The (Liberty) Detective

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

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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Sociology and Social Science with Fabio Rojas Sep 9, 2017

My guest today is Fabio Rojas. He is professor of sociology at Indiana University Bloomington. Fabio is the author of three books, the first is From Black Power to Black Studies: How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline, published in 2007. The second book, coauthored with Michael Heaney, is Party in the Street: The Antiwar Movement and the Democratic Party after 9/11, published in 2015. The third book, Theory for the Working Sociologist, was published just recently in 2017. (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post Sociology and Social Science with Fabio Rojas...

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Compensating Blood, Fluid, and Organ Donors with Peter Jaworski Sep 1, 2017

My guest is Peter Jaworski of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. He is the author, along with Jason Brennan, of Markets Without Limits. We recorded this on August 24th, 2017, the same day Peter published an op-ed in the National Post titled “Canada needs blood plasma. We should pay donors to get it.” The op-ed argues in favour of allowing people who donate blood plasma in Canada to be compensated in return: (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post Compensating Blood, Fluid, and Organ Donors with Peter Jaworski appeared first on The Economics Detective

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Pepsi, Niche Marketing, and Neoliberal Social Justice with Samuel Hammond Aug 26, 2017

Samuel Hammond is returning to the podcast today to discuss the relationship between capitalism and social justice. Sam was prompted to write about this by an insensitive Pepsi commercial that caused some controversy in April 2017. The controversial ad featured generic protesters and Kendall Jenner sharing a Pepsi with police. While the ad was insensitive and more than a little absurd, Sam pointed out that Pepsi has a history of promoting social justice and racial harmony through its marketing. (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post Pepsi, Niche Marketing, and Neoliberal Social Justice with Samuel...

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Cuban Healthcare with Vincent Geloso Aug 19, 2017

This episode’s guest is Vincent Geloso, here to talk about his work on Cuban healthcare statistics. He recently released a working paper with coauthor Gilbert Berdine titled “The Paradox of Good Health and Poverty: Assessing Cuban Health Outcomes under Castro.” (more…) Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.The post Cuban Healthcare with Vincent Geloso appeared first on The Economics Detective

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Can the Truth be Repugnant? Should it be? Aug 16, 2017

Let’s consider a series of statements, without considering whether any of them are right or wrong: People should be treated with respect, regardless of their ethnicity. All ethnic groups have the same average IQ after controlling for cultural biases in IQ tests. Women should be treated with respect and accepted in traditionally male-dominated workplaces. There are no biological differences between men and women that affect their interests or abilities. Homosexuals and homosexual relationships should be given the same respect and acceptance as heterosexuals and heterosexual relationships. Children brought up by same-sex parents do as well or better than children brought...

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Pediatrician Fired Over Anti-Diversity Memo Aug 9, 2017

Bloomberg reports that ABC Children’s Hospital has fired an employee who wrote an internal memo blasting the hospital’s diversity policies, creating a firestorm across the medical community. She said: “The distribution of preferences and abilities of women and men differ in part due to biological causes, and that these differences may explain why we don’t see equal representation of men in pediatrics and psychiatry.” Jane Damore, the pediatrician who wrote the note, confirmed her dismissal in an email, saying that she had been fired for “perpetuating gender stereotypes.” She said she’s “currently exploring all possible legal remedies.” The imbroglio at...

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The French Revolution, Property Rights, and the Coase Theorem with Noel Johnson Jul 29, 2017

My guest for this episode is Noel Johnson of George Mason University, and if that name sounds familiar, it’s because he was the coauthor on the paper I discussed with Mark Koyama last month. Noel recently released a working paper titled “The Effects of Land Redistribution: Evidence from the French Revolution.” It is co-authored with Theresa Finley and Raphael Franck. The paper examines the consequences of the land auctions held by the Revolutionary government in France. The abstract reads as follows: This study exploits the confiscation and auctioning off of Church property that occurred during the French Revolution to assess...

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The Seattle Minimum Wage Study with Ekaterina Jardim Jul 28, 2017

My guest for this episode is Ekaterina Jardim of the University of Washington. Ekaterina is one of the authors of the new minimum wage study that has been making headlines recently, “Minimum Wage Increases, Wages, and Low-Wage Employment: Evidence from Seattle.” One reason this study is so interesting is that it was funded by the City of Seattle, which is something that governments aren’t obligated or expected to do when they enact major policy changes like these minimum wage hikes. There was a broad theoretical and empirical consensus in the 1980s that higher minimum wages have disemployment effects on the...

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