Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchThe Innovation is the Exchange Itself!
Season 3 Episode 24
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Chris Cornette, a longtime securities trader who grew up in the business, reveals how the most important innovation that made US capital markets preeminent in the world was the exchange…
Published on 10 hours ago
When Bribes Become the System: Understanding Lock-In
Season 3 Episode 22
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Corruption persists not because people like it, but because it becomes embedded in the incentive structure of the state, creating feedback loops that reinforce themselves and resist ref…
Published on 3 weeks ago
Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations: Episode #3--Introduction and Book I
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Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" developed from decades of lectures on jurisprudence, examining how market exchange creates prosperity through division of labor and specialized skil…
Published on 4 weeks ago
Second Place Is The First Loser: Strategy Over Speed
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The ancient tradition of Il Palio in Siena showcases a complex system of strategic corruption, neighborhood rivalries, and high-stakes horse racing that has endured for centuries. This …
Published on 1 month ago
When Bats Attack: Understanding Insurance
Season 3 Episode 10
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Mike Munger explores insurance economics through the lens of transaction costs and risk management, culminating in an amusing case study about "bat-in-mouth disease."
Published on 1 month, 1 week ago
Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations: Episode #2--The "Model"
Season 3 Episode 9
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Transaction costs provide the key to understanding Adam Smith's complete philosophical system and how his two great works form an integrated whole.
• Smith's two essential claims: human…
Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations: Episode 1 (Background)
Season 3 Episode 8
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(N.B.: This episode is cross-posted at our partner site, Adam Smith Works. There are lots of resources and background material there, if you want to delve deeper)
The Scottish Enlighten…
Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Nnnnooooo one expects transaction costs!! The economics of Monty Python
Season 3 Episode 7
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Mike Munger explores how Monty Python brilliantly illustrated transaction cost economics through their legendary comedy sketches. The British comedy troupe's most famous routines provid…
Published on 2 months ago
The Engineers of Exchange: Middlemen, Part Deux
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Middlemen are not parasites but essential "engineers of exchange" who create value by connecting buyers and sellers who might never find each other otherwise.
• The word "monger" (and Mu…
Published on 2 months, 1 week ago
FA Hayek: Price Whisperer
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The price system solves a profound coordination problem by communicating dispersed knowledge that no central planner could ever fully access or comprehend. We explore Hayek's insight ab…
Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago