The (Liberty) Detective

Economics, liberty, and the economics of liberty
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  • Garrett Petersen

Innovation, Invention, and Britain’s Industrial Revolution with Anton Howes Mar 4, 2017

This episode features Anton Howes of Brown University. He is a historian of innovation, and in this conversation we discuss his work on the explosion of innovation that occurred in Britain between 1551 and 1851. You can check out his Medium blog for some of the articles we discuss. Anton has collected a data set of over 1,000 British innovators who worked during this period. He has documented their education, their experience, and their relationships with one another. Some of the interesting patterns that emerge in his data are the large fraction of innovators who developed technologies in industries outside...

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Regulation, Discretion, and Public Choice with Stephen M. Jones Feb 25, 2017

What follows is an edited partial transcript of my conversation with Stephen M. Jones. He is an economist for the US Coast Guard. However, we are discussing his own research, so nothing in this conversation should be taken to represent the official views of the US Coast Guard. Petersen: So Stephen, let’s start just by defining regulatory discretion. What does that mean in this context? Jones: Sure. So, I think first off, we should probably define regulation because when Congress writes a law, they pass the law on to regulatory agencies and it will say something to the effect of...

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Canada’s Cartel Problem with Maxime Bernier Feb 17, 2017

What follows is an edited transcript of my conversation with Maxime Bernier. If you like his ideas, I encourage you to go to his website to learn more about them. Petersen: You’re listening to Economics Detective Radio. Before we start let me give a quick disclaimer that although today’s guest is a politician this show is nonpartisan and doesn’t endorse any particular candidate for office. My guest and I are also Canadian so we’ll be talking about some Canada-specific issues. I know I have an international audience but sometimes it’s fun to learn about what’s going on in other countries....

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DonorSee and the Future of Charitable Giving with Gret Glyer Jan 29, 2017

What follows is an edited transcript of the first part of my conversation with Gret Glyer, creator of DonorSee. For the full conversation, listen to the episode. Petersen: My guest today is Gret Glyer, he is the creator of a new app called DonorSee. Gret, welcome to Economics Detective Radio. Glyer: Thank you for having me, Garrett. How are you? Petersen: I am great! So, DonorSee is a charitable giving app with a very interesting twist which—we’ll get to the app itself in a little bit—but first let’s start with some background. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how...

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Money, Markets, and Democracy with George Bragues Jan 20, 2017

What follows is an edited partial transcript of my conversation with George Bragues of the University of Guelph-Humber. We discussed his new book, Money, Markets, and Democracy: Politically Skewed Financial Markets and How to Fix Them. This is his second appearance on this show, you can hear the first one here. Petersen: So your book looks at the interaction between Democratic politics and financial markets. In your introduction, you quote the Greek Prime Minister Alexi Tsipras, who claimed that “democracy cannot be blackmailed.” And this was in the context of the 2015 bailout referendum that would have helped pay some...

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How Did My 2016 Predictions Stack Up? Jan 17, 2017

Last January I made some predictions for 2016.  In this post, I will see how they stacked up. Crossed out predictions indicate that I was wrong, italicized predictions indicate that I couldn’t determine whether I was right or wrong. (more…) The post How Did My 2016 Predictions Stack Up? appeared first on The Economics Detective

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How Bad at Math Are You Really? Jan 16, 2017

Many if not most people do not like math. They will tell you they are “not a math person.” Perhaps you are one of these people. You took exactly as much math in school as they made you, and not ε more! The problem with being “not a math person” is that math people enjoy a significant earnings premium over non-math people. Take a look at this list of the highest earning degrees (source): Petroleum Engineering Systems Engineering Chemical Engineering Actuarial Science Computer Science & Engineering Nuclear Engineering Electronics & Communications Engineering Electrical & Computer Engineering Computer Engineering Aeronautical Engineering...

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Medicine, Entrepreneurship, and Health Policy with Ray March Jan 13, 2017

Hello world!

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Early Modern London, Wages, and the Industrial Revolution Dec 23, 2016

What follows is an edited transcript of my conversation with Judy Stephenson. We discuss her work on the economic history of the Industrial Revolution, particularly as it pertains to early modern London. Petersen: You’re listening to Economics Detective Radio. My guest today is Judy Stephenson of Oxford University’s Wadham college. Judy, welcome to Economics Detective Radio. Stephenson: Thank you very much. It’s nice to be here. Petersen: So, our topic for today is economic history. Specifically we’ll be looking at some interesting research Judy has done on wage rates in the early modern period in London. This period is particularly...

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Wrongful Convictions, Exoneration, and Criminal Justice with Samuel Gross Dec 16, 2016

What follows is an edited transcript of my conversation with Samuel Gross. Petersen: You’re listening to Economics Detective Radio. My guest today is Samuel Gross of the University of Michigan Law School. Sam, welcome to Economics Detective Radio. Gross: Great to be here. Petersen: So our topic for today is criminal justice, in particular, we’re going to be looking at the issue of wrongful conviction. Dr. Gross was part of the establishment of the National Registry of Exonerations which has provided valuable data in this area. So let’s start by talking about the registry. What is it? How was it...

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The Basic Income Guarantee, Freedom, and the Welfare State with Otto Lehto Dec 9, 2016

What follows is an edited transcript of my conversation with Otto Lehto. Petersen: You’re listening to Economics Detective Radio. My guest today is Otto Lehto of King’s College London. He is formerly the chair of Finland’s Basic Income Network. Otto, welcome to Economics Detective Radio. Lehto: Oh it’s my pleasure to be here. Petersen: So our topic for today is the basic income guarantee. Otto, you approach this idea from the perspective of political philosophy, so let’s start by discussing that. How about we start by talking about two of the major figures in political philosophy: John Rawls and Robert...

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Supersonic Flight, Technology, and the Overland Ban with Sam Hammond Nov 25, 2016

What follows is an edited transcript of my conversation with Sam Hammond. Petersen: My guest today is Sam Hammond. He’s a policy analyst at the Niskanen Center. Sam, welcome to Economics Detective Radio. Hammond: Hi! Petersen: Our topic today is supersonic air travel. Sam has written an article titled “Make America Boom Again” along with co-author Eli Dourado which revisits the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s ban on supersonic flight over the United States. So Sam let’s start at the very start. Let’s start by talking about the history of flight

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Understanding the Karni Belief-Revelation Mechanism Nov 22, 2016

Suppose you wanted to find out someone’s subjective belief in the likelihood of a given event. Your first instinct might be to offer them betting odds on the event. If they would accept odds of 2:1 but no lower, you might conclude that they believe the event to have a 33.3% chance of occurring. This would be correct if the person you’re offering the bet to is risk neutral. But if they’re risk averse, they might actually believe the event has a 50% likelihood of occurring, and they just require more favourable odds to compensate them for accepting risk. Luckily,...

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The Second Ehrlich-Simon Wager with Joanna Szurmak Nov 19, 2016

Today’s interview features Joanna Szurmak of the University of Toronto. Our topic for today is the second proposed bet between Paul Ehrlich and Julian Simon. Joanna has written a paper titled “Care to Wager Again? An Appraisal of Paul Ehrlich’s Counter-Bet Offer to Julian Simon” along with coauthors Vincent Geloso and Pierre Desrochers, both former guests of this show. We mentioned the original Simon-Ehrlich bet briefly in my conversation with Steve Horwitz, but in this episode we talk about it in more detail. Julian Simon had a cornucopian vision of development and humanity. In his view, things are getting better...

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Prediction Contest 2: Electric Boogaloo Nov 18, 2016

Following the success of the EGSS’ first prediction contest, I have organized a second contest! The predictions were made on November 17th, 2016 and will resolve on March 17th, 2017. The three contestants with the lowest Brier scores (average squared errors) will win gift cards! (more…) The post Prediction Contest 2: Electric Boogaloo appeared first on The Economics Detective

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The Upside of Inequality with Ed Conard Nov 12, 2016

My guest today is Ed Conard, here to discuss his recent book, The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class. He is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a former managing director at Bain Capital. His 2012 book, Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About the Economy Is Wrong was a New York Times bestseller. Because his business partner Mitt Romney was running for President at the time, many people expected the book to be a defense of the one percent. It wasn’t, but this new book is! We had a wide-ranging discussion...

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Space Debris, Governance, and the Economics of Space with Alex Salter Nov 4, 2016

What follows is an edited transcript of my interview with Alex Salter about the economics of space. The first half deals primarily with the issue of space debris, while the second half deals with the possibility of private governance in space. There’s something in this episode for everyone to enjoy, so I hope you’ll listen, read, and share it with your friends. Petersen: My guest today is Alex Salter of Texas Tech University. Alex, welcome to Economics Detective Radio. Salter: Thanks very much for having me. Petersen: Our topic today is the economics of space. Alex has written two papers...

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Re-thinking the U-Curve of Inequality with Vincent Geloso Nov 1, 2016

What follows is an edited transcript of my conversation with Vincent Geloso. Petersen: My guest today is Vincent Geloso of the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University. Vincent, welcome to Economics Detective Radio. Geloso: It’s a pleasure to be here. Petersen: So the paper we’ll be discussing today is titled “A U-curve of Inequality? Measuring Inequality in the Interwar Period” which Vincent has co-authored with John Moore and Phillips Schlosser. The paper casts doubt on the claim from, most notably, Thomas Piketty and others that inequality fell from the 1920s to the 1960s and rose thereafter. So, Vincent let’s...

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Identity is the Mind-Killer Oct 26, 2016

There’s a joke among anarchists: “What’s the difference between a minarchist and an anarchist? Six months!” For context, a minarchist is someone who believes in a minimal state. The joke is commenting on the large number of people who discover libertarian philosophy and end up gradually becoming more extreme in their views until they conclude that the state should not exist. This is part if a broader pattern that affects other ideologies as well. Have you noticed that self-professed socialists tend to be left-wing activists? And that left-wing activists are much more likely to identify as socialists than, say, politically...

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How Land Use Restrictions Make Housing Unaffordable with Emily Hamilton Oct 21, 2016

What follows is an edited transcript of my conversation with Emily Hamilton about land use regulations’ effects on affordable housing. Petersen: My guest today is Emily Hamilton. She is a researcher at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Emily, thanks for being on Economics Detective Radio. Hamilton: Thanks a lot for having me. Petersen: So, Emily recently wrote a paper titled “How Land Use Regulation Undermines Affordable Housing” along with her co-author Sanford Ikeda. The paper is a review of many studies looking at land use restrictions and it identifies four of the most common types of land use...

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