Political Economy with Jim Pethokoukis

From job interviews to college admissions, identifying and allocating talent plays a big role in the modern economy. But what is talent? And how well can we pick it out from a quick conversation or a glance at a resume? Returning to  Political Economy  to answer those questions is Tyler Cowen. Tyler holds the Holbert L. Harris chair in economics at George Mason University. He’s a co...

In the field of economic history, the causes and consequences of the Industrial Revolution loom large. Competing theories point to the role of institutions, scientific achievements, and bourgeois ideas. Setting aside the origins of industrialization, another open question concerns the mechanisms by which modern economic growth emerged. To delve into that question, I've brought on W. Walker Hanlon,...

America's kids have been greatly affected by the pandemic, from canceled sports seasons to constant academic disruption. And at the same time, parents are caught up in bitter disputes over masking and critical race theory in schools. To get a better sense of the education challenges we face coming out of the pandemic, as well as the reforms that will help us meet those challenges, I've b...

Before Elon Musk was the world's wealthiest man, founder of a rocket company, and owner of Twitter, he was best known as one of the founders of PayPal. Other PayPal alumni went on to found companies like YouTube, Yelp, and LinkedIn. And the "don" of the PayPal Mafia, Peter Thiel, is now known for his political activism and contributions to Republican campaigns. So what can we learn about Musk and...

Last year, Facebook rebranded itself as Meta, signaling its shift from traditional social media to a big bet on the so-called metaverse. This network of 3D, online spaces is accessed through virtual reality headsets like Meta's Oculus and promises to revolutionize internet communications. But is there substance behind the hype, or is the metaverse just a fad? And if virtual reality worlds are here...

In the early 19th century, English textile workers calling themselves "Luddites" destroyed machinery in an effort to save their jobs from automation. And two centuries later, those who resist technological change are still called Luddites. In the 2020 book  The Fabric of Civilization , Virginia Postrel tells the history of textiles, including the Luddite movement. And in her 1998 bo...

When economists set out to measure economic growth and progress over time, one challenge is accounting for striking differences in the quality of goods. Computers, cell phones, and cars on the market today are not easily comparable to those available in 1990. But over the centuries, remarkably little has changed about the common construction nail. For that reason, today's guest explores American e...

Since the early days of the digital revolution, the San Francisco Bay area has played a key role from the rise of the microchip to today's software giants like Facebook and Google. But why has the tech sector remained so geographically concentrated for so long ⁠— and is that something government needs to fix? To answer that question and delve into the recent changes in the geography of the tech se...

Tech optimists promise that true artificial intelligence is just around the corner . . . and have been for half a century. So should we be skeptical of all the excitement surrounding so-called "deep learning" AI — or are we on the cusp of a revolution in artificial intelligence that will penetrate every aspect of modern life? And if the AI revolution really is coming, should we fear mass unemploym...

Most highly ambitious business ventures fail, but the ones that succeed can make billionaires of their early investors. Just look at the most valuable companies in the world today, many of which began as tech startups just a few decades ago. Venture capital firms, by providing early-stage financing for startups, have been conspicuous players in the rise of Silicon Valley since the beginning. But a...

The conventional narrative of American space exploration traces government efforts during the Cold War, with today's private efforts regarded as a recent phenomena riding on the coattails of NASA's achievements. But today's guest argues that private funding for space exploration goes back more than a century before Apollo. To get a better context for what's happening in space today, I've brought o...

Over the past half century, globalization and automation have pushed America's GDP higher and higher, but the gains haven't been distributed equally. Economic disruption has left behind manufacturing communities in the rust belt, leading some politicians on the right to question open, free market economics. We should build walls — physical and metaphorical — to protect American jobs, the...

When you think of startup companies advancing the state of technology, software is probably the first thing that comes to mind. But scientific breakthroughs are still coming in the world of atoms, and that's what venture capital firm Prime Movers Lab invests in. To give us a sense of their vision for the future, the VC firm put together a " Breakthrough Science Roadmap " to describe what a li...

In the 2016 election, Donald Trump campaigned on a message of nationalism and economic populism. Since then, some Republicans have warmed to industrial policy, trade restrictions, and trust-busting. The dynamic, global economy, populists claim, has enriched coastal elites while leaving "real" America behind. In this episode of "Political Economy," I'm joined by Ryan Streeter to chat abou...

Last summer, billionaires Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson competed to one-up each other's accomplishments in space flight while Elon Musk's SpaceX continued to make history with its reusable launches. But are all these efforts nothing more than wasteful vanity projects among the uberrich? I'm joined today by Robert Zubrin to talk about why the emergence of a private space economy and the prosp...

New discoveries, inventions, and innovations — ideas — are at the heart of scientific progress and economic growth. But that means a growing economy depends on an accelerating production of new ideas. In this week's episode of "Political Economy," I'm joined by Didier Sornette to talk about where these ideas come from, why they've been in decline, and what we can do to foster greater sci...

While the scientific community has reached a broad consensus about climate change and the warming planet, just how well does the general public understand this consensus? In this week's episode of the podcast, Steven E. Koonin is here to discuss what we know about climate change, what we don't, and how we should respond to the warming planet. Steve is a professor at New York University and a ...

When it comes to federal investment in research and development, failures like Solyndra are held up as evidence of wasteful government spending while success stories go largely unnoticed. But what kind of returns do we see on investments in scientific research by government? And should government funding emphasize basic or more practical, applied research? To answer those questions and more, I'm j...

NASA last launched astronauts into space with its final Space Shuttle mission in the summer of 2011. But, nine years later, a rocket built by SpaceX lifted off at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and carried two astronauts to the International Space Station. How did this private company, in less than 20 years, go from a fledgling startup to one of the biggest players in space? To answ...

When we think of infrastructure, roads and bridges are among the first things that come to mind. But over the past decade, massive investments in warehouse-scale data centers constitute a new kind of infrastructure build up. And that cloud computing infrastructure might be the beginning of a new economic revolution. My guest today is Mark Mills, and we'll be discussing the revolution in cloud...

De-extincted woolly mammoths, genetically engineered livestock, and transgenic crops: Are biologists opening a Pandora's box that will lead to the further destruction of the natural world? In this episode of "Political Economy," Beth Shapiro joins the podcast to discuss that question, explain the latest discoveries in synthetic biology, and explore the possibility of bio-engineered conservation. B...

On the heels of a summer of billionaire space flights and William Shatner's recent rocket trip, some Americans are echoing old arguments about the wastefulness of space exploration. Alongside this controversy, massive declines in launch costs and a burgeoning space economy have renewed interest in manned missions to the Moon and Mars. In today's episode of "Political Economy," John Logsd...

World's Fairs hosted in American cities, like Chicago in 1893 and New York in 1964, are remembered as odes to progress. The United States showcased its prowess on the world's stage and exhibitions awed visitors with the latest technological marvels. But America hasn't hosted a World's Fair in nearly 40 years. In this episode, Charles Pappas explores the impact the fairs once had, how they've...

The Biden administration is pushing forward its legislative agenda with the Build Back Better program, and Democrats have a number of tax proposals to pay for it. Looking to the largest corporations and the wealthiest Americans, congressional Democrats are constrained by President Biden's pledge not to raise taxes on Americans earning less than $400,000 a year. But will Democrats be able...

The COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted supply chains and disrupted the US economy. Production levels are back on track, but the labor force participation rate has remained stagnant since the summer of 2020. And millions of Americans are quitting their jobs in a labor market that was already facing a shortage of workers. What's going on with this "Great Resignation"? And should we brace ourselves fo...