Send us a text Adam Smith was a man who read the Stoics. He liked them, too, talking them up in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, particularly in the section on grief. Then he lost two of his closest relations (old timey, right?), David Hume and his mother. These world-shaking events caused him to reevaluate what he said about grief in TMS and change…

Send us a text This year’s Nobel Prize winners in economics are Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson, who wrote on the importance of inclusive institutions to economic growth. But what on earth are ‘inclusive institutions’ and how do they differ from exclusive ones? Inclusive institutions are norms, either written or unwritten, about t…

Send us a text Picture a policy conversation, perhaps in Washington, about national security. Who’s sitting around the table? It might be the President, national security advisors, military personnel, or generals, but not economists. And yet, national security is often used as a reason to intervene into the economy. At the mention of national secur…

Send us a text How do you teach about a man who does not fit neatly into a box? Hayek is one such man, and today, we tackle the difficult task of putting him in a box. We conclude that we cannot put someone like F. A. Hayek into boxes such as “economist” or “philosopher” or “political theorist”, because he did it all. How and when do you teach the …

Send us a text It’s often said that if you want to get to know someone, you should look through their garbage. Now, I don’t recommend this method of getting to know someone (it’s kind of gross). But biographers often have the luck of getting to know the people they study by looking through their stuff- that stuff not being actual garbage. For examp…

Send us a text The title of this episode might confuse you: what on earth do Adam Smith and F. A. Hayek have to say about social justice? A surprising amount, given how much we talk about it! Smith makes a big point of critiquing men of pride and vanity. What happens when those ultimately negative aspects of humanity go too far, into the territory …

Send us a text The month of October 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of F. A. Hayek winning the Nobel Prize. Winning such a prize is obviously a big deal, but someone wins one every year, so what’s the big deal about this guy? Well. Hayek’s contributions to the field of economics are significant because they spoke to more than simply economics. Spon…

Send us a text Do you ever take a moment to think about the fact that Americans, the people of the land of the free, spent 13 years under Prohibition? Did you know that Americans used to seriously “drink like a fish”? And no, I’m not talking about fraternity men in college. I’m talking about everyone, everywhere, from George Washington’s parties to…

Send us a text What does it actually mean to run a think tank, to create harmony within an office building full of idea-confident folk? Some have called the think tank a monastery, some have called it an academic social club, and some have even called it a policy incubator. What truly is it and how on earth do you lead one? Leading a think tank is …

Send us a text Even though I hope you’ve been avoiding the election news like I have (as you would the plague), admittedly, it’s hard to do. It’s like someone is blasting it outside your window at 5 AM. Or like a billboard outside your front door that you can’t help but see every time you step outside. Bummer. Fortunately, AEI’s wonderful Yuval Lev…

Send us a text Growth is essential to human life. Always has been, always will be. From the moment we are born, we grow, and we continue to throughout our lives, whether that is physically, mentally, or otherwise. Societies grow too. But what is growth? Real growth is replicable, durable, and sustainable (and not in the sense that immediately comes…

Send us a text Some questions are hard to ask. Some questions you don’t want to ask. Some questions are hard for you to hear the answers to. Like, how do you tell someone, politely, that they eat with their mouth open? Between a rock and a hard place, you know you gotta do it. You really don’t want to, but you know you can’t stand to watch it anymo…

Send us a text What does it mean for something to be ESG when two of those words are adjectives and one is a noun? I mean think about it. “Environmental, social, and governance” doesn’t really describe anything. It’s also a good example of cacophony. So can someone please explain what it means? Today, luckily, Paul Mueller, senior research fellow a…

Send us a text What’s in a price? Good question. How can you be “enslaved” to something like a price, to something that doesn’t eat, sleep, or breathe? Good question. What does it mean to wage a war against this inanimate enslaver? Good question. Join me today with Ryan Bourne, the R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics at t…

Send us a text Michael Cannon is the Cato Institute’s director of health policy studies and it is his third time on the podcast. He has been on The Washingtonian’s list of most influential people for four years in a row. Today, we talk about why people think the American healthcare system is “free market” and the role of prices in determining healt…

Send us a text Charles Noussair is the Eller Professor of Economics at the University of Arizona and the Director of the Economic Science Laboratory. He also serves as the President of the Economic Science Association. Today, we talk about experimental economics, how it complements other types of economic research, and how economic experiments are …

Send us a text Sandra Peart is a Distinguished Professor of Leadership Studies and the President of the Jepson Scholars Foundation at the University of Richmond, as well as a coauthor of Towards an Economics of Natural Equals: A Documentary History of the Early Virginia School, with David Levy. She is also a distinguished fellow of the history of e…

Send us a text Daniel Di Martino is a PhD candidate in Economics at Columbia University and a graduate fellow at the Manhattan Institute—where he focuses on high-skill immigration policy. He also founded the Dissident Project to teach high school students about the evils of socialist regimes. Today we talk about his life in Venezuela and the econom…

Send us a text Anne Bradley is an economics professor at the Institute of World Politics and the Vice President of Academic Affairs at The Fund for American Studies. Today, we talk about the political economy of terrorism: what terrorism is, what makes a terrorist, and what the war on terror does to attempt to prevent terrorism. We talk about how e…

Send us a text Craig Richardson is a professor of economics at Winston-Salem State University, and the director of the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility there. Today, we talk about a ton of things, from a breakdown of compelling narratives to magic. He tells us why Elizabeth Warren is more interesting to listen to than economists, although …

Send us a text Dan Klein is a professor of economics at George Mason University. Today, He talks to us about another of Smith’s great ideas: self-command. We discuss what the difference between command and control is, and how its important in today’s society. He describes the prideful man and the vain man, including details such as their reactions …

Send us a text Katherine Mangu-Ward is the editor-in-chief of Reason: the Magazine for Free Minds and Free Markets. Today, we talk about what it is like to be an editor-in-chief and what that job description actually entails. She talks to us about the recent AI issue of Reason, in which they grapple with the big questions regarding the future of AI…

Send us a text Ryan Yonk is a Senior Research Faculty at the American Institute for Economic Research where he is the director of the Public Choice and Public Policy Project. He is also a co-author of The China Dilemma: Rethinking US-China Relations Through Public Choice Theory, with Ethan Yang. Today, we talk about the book and how to apply public…

Send us a text Erik Matson is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the Deputy Director of the Adam Smith program. He recently released a new book, New Paternalism Meets Older Wisdom: Looking to Smith and Hume on Rationality, Welfare, and Behavioral Economics. Today we talk about paternalism, and how new pat…

Send us a text Alice Temnick joins us today on The Great Antidote. She is an IB economics teacher at the United Nations International School in Manhattan and is an education consultant for Liberty Fund’s Adam Smith Works. We continue a previous conversation on Adam Smith, this time exploring his time at Glasgow and his Lectures on Rhetoric and Bell…

Send us a text Russell Sobel is a Professor of Economics and Entrepreneurship at the Baker school of Business at The Citadel and he just put out a new book with the Fraser Institute, The Essential Joseph Schumpeter. He has also written an introductory economics textbook and many, many papers on the economics of entrepreneurship. Today, we talk abou…

Send us a text Byron Carson is an associate professor of economics and business at Hampton-Sydney College in Virginia. He is also the author of a recently published book, Challenging Malaria, which we talk about today. He explains to us what malaria is and the different ways that individuals and private interests responded to it before the inventio…

Send us a text Matt Mitchell is a senior fellow in the Center for Economic Freedom at the Fraser Institute and senior research fellow at the Knee Regulatory Research Center at West Virginia University . Today, we talk about what socialism really means and what it meant for a country like Estonia, which was first occupied by Hitler and then Stalin. …

Send us a text Kristi Kendall is the director of Undivide Us, a documentary about political polarization in America, what it does to us, and how to fix it, along with many other productions. Today, we’re going to be talking about what’s in a documentary, or film generally, that makes it so moving, especially with members of my generation. We talk a…

Send us a text Stan Veuger is a senior research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, with a myriad of different research areas including the political situation in the Netherlands, which he’s written about at The Unpopulist, and the “Implications of Cannabis Legalization for the U.S. Federal Budget”, a paper which he wrote with Alex Brill a…

Send us a text Giandomenica Becchio is a professor of economics and the history of economic thought at the University of Torino. Today, she tells us about feminist economics and why it’s an important criticism of neoclassical economics. Without understanding the role of typical gender and family roles, we cannot correctly understand or think about …

Send us a text David Henderson is a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and the editor of the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. He is also an emeritus professor of economics with the Naval Postgraduate School. Today, we talk about another famous economist who has recently passed, Robert Solow. Henderson tells us about the S…

Send us a text David Boaz is a distinguished senior fellow of the Cato Institute and for over more than four decades, he was the executive vice president. He has written many books, including The Libertarian Mind and Libertarianism: A Primer. Today, we talk about the historical origins and importance of liberalism and rehash the discussion of what …

Send us a text Thomas Stratmann is a Distinguished University Professor of economics and law at George Mason University, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Institute, and the creator of the Reservation Economic Freedom Index. Today, we talk about reservations in America and the economic wellbeing of Native Americans. He explains to us how he …

Send us a text Kristi Kendall is the director of the documentary Undivide Us, about the toxic polarization in America and practical steps to solving it through deep, face to face conversations in our communities. Today, we talk about the production of the documentary and how to communicate ideas through film. She tells us about how her career led h…

Send us a text Alice Temnick teaches IB Economics for the United Nations International School in Manhattan and is an education consultant with Liberty Fund’s Adam Smith Works and Econlib. Today, we begin what is going to be a long conversation about Adam Smith and education. We begin with Adam Smith’s upbringing and education and talk about our own…

Send us a text Alain Bertaud is an urbanist and a senior research scholar at the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management. He is the author of a book about urban planning that is titled Order Without Design: How Markets Shape Cities. He has worked as an urban planner in a multitude of cities around the world. Today, we talk about his view of a city…

Send us a text Ben Klutsey is the Director of Academic Outreach and the Director of the Program on Pluralism and Civil Exchange at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He is also one of the masterminds behind a recent documentary, Undivide Us, which tackles the affective polarization in America and how to remedy it through thoughtful con…

Send us a text Robert Lawson is the Jerome M. Fullinwider Centennial Chair in Economic Freedom and is director of the Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. Today, we talk about James Gwartney, a great economist who recently passed but leaves a significant legacy, from accessible and …

Send us a text Adam White is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the Co-Director of the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State at George Mason University. He also leads seminars with the Hertog Foundation, one of which I had the chance to attend this summer. Today we talk about the American judicial sys…

Send us a text Brent Orrell is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where his research lights the path in job training, workforce development, and criminal justice reform. Today, we talk about the state of work in the United States and the main issues that the labor market faces. We talk about the importance of meaning and dignity …

Send us a text Lauren Hall is the author of several books, the author of the wonderful Substack The Radical Moderate’s Guide to Life, and a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Today, we talk about radical moderation, what that is, and why it's important. We talk about the importance of breaking away from the political binaries and m…

Send us a text Cheryl Miller is the executive director of the Hertog Foundation, an educational philanthropy organization in Washington, DC. Today, we talk about the mission of the foundation and the importance of the humanities in policy making and being a human more generally. We talk about the state of the youth, optimism, and Edith Wharton! Nev…

Send us a text Kerianne Lawson is a faculty scholar at the Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth as well as an assistant professor of economics at North Dakota State University. Today, we talk about a lot of different topics including the implementation of property rights in South Africa through the Khaya Lam project and the realities …

Send us a text Bob Ewing is the founder of the Ewing School, which helps clients with public speaking and listening skills, and writes the Substack Talking Big Ideas. Today we talk about communication, breaking it down into the components of speaking and listening. We discuss why communication is so important and how it can bring value and guide su…

Send us a text Albert Zambone is the author of Daniel Morgan: A Revolutionary Life. He is also the host of the podcast Historically Thinking, where he teaches listeners not only history but how to do it. Go check it out if you haven’t. He also has a doctorate in history from the University of Oxford. Today, we talk about what history is, why it’s s…

Send us a text John Bitzan is the Menard Family Director of the Sheila and Robert Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth at North Dakota State University. Today we are talking about the findings of their annual survey on American College Student Freedom, Progress and Flourishing, which has some shocking and non-shocking results. Tune in…

Send us a text Today, I am excited to welcome on Vincent Geloso. He is an assistant professor at George Mason University, specializing in the measurement of living standards. We talk about his new study with Chelsea Follet of the Cato Institute titled “Global Inequality in Well-Being Has Decreased across Many Dimensions” , which discusses a new way…

Send us a text I am excited to have Chelsea Follett on to talk to us about her new book Centers of Progress: 40 Cities that Changed the World. The title speaks for itself. She is a policy analyst at the Cato Institute’s center for global liberty and prosperity and the managing editor of humanprogress.org. We talk about a few key characteristics of …

Send us a text Lawrence Reed is the president emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education and of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. He is currently the Humphreys family senior fellow at FEE. Visit his website lawrencewreed.com. Today we talk about the best and worst presidents in American history and the reasons why. We start with the rol…