Podcast Episodes

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 6 months, 2 weeks 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 6 months, 3 weeks 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 7 months 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 8 months 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 9 months 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 10 months 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 11 months 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 1 year ago

Prison Gangs and Governance: David Skarbek

Season 2 Episode 41

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Curious about how the world of prison economics operates? Get ready to uncover a hidden universe with our guest, David Skarbek, a leading voice in political economy. David takes us on a…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

Certainty, Common Law, and Statutory Law: Todd Zywicki of Scalia Law

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Todd Zywicky, professor at George Mason's Scalia Law School, challenges some conventional legal doctrine, taking up the views of Bruno Leone and Friedrich Hayek. What if the legal world…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago