Podcast Episodes

The Price of Pennies: Make or Buy?

Season 3 Episode 4

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The make-or-buy decision is a fundamental aspect of economics that applies to businesses, households, and nations, with the U.S. penny providing a fascinating case study in economic ine…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Pretty Pigs and Talking Dogs

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How should we decide which political-economic systems are best for organizing society? Let's peer through the lens of the "Pretty Pig Problem," which highlights the flaws in comparing t…

Published on 2 months, 4 weeks ago

Barking Cats: On the "Nature" of Bureaucracy

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Transaction costs are the friction in the gears of society, but the worst transaction costs are the ones that reflect government failure. You can see it in ever cliche about government,…

Published on 3 months ago

Pins: Division of Labor is Limited by Transaction Costs

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Adam Smith's pin factory example from "The Wealth of Nations" demonstrates how dividing labor into specialized tasks dramatically increases productivity. Ten workers specializing in dif…

Published on 3 months, 1 week ago

Commerce and Sociology: Novak on Entangled Political Economy

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What happens when we stop seeing politics and markets as separate spheres and start recognizing their deep entanglement? Mikayla Novak, senior fellow at the Mercatus Center, challenges …

Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago

The Paradox of Political Rationality: Lynch

Season 2 Episode 21

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Why do harmful policies like tariffs keep coming back despite universal condemnation from economists? The answer lies in the dynamics of collective action and concentrated interests.

In …

Published on 4 months, 2 weeks ago

Curation Bubbles, Verification, and the Splintering of Ideology: Green

Season 2 Episode 20

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What happens when we no longer consume scarce information through trusted, verified institutions, but instead through an abundance of unbundled content without context or curation? John…

Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago

The Socialist Generation Debate: Boettke

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 Join economist Peter Boettke as he discusses how transaction costs impact market efficiency and our everyday decisions. We delve deep into historical examples, particularly the Soviet …

Published on 6 months, 3 weeks ago

Transaction Costs and Constitutions: India's Balancing Act, with Shruti Rajagopalan

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What if transaction costs could shape entire political and economic systems? Join us for an insightful discussion with Shruti Rajagopalan, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Cente…

Published on 7 months, 2 weeks ago

Political Capitalism and the Power of Elites: Randall Holcombe

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This episode explores the intersection of democracy and capitalism, focusing on the concept of political capitalism and its relation to cronyism. Randall Holcomb discusses transaction c…

Published on 8 months, 3 weeks ago