The (Liberty) Detective

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

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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Writing and Thinking Less Badly with Mike Munger Oct 14, 2016

In this episode, I discuss the process of writing and being successful with Mike Munger. What follows is an edited transcript of our conversation. Petersen: My guest today is Mike Munger of Duke University. Mike, welcome to Economics Detective Radio! Munger: It’s a pleasure to be on your show! Petersen: So first I stole EconTalk’s format and now I have stolen Mike Munger as well, so if Russ Roberts sends me a cease and desist letter, I’ll completely understand why. Munger: Russ and I have an open relationship. We both date other people. Petersen: Oh good, good. I have many...

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A Podcasting Revolution: Cast, Ringr, and Zencastr Oct 9, 2016

Just three months ago, I wrote my podcasting gear guide to let potential podcasters know about my setup and the equipment I recommend. That guide represents the gold standard in podcasting that existed when I was starting out in 2014. To recap, I recommended using a digital audio recorder like the Zoom H4n or the TASCAM DR-40 to record yourself and your guest onto two separate tracks, with the guest connecting through Skype and being plugged into the second track via a 1/4″ to 1/8″ adapter cable. Here are the things a podcaster must have in a recording setup: Reliability. Your recording...

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New York Urbanism with Stephen Smith Oct 7, 2016

Today’s guest is Stephen Smith, he is an analyst for a New York real estate firm. Stephen did some research showing that at least 40 percent of the buildings in Manhattan could not be built under today’s zoning regulations. In fact, the number is probably significantly higher. Classic landmarks like the Empire State Building, with its floor-area ratio of 30, wouldn’t fly today. Watch this time-lapse of the New York City skyline, and pay close attention to the kind of changes that happen in the earlier part of the video compared to the later part: Before the twentieth century, the...

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Democracy Versus Epistocracy with Jason Brennan Sep 30, 2016

My guest today is Jason Brennan of the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. He is the author of Against Democracy, which is our topic for this episode. The first chapter is available on the publisher’s website. John Stuart Mill believed that getting more people involved in politics would make them smarter, more concerned for the common good, better educated, and nobler. In the intervening century and a half, we’ve gathered much more data on Mill’s hypothesis, and the results don’t look good: The test results are now in. They are, I will hold, largely negative. I think Mill...

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Urban Development, the Growth Ponzi Scheme, and Strong Towns with Chuck Marohn Sep 23, 2016

Today’s guest on Economics Detective Radio is Chuck Marohn, founder and president of Strong Towns. Strong Towns is a non-profit that seeks to reform America from the ground up, starting with its towns and cities. It aims to promote healthy local economies by improving local governance. The Growth Ponzi Scheme Chuck began recognizing the problems in America’s towns and cities when he was working as a civil engineer. He recounts a story of working in a little city in central Minnesota in the late 1990s. The city had a 300-foot pipe that had cracked, allowing ground water to leak in...

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Will Socialism be able to save Venezuela as Bernie Sanders felt it could save America? Sep 20, 2016

I answered this question on Quora. My answer was “No.” But it was a very detailed no. Here’s an excerpt: Chavez was a true, dyed-in-the-wool socialist. He passed many reforms that would have crippled another nation. For instance, he made it illegal for private employers to fire anyone. Hiring an employee in Venezuela means paying that person a living wage until he quits or retires, regardless of whether he does any work or not. Imagine trying to run a business under that constraint! Chavez expanded state control of the economy in the name of socialism, but the country didn’t fall...

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Population Growth, the Ethics of Having Children, and Climate Change with Steve Horwitz Sep 16, 2016

Today’s guest is Steve Horwitz, he is the Charles A. Dana Professor and Chair of the economics department at St. Lawrence University. Steve recently wrote an article titled, “Make Babies, and Don’t Let the Greens Guilt Trip You about It.” This was a response to an argument made by the bioethicist Travis Rieder, who was recently profiled by NPR. Rieder argues that it is immoral to have children because of the burden additional humans place on the Earth, in particular because of the risk of catastrophic climate change. Here’s how that NPR piece put his argument: “Back at James Madison...

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Marx, his Errors, and his Continuing Influence with Phil Magness Sep 9, 2016

This week’s episode of Economics Detective Radio deals with the economic thought and continuing popularity of Marx. No, not Groucho! The other Marx! My guest on the podcast is Phil Magness, a historian who teaches at George Mason University. Phil recently wrote a piece entitled, “Commie Chic and Quantifying Marx on the Syllabus.” Recently, the Open Syllabus Project released a data set including thousands of college syllabi. To many people’s surprise, Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto enjoys massive popularity! (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes or Stitcher.The post Marx, his Errors, and his Continuing Influence with Phil Magness...

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