Kling on the Unseen World of Banking, Mortgages, and Government

Larry White on Hayek and Money: Larry White talks with host Russ Roberts about Hayek's ideas on business cycles and money, free banking, and Hayek and Keynes's historical debate. See EconStories.tv for the related economics rap "Fear the Boom and Bust," by John Papola and Russ Roberts, where viewers can also watch the video, read the lyrics, and find related resources on the web for Keynes and Hayek. by EconTalk Archives, 2010

77 min listen

Roberts on Smith, Ricardo, and Trade: Host Russ Roberts talks about the economics of trade, specialization, and comparative advantage. Roberts's monologue pulls together work by Smith, Ricardo, James Buchanan, Yong Yoon, and Paul Romer. Market size creates incentives for wealth via trade. by EconTalk Archives, 2010

62 min listen

Belongia on the Fed: Michael Belongia talks with host Russ Roberts about the inner workings, politics, and economics of the Federal Reserve. Belongia talks about the role that power and politics play in Federal Reserve decision-making and how various Fed chairs used their power to suppress dissent within the Fed that was critical of Fed policy. He argues that the Fed faces an unresolvable dilemma when asked to achieve the multiple goals of full employment and price stability using only the federal funds rate as a policy lever. The discussion concludes with Belongia's indictment of the monetary data that the Fed produces. by EconTalk Archives, 2010

75 min listen

Don Boudreaux on Public Choice: Don Boudreaux talks with host Russ Roberts about public choice: the application of economics to the political process. Boudreaux argues that political competition is a blunt instrument that works less effectively than economic competition. One reason for this bluntness is the voting process itself--where intensity does not matter, only whether a voter prefers one candidate to the other. A second reason is that political outcomes tend to be one-size-fits-all, which often leads to dissatisfaction. Boudreaux defends the morality of not voting, while Roberts, who does vote from time to time, concedes that one's vote is almost always irrelevant in determining the outcome. by EconTalk Archives, 2010

69 min listen

Newman on Low-wage Workers: Katherine Newman talks with host Russ Roberts about Newman's case studies of fast-food workers in Harlem. Newman discusses the evolution of their careers and fortunes over time along with their dreams, successes, and failures. The conversation concludes with lessons for public policy in aiding low-wage workers. by EconTalk Archives, 2010

61 min listen

Munger on Many Things: Mike Munger talks with host Russ Roberts about many things. Listeners sent in questions for Mike and Russ to talk about. They chose ten of the most interesting questions with the idea of talking about each for six minutes. The topics are the scarcity of clean water, asset bubbles, the role of Fannie and Freddie in the financial crisis, can a business pass a tax on to its customers (or maybe even its workers), compassionate food, the study of economics, how to choose a college, the nature of cooperation in a modern economy, the humanity of non-profits, and the American Dream. by EconTalk Archives, 2010

73 min listen

Rustici on Smoot-Hawley and the Great Depression: Thomas Rustici, author of Lessons from the Great Depression, talks with host Russ Roberts about the impact of the Smoot-Hawley Act on the economy. The standard view is that the decrease in trade that followed Smoot-Hawley was not big enough to be a significant contributor to the Great Depression. Rustici argues that this Keynesian approach that looks at aggregate spending misses a crucial mechanism for understanding the impact of Smoot-Hawley. He focuses on the impact of Smoot Hawley on bank closings and the money supply. Smoot-Hawley launched an international trade war that reduced world trade dramatically. This had large concentrated regional effects in the United States and around the world in areas that depended on trade. Those were the areas where the first banks collapsed, contracting the money supply via the fractional reserve banking system. Rustici argues that the Keynesian indictment of the price system ignores the policy fail by EconTalk Archives, 2010

85 min listen

$Rustici on Smoot-Hawley and the Great Depression: Thomas Rustici, author of Lessons from the Great Depression, talks with host Russ Roberts about the impact of the Smoot-Hawley Act on the economy. The standard view is that the decrease in trade that followed Smoot-Hawley was not big enough to be a significant contributor to the Great Depression. Rustici argues that this Keynesian approach that looks at aggregate spending misses a crucial mechanism for understanding the impact of Smoot-Hawley. He focuses on the impact of Smoot Hawley on bank closings and the money supply. Smoot-Hawley launched an international trade war that reduced world trade dramatically. This had large concentrated regional effects in the United States and around the world in areas that depended on trade. Those were the areas where the first banks collapsed, contracting the money supply via the fractional reserve banking system. Rustici argues that the Keynesian indictment of the price system ignores the policy fail$

Romer on Charter Cities: Paul Romer talks with host Russ Roberts about charter cities, Romer's idea for helping the poorest of the poor around the world. He envisions a city where rules about property, safety, contract, etc. allow individuals to flourish in an urban setting in contrast to the cities they live in now. Charter cities would be havens for the world's poor and could be created on uninhabited land in either rich or poor countries. This concept raises many difficult practical questions--some of them are discussed here along with how Romer came to be interested in creating the concept and how he hopes to bring it to reality. by EconTalk Archives, 2010

64 min listen

Spence on Growth by EconTalk Archives, 2010

67 min listen

Benkler on Net Neutrality, Competition, and the Future of the Internet: Yochai Benkler talks to host Russ Roberts about net neutrality, access to the internet, and innovation. Benkler argues in favor of net neutrality and government support of broadband access. He is skeptical of the virtues of new technology (e.g., the iPad) fearing that they will lead to less innovation. The conversation closes with a discussion of commons-based peer production--open source software and Wikipedia. by EconTalk Archives, 2010

59 min listen

Munger on Love, Money, Profits, and Non-profits: Mike Munger talks to host Russ Roberts about the world of profit, money, love, gifts, and incentives. What motivates people, self-interest or altruism? Both. How do these forces interact with each other? Does relying on one always provide a stronger incentive than the other? Do charities, for-profit businesses or government agencies do a better job providing a good or service? Munger and Roberts have a wide-ranging discussion across these issues including a section where they discuss whether Christmas gift-giving and gift-giving in general is inefficient. by EconTalk Archives, 2010

65 min listen

De Vany on Steroids, Baseball, and Evolutionary Fitness: Arthur De Vany talks with host Russ Roberts about performance-enhancing drugs in baseball and Evolutionary Fitness, De Vany's ideas about diet and fitness. He argues that there is little physiological or statistical evidence that steroid use increases home run totals in baseball. The 2nd part of the conversation turns to De Vany's theories of diet and exercise. De Vany argues that our diet and exercise regime should take account of our evolutionary origins, an earlier time when we ate no grains and our exercise was a mix of intense activity punctuated by much milder activity. He argues that jogging is unhealthy and that we would live longer and feel better if we followed a different exercise routine than most Americans do today. by EconTalk Archives, 2010

66 min listen

Phelps on Unemployment and the State of Macroeonomics: Nobel Laureate Edmund Phelps talks with host Russ Roberts about the market for labor, unemployment, and the evolution of macroeconomics over the past century. The conversation begins with a discussion of Phelps's early contributions to the understanding of unemployment and the importance of imperfect information. Phelps put his contribution into the context of the evolution of macroeconomics showing how his models were related to those of Keynes, the Austrian School, and rational expectations. The conversation then turns to the issue of whether macroeconomics is making progress, particularly in understanding business cycles. The discussion concludes with the satisfactions of work and the role of creativity and dynamism. by EconTalk Archives, 2010

75 min listen