The Economics of Paternalism
EconTalk Archives, 2006
English - September 18, 2006 11:45 - 43 minutes - 10 MB - ★★★★★ - 42 ratingsCourses Education Science Social Sciences business leadership health interview entrepreneurship entrepreneur fitness finance politics news Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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Economist Ed Glaeser of Harvard University talks with host Russ Roberts about the dangers of soft paternalism--various forms of government regulation that fall short of outright bans or taxes but that are meant to correct alleged flaws in the choices we make. Glaeser argues that while individuals do inevitably make mistakes, so do politicians, and the concentration of power in the hands of the few makes government "benevolence" particularly dangerous.