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Episode 279: The Pain of Drug Laws
Season 1 Episode 279
Critics of drug laws focus on the costs, both in dollars and lives, of incarcerating people for an act that often hurts no one. Lost in the discussion is the cost of making it harder for people who s…
Published on 3 years, 6 months ago
Episode 278: Consumers' Hidden Profit
Season 1 Episode 278
We all see the profits companies make when they sell things for more than it cost them to produce. Companies carefully measure these profits, and many are required to publicly report them to the penn…
Published on 3 years, 6 months ago
Episode 277: UNC Wilmington: Cooperation & Coercion, Pt. 2
Season 1 Episode 277
James and I were invited to kick off UNC Wilmington’s annual Business Week with a live recording of Words & Numbers. The talk was loosely based on our book, Cooperation & Coercion. If you’ve read the…
Published on 3 years, 6 months ago
Episode 276: UNC Wilmington: Cooperation & Coercion, Pt. 1
Season 1 Episode 276
James and I were invited to kick off UNC Wilmington’s annual Business Week with a live recording of Words & Numbers. The talk was loosely based on our book, Cooperation & Coercion. If you’ve read the…
Published on 3 years, 7 months ago
Episode 275: Economics Is About A Lot More Than Money
Season 1 Episode 275
Most of what the public knows about economics is really macroeconomics - the field of economics that deals with interest rates, inflation, unemployment, and GDP. Economics is really about human behav…
Published on 3 years, 7 months ago
Episode 274: The CBO Predicts the Future
Season 1 Episode 274
The Congressional Budget Office is the government entity that produces forecasts about the effects of new taxes and spending on the economy and the federal budget. Four years ago, we did an episode i…
Published on 3 years, 7 months ago
Episode 273: Markets With Limits, Pt. 2
Season 1 Episode 273
There are some things that people have an emotional reaction to buying and selling: sex, body parts, votes. There are other things whose quality people aren’t able to judge. Is it possible that marke…
Published on 3 years, 7 months ago
Episode 272: Markets With Limits, Pt. 1
Season 1 Episode 272
There are some things that people have an emotional reaction to buying and selling: sex, body parts, votes. There are other things whose quality people aren’t able to judge. Is it possible that marke…
Published on 3 years, 8 months ago
Episode 271: Our Dual Natures
Season 1 Episode 271
Humans have dual natures. We are, simultaneously, individuals and members of a shared society. That each of us should be free arises from our status as individuals. But, what arises from our status a…
Published on 3 years, 8 months ago
Episode 270: A Conversation with Award Winning Students, Pt. 3
Season 1 Episode 270
This is the final installment of our talk with the economics students of Mount Hebron High School. The students have won the state economics championship 16 times, the national championship six times…
Published on 3 years, 8 months ago