Words & Numbers
651 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 329 ratingsWords & Numbers touches on issues of Economics, Political Science, Current Events and Policy. Each Wednesday we'll be sharing a new Words & Numbers podcast featuring Antony Davies Ph.D and James Harrigan Ph.D talking about the economics and political science of current events.
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Episodes
Episode 327: To Vote or Not To Vote
May 17, 2023 14:30 - 38 minutes - 29.8 MBEpisode 327: To Vote or Not To Vote This week’s episode comes live from Sandy High School in Sandy Oregon where James and I give arguments for and against voting. Foolishness of the week: 07:56 Main episode: 08:37 Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Quick Hits https://apnews.com/art...
Episode 326: Gender and Race Wage Gaps
May 10, 2023 14:30 - 23 minutes - 19.3 MBWe hear that women make 80 cents for every dollar that men make, and that blacks earn less than whites. This week, we delve into the data and find these claims far more complicated and interesting than they first appear. Foolishness of the week: 02:50 Main episode: 03:25 Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.co...
Episode 325: Central Bank Digital Currencies
May 03, 2023 14:30 - 30 minutes - 25.4 MBOne of the things that cryptocurrency has done is to prompt central banks to develop their own digital currencies. These will combine the downsides of private digital currencies with the downsides of government currencies. Foolishness of the week: 08:21 Main episode: 09:58 Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon....
Episode 324: How Much Do Americans Earn?
April 26, 2023 14:30 - 29 minutes - 24.8 MBThe question, “How much do Americans earn?” seems simple. But there are so many moving parts below the surface that there is no single answer. For example, by “earn” do we mean “money from a job” or are we including interest income. What about Social Security retirement benefits? What about government welfare benefits? When we say “Americans” do we mean individual workers, or families, or households? When we say “How much” do we mean the average number or the median? Foolishness of the we...
Episode 323: Losing the Dollar
April 19, 2023 14:30 - 37 minutes - 26.8 MBWhat happens if the dollar is no longer a world currency? Financial expert Pete Earle joins us to discuss his recent article on the end of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Foolishness of the week: 05:42 Main episode: 07:39 Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Apply for the Semi...
Episode 322: A Smorgasbord of Topics
April 12, 2023 14:30 - 40 minutes - 33.7 MBBank runs, green investing, doctor shortage in Europe, are people getting dumber? Foolishness of the week: 09:07 Main episode: 11:32 Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Apply for the Seminar on Classical Liberalism: Theory and Practice https://www.wabash.edu/stephenson-institute/summer-...
Episode 321: Space and Property
April 05, 2023 14:30 - 35 minutes - 30 MBEpisode 321: Space and Property As humans venture out into space - not just under the auspices of government, but now as private citizens - establishing and adjudicating property rights will become ever more important. The treaty under which countries operate was signed back in the 1960s. It says that government may not lay claim to anything beyond Earth, but is completely silent about private citizens. Foolishness of the week: 07:08 Main episode: 09:51 Get Your Copy of Cooperation a...
Episode 320: Politics, Anarchy, and Baseball
March 29, 2023 14:30 - 37 minutes - 28.5 MBEpisode 320: Politics, Anarchy, and Baseball Economist, former mayor, self-professed anarchist, and baseball fan Randy Simmons joins us this week to talk about government and politics through the eyes of someone who is both a skeptic of government and who served in elected office. We recorded this episode in January, but saved it for the opening of baseball season. You’ll hear why in the episode. Foolishness of the week: 10:18 Main episode: 14:21 Get Your Copy of Cooperation a...
Episode 319: The Death of Silicon Valley Bank
March 22, 2023 14:30 - 39 minutes - 29 MBMany listeners have asked that we do an episode on the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and its implications for the rest of the banking sector. Peter Earle, economist and former Wall Street trader, joins us to talk about what happened, how it might have been avoided, what comes next, and whether the rest of the banking system is in danger. Foolishness of the week: 04:10 Main episode: 05:50 Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More A...
319: The Death of Silicon Valley Bank
March 22, 2023 14:30 - 39 minutes - 29 MBMany listeners have asked that we do an episode on the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and its implications for the rest of the banking sector. Peter Earle, economist and former Wall Street trader, joins us to talk about what happened, how it might have been avoided, what comes next, and whether the rest of the banking system is in danger. Foolishness of the week: 04:10 Main episode: 05:50 Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More A...
Episode 318: Nostalgia and Pop-Culture
March 15, 2023 14:30 - 47 minutes - 40.4 MBFoolishness of the week: 12:19 Main episode: 16:54 People’s view of the past is biased because we tend to forget the bad things. The (inexplicable to an economist) tendency of young people to think that like in the 1950s was better than life today is one example. This week, we talk about this tendency to nostalgia and how it shows up in pop-culture. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.words...
Words and Numbers Trailer
March 14, 2023 17:04 - 2 minutes - 2.26 MBWords and Numbers is a weekly half-hour podcast that explores current events through the eyes of an economist and political scientist. The show is an alternative to the shouting heads that occupy most public discussions. We follow evidence and reason where they lead for a non-partisan and entertaining approach to topics relating to politics, economics, and government.
Episode 317: Slavery, Capitalism, and The 1619 Project, Pt. 2
March 08, 2023 15:30 - 32 minutes - 25.3 MBFoolishness of the week: 07:11 Main episode: 11:20 Economic historian Phil Magness joins us to talk about how the popular 1619 Project gets both the history and the relationship between slavery and capitalism wrong. This is the second of a two-part episode. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnu...
Episode 316: Slavery, Capitalism, and The 1619 Project, Pt. 1
March 01, 2023 15:30 - 31 minutes - 24.1 MBFoolishness of the week: 04:55 Main episode: 07:34 Economic historian Phil Magness joins us to talk about how the popular 1619 Project gets both the history and the relationship between slavery and capitalism wrong. This is the first of a two-part episode. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wor...
Episode 315: Are We Done With Inflation?
February 22, 2023 15:30 - 44 minutes - 34.2 MBFoolishness of the Week: 06:19 Main episode: 07:37 As recently as two months ago, many economists were concerned that significant inflation was here to stay. But last month’s data show that inflation is back near zero. Whether this is good news or simply a brief respite, we won’t know for another few months. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words ...
Episode 314: What Happened to Trade?
February 15, 2023 15:30 - 30 minutes - 22.4 MBThere is much evidence pointing to a relationship between increased trade and improved socio-economic factors like income, poverty, equality, and the environment. But there’s a disturbing trend afoot. World trade (measured as exports and imports as a fraction of world GDP) is down 5% since 2011, and US trade is down 20% over the same period. Worse, prior to 2011, US trade was on a solid upward trajectory for a couple of decades. From 2011 on, had US trade continued to grow at its historical ...
Episode 313: Nudging and Capturing
February 08, 2023 15:30 - 34 minutes - 27.9 MBFoolishness of the week: 10:57 Main episode: 11:17 The USDA is experimenting with paying people to eat fruits and vegetables. That sounds like a good idea, but it opens the door to regulatory capture wherein companies lobby the USDA to have their products included in the program, and where manufacturers add just enough ingredients to call their formerly-fruit-and-vegetable-free product a “fruit” or “vegetable” and so qualify for the USDA subsidy. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Co...
Episode 312: The Next American Economy
February 01, 2023 15:30 - 49 minutes - 36 MBDr. Samuel Gregg joins us to talk about his latest book, The Next American Economy, in which he describes emerging problems and potential solutions to America’s slow movement away from freedom. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Apply for the Seminar on Classical Liberalism: Theory a...
Episode 311: Supply Chains Revisited
January 25, 2023 15:30 - 49 minutes - 37.5 MBA year ago, Mikhail Rasner joined us to talk about shortages and supply chains. A year later, he’s back to talk about what’s happened, both expected and unexpected, and where he sees the economy going in the near future. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Apply for the Seminar on Classica...
Episode 310: The Ratchet Effect and Civil Disagreement (fixed)
January 18, 2023 19:56 - 26 minutes - 20.2 MBThis week, we answer listener questions about the ratchet effect, how to disagree civilly, and who our dream guest would be. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Apply for the Seminar on Classical Liberalism: Theory and Practice https://www.wabash.edu/stephenson-institute/summer-seminars...
Episode 309: Liabilities, Rights, the Commerce Clause, and Significance
January 11, 2023 15:30 - 33 minutes - 25.7 MBThis week, we answer listener questions about unfunded liabilities, different types of rights, what would happen if the Supreme Court overturned the broad interpretation of the commerce clause, and statistical versus practical significance Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Apply for the Seminar...
Episode 308: The Pursuit of Wealth
January 04, 2023 16:09 - 33 minutes - 25.3 MBPope Francis devoted his Christmas homily to speaking out about the evils of pursuing wealth. This week, James and Ant share their different takes on the topic. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Apply for the Seminar on Classical Liberalism: Theory and Practice https://www.wabash.edu...
Episode 307: Listener Questions: Central Banking, National Divorce, and Public Companies
December 28, 2022 15:30 - 33 minutes - 24.4 MBListener questions this week include: What are the benefits of central banking? Is it time for the states to have an amicable divorce? What would it take to reduce the size of the federal government? What’s the difference between private and public companies? Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnum...
Episode 306: Listener Questions: Contagion, Lawsuits, and Socialism, Pt. 1
December 21, 2022 15:30 - 37 minutes - 27.4 MBThis week, listeners ask whether it’s right to think of contagion as pollution, and if so, whether government has a role in containing contagion, why are we so litigious, and how we can say anything about socialism or capitalism if neither one has ever existed in a pure form. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreo...
Episode 305: How Did We Get Here?
December 14, 2022 15:30 - 38 minutes - 28.9 MBOver the past century, three constraints on the federal government have failed. When we started ignoring Constitutional constraints, we opened the door to massive increases in federal spending. When voters started asking politicians for more “free” stuff, we walked through the door. And when we went off the gold standard politicians were able to strong-arm the Federal Reserve into funding the massive spending. What transpired was unsustainable spending, which created unsustainable debt, whi...
Episode 304: Good and Bad Regulations
December 07, 2022 15:30 - 40 minutes - 31.6 MBWhether regulations are a good thing or a bad thing is a more complicated question than it appears. Government can regulate through law. But consumers can also regulate through choice. Some government regulations protect people from harm. But some purport to protect people from harm while actually protecting favored businesses from competition. In this live episode, recorded at Susquehanna University, we talk about the good and bad of regulation. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coerci...
Episode 303: Ronald Reagan
November 30, 2022 15:30 - 38 minutes - 29.8 MBOur greatest immediate concerns are the combination of inflation and recession, and the threat of war with Russia. The United States faced this combination of problems forty years ago. One important difference is that whereas we are politically divided today, then we were politically united. Going by electoral votes, Ronald Reagan was the last President who united the country, and the only President to unite it to a greater degree than George Washington. Get Your Copy of Cooperation an...
Episode 302: Population Growth
November 23, 2022 15:30 - 27 minutes - 23.1 MBLast week, we talked about the world population crossing the 8 billion mark. This week, we look at a related topic, population growth. We find the interesting fact that population growth has slowed to near zero in the developed world, and that future population growth will come mostly from Africa. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Pa...
Episode 301: 8 Billion
November 16, 2022 15:30 - 35 minutes - 28.4 MBThe world population crossed the 8 billion mark this week. As far back as at least the late 1700s, experts were predicting that overpopulation would lead to mass starvation. Time and again, the experts end up being both right and wrong. They tend to be right in their projections that the world population is exploding, but they are always wrong about it leading to mass starvation. In fact, today’s 8 billion people live far better lives than did the 1 billion that lived back in the late 1700s....
Episode 300: Economic Inequality in America
November 09, 2022 15:30 - 42 minutes - 30.5 MBFor our 300th episode, Senator Phil Gramm joins us to talk about his recent book on income inequality in America. The disturbing thing is that the government figures that people quote concerning income inequality exclude all the tax and transfer adjustments we deliberately make to mitigate income inequality. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Nu...
Episode 299: The Rights of the Dead
November 02, 2022 14:30 - 40 minutes - 29.1 MBDo the dead have rights? This Halloween, philosopher James Stacey Taylor joins us for a live (heh) recording of Words & Numbers to take this question seriously. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Quick Hits https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/11/new-york-gun-buyback-rules...
Episode 298: How do Treasury Bills Work?
October 26, 2022 14:30 - 31 minutes - 25.9 MBPeople spend a lot of time talking about the debt and deficit, but most are unaware of the mechanics involved. This week, we cover some of those mechanics with a discussion of Treasury notes, bills, and bonds. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Quick Hits https://www.politico.com/...
Episode 297: What Happened to Poverty?
October 19, 2022 14:30 - 28 minutes - 22.2 MBThis month, the world takes stock of international poverty, and James and Ant put poverty into perspective both across countries and across time. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Quick Hits https://slashdot.org/story/22/10/08/2234213/paypal-says-it-wont-fine-customers-2500-for-m...
Episode 296: Think Like an Economist
October 12, 2022 14:30 - 31 minutes - 23.9 MBAll of economics boils down to a single fact: people respond to incentives. The first step to thinking like an economist is to take that fact seriously. Once you do, the world never looks the same. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Quick Hits https://fortune.com/2022/10/03/how-to...
Episode 295: Must Government Control Money?
October 05, 2022 14:30 - 37 minutes - 27.3 MBPeople - including some economists - are so used to governments establishing currencies that we are unaware that there are alternatives. Money is simply a tool that reduces the frictional costs of trading goods and services and of saving. Markets can evolve money in the same way that they evolve all manner of other solutions to even more complex problems. Prof. Lawrence H. White joins us this week to talk about alternatives to government-created currencies. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and...
Episode 294: Article I, Section 8, Pt.2
September 28, 2022 14:30 - 36 minutes - 29.5 MBArticle I, Section 8 of the Constitution lists the things the Federal government is permitted to do. Somewhere in our history, citizens have come to regard the Constitution as a document that outlines what the government is not allowed to do. That’s exactly the opposite of what the Founders intended. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Pat...
Episode 293: Article I, Section 8, Pt.1
September 21, 2022 14:30 - 34 minutes - 29.3 MBArticle I, Section 8 of the Constitution lists the things the Federal government is permitted to do. Somewhere in our history, citizens have come to regard the Constitution as a document that outlines what the government is not allowed to do. That’s exactly the opposite of what the Founders intended. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patr...
Episode 292: When Are We Adults?
September 14, 2022 14:30 - 33 minutes - 27.9 MBThe “age of majority” is the age at which a person is considered, legally, an adult. Not only does the age of majority vary by state and over time, it also varies by activity. Someone who is considered an adult for the purpose of voting, may not be for the purpose of drinking. As only adults can exercise their freedoms fully, the question of what constitutes an adult goes to the heart of what it is to be a free person. Words & Numbers Website https://www.wordsandnumbers.org Get You...
Episode 291: An Interview with Ant and James
September 07, 2022 14:30 - 46 minutes - 37.3 MBThis episode is an excerpt of an interview we gave with Dr. Anwar Dunbar for his YouTube channel, Big Discussions. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com See More Ant and James! http://www.wordsandnumbers.org Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Carson Collins’ Award-Winning Video on the Minimum Wage https://www.viddler.com/v/5e4c1764 Quick Hits https://data.oecd.org/emp/hou...
Episode 290: Loan Forgiveness and Lying to Pollsters
August 31, 2022 14:30 - 37 minutes - 30.9 MBWe discuss two topics in-depth this week: student loan forgiveness and lying to pollsters. There’s an interesting technique for distinguishing between what voters say they believe and what they actually believe, and there’s a recent poll that uses this technique in asking people about their attitudes toward controversial topics. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com...
Episode 289: Woke-ism and Movies
August 24, 2022 14:30 - 37 minutes - 29.5 MBToday’s woke-ism evolved from political correctness of the 1990s. While people have embraced many lessons about inclusion and empathy from the era of political correctness, people appear to be rejecting the woke-ism that tries to insinuate itself into popular culture. Post-covid movies provide a good example. Elite critics are applauding, and audiences are largely rejecting movies that use entertainment to teach woke-ism. Meanwhile, audiences are handing their dollars to movie makers (woke o...
Episode 288: What's a Recession?
August 17, 2022 14:30 - 37 minutes - 31.4 MBMaybe we’re in a recession, but maybe we’re not. This week, we talk about what a recession is and what it means, practically, for people. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Quick Hits https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/30/us/columbia-us-news-rankings.html https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2014/08/26/how-northeastern-gamed-the-college-ranking...
Episode 287: Secession: Good for me but not for thee?
August 10, 2022 14:30 - 43 minutes - 35.4 MBThe Founders gave strong philosophical arguments for why secession from Great Britain was right and proper. Yet, when the Confederacy tried to secede from the Union, philosophical arguments against secession were few. Clearly, ending slavery was right and proper. And, the question of secession was, practically speaking, answered with the eradication of slavery. But the question of whether it is right and proper for states to secede remains, at least from a philosophical perspective, unaddres...
Episode 286: Balance in Discussing Guns
August 03, 2022 14:30 - 35 minutes - 29 MBPart of the reason we make little progress on this topic of guns in this country is that the pro- and anti-gun camps talk past each other. This is fueled by a media that tends to show only one side of the story, causing both sides in the debate to become paranoid - one side comes to think that half the country is looking to disarm them, and the other side comes to think that half the country is blind to gun violence. A recent shooting gives us the opportunity to think about the topic from a ...
Episode 285: What’s News in the Economy?
July 27, 2022 14:30 - 34 minutes - 29.6 MBOddly, there’s not a lot in the news this week. Given what we’ve all been through the past couple of years, that’s likely a good thing. This week, we sit back and take a casual look at inflation, economic growth, entrepreneurs, standardization, and the gig economy. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Quick Hits and Foolishness of the Week https:/...
Episode 284: Phasing Out Social Security
July 20, 2022 14:30 - 31 minutes - 24.4 MBSocial Security has become a trillion dollar weight dragging down our economics and politics. On the one hand, according to the Social Security administration itself, the program will be insolvent within a decade. On the other, we can’t shut it down without condemning many elderly to destitution. This week, we talk about a plan that would phase out Social Security, do it without cutting benefits to current retirees, leave future retirees better off, and save the government money. The catch i...
Episode 283: Americans Don’t Trust the Media
July 13, 2022 14:30 - 31 minutes - 27.2 MBRecently, we talked about polls showing a serious erosion of trust in the branches of government. This week, we focus on the media. It turns out that Americans trust the media about as much as they trust Congress - and it’s amazing how little they trust Congress. Interestingly, there’s a sharp division among party lines. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wor...
Episode 282: What Happened to Health Care
July 06, 2022 14:30 - 52 minutes - 38.4 MBNo matter what we do to tweak our healthcare system, we seem to end up with the same problems decade after decade. Proponents of socialized medicine say that healthcare is simply too complex of a problem to leave to profit-seeking actors in the marketplace. Proponents of free market medicine say that healthcare is a product like any other product and that much of the complexity that exists is actually due to government regulations themselves. This week, we talk with an economic historian and...
Episode 281: Declared Independence
June 29, 2022 14:30 - 44 minutes - 31.9 MBHistorian Rob McDonald joins us on this Fourth of July week to talk about the events leading up to the founding, and his observation that the Founders thought less that they were declaring independence from Great Britain than that Parliament and the King had effectively declared the colonies independent by failing to fulfill the basic functions of government. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Pa...
Episode 280: The End of the Experiment in Unlimited Government
June 22, 2022 14:30 - 31 minutes - 25.7 MBFor one-hundred years, the United States has been conducting an experiment in unlimited government wherein politicians spend far beyond the government’s means, kicking the fiscal can down the road for future generations to pay. The future has finally arrived and we are that future generation. The inflation we’re experiencing now is the beginning of the price we’ll be paying for a century of unlimited government. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoer...