Michael Munger

The Answer Is Transaction Costs

Science EN ↓ 80 episodes

" The real price of everything is the toil and trouble of acquiring it." -Adam Smith (WoN, Bk I, Chapter 5) In which the Knower of Important Things shows how transaction costs explain literally everything. Plus TWEJ, and answers to letters. If YOU have questions, submit them to our email at taitc.email@gmail.com There are two kinds of episodes here: 1. For the most part, episodes June-August are weekly, short (

Author

Michael Munger

Episodes

Roads, Public Goods, and Focal Points 06.06.2023 26:04

Send us Fan Mail Episode 5: Notes and Sources Vaughn Baltzly, "Publicized Goods, or the Promiscuity of the Public Goods Argument." https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/economics-and-philosophy/article/abs/concerning-publicized-goods-or-the-promiscuity-of-the-public-goods-argument/DE16529B673600C47C22B59C87D198A9 Bruce Benson, "Are Roads Public Goods?" https://www.sprin...

Middlemen: From Mancgere to Amazon 30.05.2023 20:36

Send us Fan Mail Does Starbucks have surge pricing? What is a Mancgere? Should the Stomach go to the Wheat, or should the Wheat come to the Stomach? Plus, the TWEJ! Some things discussed this week: Michael Munger, "Market Makers or Parasites" https://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2009/Mungermiddlemen.html Frederic Bastiat, WHAT IS SEEN AND UNSEEN. https://www.econlib.org/book-chapters...

Propriety, Norms, and Traffic Congestion: Episode 3 23.05.2023 17:40

Send us Fan Mail The third episode for TAITC: First, we take up the question of traffic congestion. Then, does the transaction cost approach have a relationship with moral and ethical theory? Resources: Econtalk: Traffic https://www.econtalk.org/michael-munger-on-traffic/ Roger Congleton Book Solving Social Dilemmas Coase and Epstein: Intellectual Portrait Series, Liberty Fund John R. Commons, 1...

Exchange Takes "Place," and the Strange Case of Lettuce 16.05.2023 15:05

Send us Fan Mail Why would sellers go to a "place" where many others are also selling the same product? Wouldn't it better to go someplace off by yourself, so you can get the monopoly price? Well, the answer is that transactions"take place," meaning they require a context. Amazingly, it's better to go where all the other sellers are going, because of the problems of t...

TAITC: Episode 1 09.05.2023 9:28

Send us Fan Mail The introductory episode for TAITC: "The Answer is Transaction Costs!" The new weekly podcast from Duke University's Mike Munger ( http://michaelmunger.com ) If you have questions or comments, or want to suggest a future topic, email the show at taitc.email@gmail.com ! If you have questions or comments, or want to suggest a future topic, email the show at taitc.ema...