The (Liberty) Detective

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

Algorithms, Algorithmic Discrimination, and Autonomous Vehicles with Caleb Watney Feb 10, 2018

Algorithms, Algorithmic Discrimination, and Autonomous Vehicles with Caleb Watney Today’s guest is Caleb Watney of the R Street Institute. In our conversation, we discuss algorithms, particularly with respect to their role in judicial decision making. Later in the conversation, we discuss the algorithms that will one day replace ape brains as the primary controllers of our cars. Caleb wrote a Cato Unbound essay in response to an article by Cathy O’Neil. O’Neil, a mathematician, argues that algorithms could potentially lead us astray. Her book Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy has sounded the alarm...

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The Welfare State, Markets, and Social Insurance with Sam Hammond Feb 2, 2018

Sam Hammond returns to the podcast today to discuss the free market welfare state. He and Will Wilkinson have both written articles in this area recently, and we discuss some of the concepts they bring up. (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post The Welfare State, Markets, and Social Insurance with Sam Hammond appeared first on The Economics Detective

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Sex Work, Craigslist, and Decriminalization with Scott Cunningham Jan 27, 2018

My guest for this episode is Scott Cunningham of Baylor University. We discuss his work on the decriminalization of indoor sex work and on the impact of Craigslist’s erotic services page on violence against women. The working paper on Craigslist generated a lot of media attention, with articles at Huffington Post and ThinkProgress. The most quoted statistic is that “Craigslist erotic services reduced the female homicide rate by 17.4 percent.” We discuss this statistic, its possible causes, and whether or not it is implausibly large. (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post Sex Work, Craigslist,...

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Migration and Fertility with Lyman Stone Jan 19, 2018

My guest today is Lyman Stone. He is an agriculture economist for the USDA, but our topic for this episode is his popular writing about migration. He blogs at In a State of Migration on Medium and co-hosts the podcast Migration Nation. We discuss the history of migration restrictions in the United States, the economic impact of migration between and within nations, and the relationship between falling fertility and immigration. (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post Migration and Fertility with Lyman Stone appeared first on The Economics Detective

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Emerging Technologies with Zach and Kelly Weinersmith Jan 13, 2018

This episode of the podcast features two guests, Zach and Kelly Weinersmith. Zach is the author of SMBC Comics, a popular webcomic that sometimes deals with advanced concepts in science, philosophy, economics, and other fields. Kelly is a professor in the Biosciences department of Rice University. Together they co-authored Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That’ll Improve and/or Ruin Everything. To quote the book’s description, In this smart and funny book, celebrated cartoonist Zach Weinersmith and noted researcher Dr. Kelly Weinersmith give us a snapshot of what’s coming next–from robot swarms to nuclear fusion powered-toasters. By weaving their own research, interviews with...

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Indian Constitutional Political Economy and the Bhopal Gas Tragedy with Shruti Rajagopalan Jan 6, 2018

My guest on this episode is Shruti Rajagopalan of the State University of New York’s Purchase College. We discuss Shruti’s work on constitutional political economy as it relates to India. We start by talking about the Indian constitution. India got its independence in 1947 and ratified a constitution shortly after in 1949. Interestingly, it is the most amended constitution in the world. Shruti argues “that the formal institutions of socialist planning were fundamentally incompatible with the constraints imposed by the Indian Constitution.” (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post Indian Constitutional Political Economy and the...

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The Elephant in the Brain, Hidden Motives, and Self-Deception with Robin Hanson Dec 30, 2017

Robin Hanson returns to the podcast to discuss his new book, The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life, co-authored with Kevin Simler. As the subtitle suggests, the book looks at humans’ hidden motives. Robin argues that these hidden motives are much more prevalent than our conscious minds assume. We are not conscious of the vast majority of the functions of our brains. This extends beyond the most basic things our brains do (such as commanding our hearts to beat every second or so) to many things we think of as higher-level cognitive tasks. Hanson and Simler argue...

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Biker Gangs, Organized Crime, and Club Goods with Ennio Piano Dec 23, 2017

My guest for this episode is Ennio Piano of George Mason University. Our topic is Ennio’s work on the economics of biker gangs. Ennio has two papers on this subject. The first, published in Public Choice, is entitled Free riders: the economics and organization of outlaw motorcycle gangs and it describes the franchise-style model of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang, and how that model contributed to that gang’s rise to prominence. By making the local chapters of the Hell’s Angels residual claimants, while the head chapter in Oakland is responsible for the gang’s name and reputation, the gang exploits local...

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Financial Crises, Politics, and Interest Groups with Jake Meyer Dec 16, 2017

My guest today is Jake Meyer of California State University, Long Beach. We discuss Jake’s work on the intersection of financial crises and politics. Jake’s work explores important questions such as the interaction between interest group politics and financial and currency crises. A country’s monetary authority needs to manage both the domestic labour market and the country’s exchange rate, but particular interest groups tend to favour one over the other very strongly. If one of these interest groups becomes disproportionately influential in national politics, they can affect monetary policy in ways that lead to crises. For instance, if a group...

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Pro Wrestling and Intellectual Property with Kyle Coates Dec 8, 2017

Today’s guest is Kyle Coates and our topic is pro wrestling and the intellectual property problems that arise from it. So prepare to be amazed as we BODY SLAM this topic, or something. Who owns a wrestler’s name, gimmick, and persona? Kyle was inspired to do research in this area when he heard about a legal dispute between the wrestlers Jeff and Matt Hardy and the wrestling network TNA. The Hardys changed networks and wanted to continue using a gimmick they had developed while performing for TNA. (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post Pro...

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Legal Systems Very Different From Ours with David Friedman Dec 1, 2017

Today’s guest is David Friedman of Santa Clara University. Our discussion centers around his upcoming book, Legal Systems Very Different From Ours, which you can read in draft form at his website. David became interested in this topic when he became interested in the decentralized legal system of saga-period Iceland. This interest has since expanded into a full book covering everything from Imperial Chinese Law to the customary legal system of Somaliland in northern Somalia. We discuss some of these chapters, with a focus on Somalian, Jewish, Icelandic, and 18th-century British law. We also discuss some of the major themes...

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Unintended Consequences and Systemically Important Real Sectors with Frank Milne Nov 24, 2017

My guest today is Frank Milne of Queen’s University. Our topic for today will be unintended consequences. Frank has written a paper directed at policymakers to help them understand some of the pitfalls that economists have identified. The paper is directed at Australian policymakers, so some of the examples are Australia specific, though they generalize quite well to other countries. We start where the paper starts, with a discussion of Australia’s heavy investment in commodity exports to China in the wake of the 2008 crisis. Many people mistook the temporary increase in demand for Australian mineral exports for a permanent...

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Infrastructure, Privatization, and Autonomous Vehicles with Clifford Winston Nov 17, 2017

Today’s guest is Clifford Winston of the Brookings Institution. We discuss infrastructure, particularly roads and airports, and the incentives faced by their users. Bad incentives create congestion problems that can’t be solved by simply throwing more money into infrastructure; you need to fix the incentives! Clifford’s work on privatization shows how it could improve incentives and reduce the costs of congestion. Clifford argues that self-driving cars will fix some of the problems created by bad policy. We also discuss the letter grades issued for infrastructure by the American Society of Civil Engineers and what they do and don’t tell us...

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The Economics of the Weird with Peter Leeson Nov 11, 2017

Peter Leeson of George Mason University joins the podcast today to discuss his latest book, WTF?!: An Economic Tour of the Weird. We discuss the economic reasoning behind some of history’s strangest practices: ordeals that were used to determine innocence or guilt in medieval Europe, trials by battle that were used to settle land disputes in Norman England, wife auctions that happened during the Industrial Revolution, and the criminal prosecution of insects and rodents by ecclesiastical courts in Renaissance Italy. (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post The Economics of the Weird with Peter Leeson...

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Religion, Political Power, and Economic Growth with Jared Rubin Nov 4, 2017

My guest today is Jared Rubin of Chapman University. He is the author of Rulers, Religion, and Riches: Why the West Got Rich and the Middle East Did Not, which is our topic for today. The book deals with the question of why Western Europe became wealthier than the Middle East after centuries of being poorer. The book is part game theoretic model of society, part historical narrative through the lens of that model. (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post Religion, Political Power, and Economic Growth with Jared Rubin appeared first on The Economics...

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Technology, Mechanism Design, and Ugandan Agricultural Markets with Kevin Leyton-Brown Oct 28, 2017

My guest today is Kevin Leyton-Brown, he is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia. Kevin’s work involves not only computer science topics such as artificial intelligence, but also game theory, and the intersection between the two. Our topic for today is an app that Kevin co-founded called Kudu, which uses double auctions to help Ugandan farmers trade more effectively. (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post Technology, Mechanism Design, and Ugandan Agricultural Markets with Kevin Leyton-Brown appeared first on The Economics Detective

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The German Economic Miracle with David Henderson Oct 22, 2017

Returning to the podcast is David Henderson of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey California. Our topic for today is the German Economic Miracle. David wrote an article on it for the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. The article begins as follows: “After World War II the German economy lay in shambles. The war, along with Hitler’s scorched-earth policy, had destroyed 20 percent of all housing. Food production per capita in 1947 was only 51 percent of its level in 1938, and the official food ration set by the occupying powers varied between 1,040 and 1,550...

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Corruption and Spatial Econometrics with Jamie Pavlik Oct 14, 2017

My guest today is Jamie Pavlik of Texas Tech University. Jamie has done a ton of research on corruption and development. She has examined corruption in the developing world, with multiple papers examining corruption in Brazil. She has also looked at international comparisons of corruption, and corruption in the United States specifically. (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post Corruption and Spatial Econometrics with Jamie Pavlik appeared first on The Economics Detective

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Brexit, Its Economic Impact, and International Disintegration with Thomas Sampson Oct 6, 2017

My guest today is Thomas Sampson of the London School of Economics. Our topic for today is the economic impact of Brexit. Long-time listeners will recall that I did an interview with Sam Bowman on Brexit immediately after the vote occurred. Think of this as a follow-up to that episode now that the dust has settled and we have a better idea of what Brexit is going to look like. Thomas has written multiple papers on the subject, including Brexit: The Economics of International Disintegration, which is forthcoming in the Journal of Economic Perspectives. Its abstract follows: (more…) Subscribe to...

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Markups, Market Concentration, and Monopolistic Competition with Karl Smith Sep 29, 2017

My guest today is Karl Smith, he is the director of economic research at the Niskanen center. Our topic for today will be market power. Karl has written a series of posts on the Niskanen center blog discussing markups and market power. The debate was sparked by a paper by Loecker and Eeckhout that claimed that average markups in the American economy had risen from 18 percent in 1980 to 67 percent today. (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post Markups, Market Concentration, and Monopolistic Competition with Karl Smith appeared first on The Economics Detective

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