicine, the influence of the pharmaceutical industry, how medicine is currently conducted for the "average" patient, the potential of genomics to improve health care and the power of technology, generally, to transform medicine.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/04/topol_on_the_cr.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/04/topol_on_the_cr.html Books Eric Topol Health Information and Technology Regulation Mon, 01 Apr 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Sumner on Money, Business Cycles, and Monetary Policy Scott Sumner of Bentley University and blogger at The Money Illusion talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the basics of money, monetary policy, and the Fed. After a discussion of some of the basics of the money supply, Sumner explains why he thinks monetary policy in the United States during and since the crisis has been inadequate. Sumner stresses the importance of the Fed setting expectations and he argues for the dominance of monetary policy over fiscal policy.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/03/sumner_on_money_1.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/03/sumner_on_money_1.html Business Cycles, Recessions, and the Great Depression Financial Crisis of 2008 International: Cross-country Comparisons, Country-specific Analyses Money, Banking, Monetary Policy Scott Sumner Mon, 25 Mar 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Burgin on Hayek, Friedman, and the Great Persuasion Angus Burgin of Johns Hopkins University and the author of The Great Persuasion talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the idea in his book--the return of free market economics in the aftermath of the Great Depression. Burgin describes the reaction to Hayek's Road to Serfdom, the creation of the Mont Pelerin Society, and the increasing influence of Milton Friedman on public policy.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/03/burgin_on_hayek.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/03/burgin_on_hayek.html Angus Burgin Books Business Cycles, Recessions, and the Great Depression History Nobel Prize Winners Philosophy and Methodology Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Searls on the Intention Economy Doc Searls, author of The Intention Economy and head of Project VRM at Harvard University's Berkman Center talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the how the relationship between buyers and sellers might evolve as the internet evolves. Searls imagines a world where buyers would advertise their intentions and desires and sellers would respond with offers. Other topics discussed include Google and Apple's business strategies and the role of the cable and telephone companies in providing access to the internet.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/03/searls_on_the_i.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/03/searls_on_the_i.html Books Doc Searls Information and Technology Marketing, Management, Strategy, and Leadership Theory of Markets Mon, 11 Mar 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Leigh Steinberg on Sports, Agents, and Athletes Leigh Steinberg, legendary sports agent, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his career as a sports agent. He discusses the challenges of building a clientele, how sports agents spend their time, strategies for building a brand as an athlete, and safety issues currently affecting the National Football League.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/03/leigh_steinberg.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/03/leigh_steinberg.html Health Leigh Steinberg Marketing, Management, Strategy, and Leadership Sports Mon, 04 Mar 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Varoufakis on Valve, Spontaneous Order, and the European Crisis Yanis Varoufakis of the University of Athens, the University of Texas, and former economist-in-residence at Valve Software talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the unusual structure of the workplace at Valve. Valve, a software company that creates online video games, has no hierarchy or bosses. Teams of software designers join spontaneously to create and ship video games without any top-down supervision. Varoufakis discusses the economics of this Hayekian workplace and how it actually functions alongside Steam--an open gaming platform created by Valve. The conversation concludes with a discussion of the economic crisis in Europe.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/02/varoufakis_on_v.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/02/varoufakis_on_v.html Entrepreneurship International: Cross-country Comparisons, Country-specific Analyses Marketing, Management, Strategy, and Leadership Money, Banking, Monetary Policy Theory of Markets Yanis Varoufakis Mon, 25 Feb 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Glenn Reynolds on Politics, the Constitution, and Technology Glenn Reynolds of the University of Tennessee and blogger at Instapundit talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the political malaise in America, whether it could lead to a Constitutional Convention, and what might emerge were such an event to occur. Reynolds also gives his thoughts on the suggestion advanced in a recent episode of EconTalk that we should ignore the Constitution. The conversation concludes with Reynolds's views on the decentralizing power of technology and Reynolds's music career.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/02/glenn_reynolds.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/02/glenn_reynolds.html Glenn Reynolds Information and Technology Law and Institutions Political Science Public Choice The Media Mon, 18 Feb 2013 06:30:00 -0500 Cathy O'Neil on Wall St and Occupy Wall Street Cathy O'Neil, data scientist and blogger at mathbabe.org, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about her journey from Wall Street to Occupy Wall Street. She talks about her experiences on Wall Street that ultimately led her to join the Occupy Wall Street movement. Along the way, the conversation includes a look at the reliability of financial modeling, the role financial models played in the crisis, and the potential for shame to limit dishonest behavior in the financial sector and elsewhere.

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]]> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/02/cathy_oneil_on.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/02/cathy_oneil_on.html Cathy O'Neil Finance Financial Crisis of 2008 Marketing, Management, Strategy, and Leadership Public Choice Mon, 11 Feb 2013 06:30:00 -0500