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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 economics society.

Today we talk about the importance of humility in discussing important ideas in addition to the importance of asking the right questions, ethical questions. She leads us through the intellectual landscape of the 60s, post World War II, and the birth of the Virginia School of Economics, which was intent on asking important questions about humanity and the nature of equality. We talk about James Buchanan, Warren Nutter, Gordon Tullock, and their influences such as Adam Smith and Frank Knight. We talk about how public choice and experimental economics both critique and improve the field of economics.

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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 economic realities he faced growing up, particularly inflation and shortages. He explains how poor institutions, even democratically elected ones, can turn a trusting and prosperous society into a mistrusting and thieving one. (Watch out ladies, they’ll even steal the hair from your head). We talk about the incentives involved in immigration policy and the immigration situation in places like New York City and Miami today.


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• Bruce Bueno de Mesquita on Democracies and Dictatorship, an EconTalk podcast.
• Simeon Djankov and Matt Warner on the Doing Business Report and Development Aid, an EconTalk podcast.
• Jim Epstein on Bitcoin, the Blockchain, and Freedom in Latin America, an EconTalk podcast.
• Edward Lopez, Socialism From the Bottom Up, a review of Powell and Lawson's Socialism Sucks, at Econlib.
• Stan Veuger on the Dutch Farmer Protests and Cannabis Legalization, a Great Antidote podcast.

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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 economics is uniquely positioned to pose questions and find answers about this area usually dominated by those studying defense and international relations, and how the human element of economics informs her framing of the issue.


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• Anne Rathbone Bradley, The Economics of al-Qaeda, at Econlib.
• Gary Shiffman on the Economics of Violence, an EconTalk podcast.
• Robert P. Murphy, Ensuring- and Insuring- Air Security, at Econlib.
• Chris Coyne on Manufacturing Militarism, a Great Antidote podcast.
• Kristi Kendall on Human Action and Inspiring Through Ideas, a Great Antidote podcast.

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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 she doesn’t understand economics as well as economists do. We talk about the importance of relationships and trust in society, from multinational corporations and small towns to the communication of big ideas. We talk about the lack of awe and magic in economics and communication, and he explains why bringing back the *wow* factor will help us personally and professionally.

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• Bob Ewing on Communicating Well, a Great Antidote podcast.
• Kristi Kendall on Human Action and Inspiring Through Ideas, a Great Antidote podcast.
• Mike Munger on Profits, Entrepreneurship, and Storytelling, an EconTalk podcast.
• Frank Rose on Internet Narratives, an EconTalk podcast.
• Mikayla Novak, Liberty Tours: Why Tourism Matters to Liberty, at Econlib.
• Craig Richardson, Cuba's Dreams and Economic Reality, at Econlib.

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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 to unwanted estimation (usually bad, not valuing them as they value themselves or want you to value them). We discuss whether Adam Smith is a reason-oriented philosopher. This episode is jam-packed, so check it out!

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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, what the valid concerns are, and what the less valid concerns are. We talk about how "tech bros" are responding to AI fears and whether being optimistic for the future has a place in this discussion.

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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 choice thinking to a topic like international relations, and how it diverges and critiques the mainstream thought on this topic. He gives us examples and breaks down how this analysis can help US policy makers and citizens think about China. I ask him if he is optimistic or cynical about the future of US-China relations. His response might shock you, so tune in to find out!

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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 paternalists differ from classic paternalists and how this arose. We talk about the difficultly of knowing one’s own preferences and how important freedom and choice are to the discovery of the good life and how to obtain it.

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