The Curious Task

In Special Episode 2, Matt Bufton pointed to The Curious Task Episode 77 with James Tooley as one of his favourites. If you haven't had a chance to listen to it before, we hope you find it interesting. If you have, enjoy its re-release! References from The Curious Task Special Episode 3 with James Tooley The E. G. West Centre at Newcastle University is the namesake of economist E. G. West.  This p...

To celebrate reaching 100 episodes, host Alex Aragona, producer Sabine El-Chidiac, and executive producer Matt Bufton look back on the origins and growth of the podcast, some of their favourite episodes, and so much more in this very special bonus episode.  References from The Curious Task Special Episode 2 with Matt Bufton, Sabine El-Chidiac and Alex Aragona You can listen to Graeme Thompson disc...

In honour of Steve Horwitz (1964-2021), we are re-releasing his conversation with Alex Aragona on what drives progress — a topic near and dear to Steve's heart. References from The Curious Task Special Episode 1 with Steve Horwitz  Steve Horwitz is the author of Austrian Economics: An Introduction; Microfoundations and Macroeconomics: An Austrian Perspective; Monetary Evolution, Free Banking, and...

Tyler Cowen chats with Alex Aragona about all things food — great things to eat, where to find them, and how an economist gets lunch. References from The Curious Task Episode 100 with Tyler Cowen You can purchase An Economist Gets Lunch by Tyler Cowen from Amazon  here. You can read more from Tyler Cowen at the blog Marginal Revolution  here.  Find their course materials at Marginal Revolution Uni...

Alex Aragona peaks with Aeon Skoble as he outlines his ideas on what anarchism is, how we should think on it, and how it overlaps with classical liberal ideas. References from The Curious Task Episode 99 with Aeon Skoble Aeon Skoble is author of Deleting the State and editor of a collection of essays called The Simpsons and Philosophy. He has a chapter titled “What Is the Point of Anarchism” in Th...

Alex Aragona speaks with SmithTweeters Janet Bufton and Sarah Skwire as they describe what drew them to the idea of reading through all of The Wealth of Nations and providing an ongoing commentary on Twitter, and how Adam Smith's ideas remain relevant.  References from The Curious Task Episode 98 with Janet Bufton and Sarah Skwire Janet Bufton previously spoke on The Curious Task, which you can li...

Alex Aragona speaks with Anton Howes about when the sparks of innovation started in Britain, and what fanned the flames moving forward. References from The Curious Task Episode 97 with Anton Howes You can read more about the Age of Invention at the substack where Anton Howes writes about his ideas here . You can also find his working paper titled The Spread of Improvement  here. Deirdre McCloskey...

Bill Easterly tours some of the concepts from his book The Tyranny of Experts, and explores why technocrats imposing their own form of economic development on cultures and peoples can produce more harm than good. References from The Curious Task Episode 96 with Bill Easterly You can purchase a copy of The Tyranny of the Experts by Bill Easterly  here .  The End of Poverty by Jeff Sachs can be foun...

Alex Aragona speaks with Dennis Rasmussen about his findings on how the American Founding Fathers truly felt about the experiment they designed and built as time went on. References from The Curious Task Episode 95 with Dennis Rasmussen Dennis Rasmussen previously joined The Curious Task to speak about his book The Infidel and the Professor, and you can listen to that episode  here . The book disc...

Alex Aragona speaks with Graeme Thompson about the classical liberal tradition in Canada, and what the evolution of that tradition has looked like. References from The Curious Task Episode 94 with Graeme Thompson A collection of the speeches of Wilfred Laurier can be found in an edited edition by Arthur Milnes, available from Amazon  here. Macdonald Laurier and the Election of 1891 by Christopher...

Jacob Levy gives a tour of his thoughts on the conversations surrounding social justice, and how liberals might consider the topic from the perspective of social "injustice". References from The Curious Task Episode 93 with Jacob Levy You can listen to Jacob Levy’s other appearances on The Curious Task  here  and  here . Rationalism, Pluralism, and Freedom by Jacob T. Levy can be purchased from Am...

In honour of her birthday, Sandy Ikeda explores the ideas of Jane Jacobs and reflects on how her thinking on urban centres is still relevant today. References from The Curious Task Episode 92 with Sandy Ikeda You can listen to Sandy Ikeda discuss “Why Can’t a City Be a Work of Art?” on The Curious Task  here . A copy of Jane Jacob’s Death and Life of Great American Cities can be purchased from Ama...

Terence Kealey speaks about the history of state involvement in funding science and technology, and why it may not be as good or innovative of an idea as it may seem. References from The Curious Task Episode 91 with Terence Kealey You can purchase a copy of Sex Science and Profits by Terence Kealey on Amazon  here. The story of Katalin Karikó is explored in detail in  this article . Terence Kealey...

Alex Aragona speaks with Nick Cowen as he explores the current state of sex work regulation, and what approaches regulators could (and should) take when considering the increasing online landscape for these services. References from The Curious Task Episode 90 with Nick Cowen Nick Cowen is the author of Neoliberal Social Justice. You can read the first chapter of his book  here. Nick Cowen’s artic...

Alex Salter dives into Federal Reserve policies during the pandemic, what it got right and wrong, and what the lasting impacts will be. References from The Curious Task Episode 89 with Alex Salter Alex Salter is the co-author of Money and the Rule of Law along with Peter Boettke and Daniel Smith. His book can be purchased from Amazon  here. To read more about the Federal Reserve’s actions during t...

Dan and Sabine discuss their newest policy brief with the Mercatus Center, and what changes they'd like to see to Canadian and American immigration policy as it relates to movement between the two countries. References from The Curious Task Episode 88 with Dan Griswold & Sabine El-Chidiac The policy brief co-authored by Daniel Griswold and Sabine El-Chidiac titled “Deepen Us-Canada Ties with a...

Alex Aragona explores standard readings of Lockean property rights theories with Bas van der Vossen, and then explore Bas' idea on what might be missing from these traditional understandings and interpretations.  References from The Curious Task Episode 87 with Bas van der Vossen Bas van der Vossen explores the historical entitlement theory, including some of the points he included in his presenta...

Alex Aragona speaks with Matt Warner as he explores the dilemma that outsiders face when trying to do good for others, and why local knowledge is so important.  References from Episode 86 with Matt Warner Matt Warner is the author of, Poverty and Freedom: Case Studies on Global Economic Freedom, which can be purchased from Amazon Canada  here . Eric Beinhocker’s book, The Origin of Wealth, was men...

Alex Aragona speaks with Paul Robinson about whether Russia is trying to meddle with Western democracy, and if he thinks the recommended solutions might be worse than the alleged threat. References from Episode 85 with Paul Robinson You can listen to Paul Robinson speak about military intervention on The Curious Task Paul Robinson regularly writes on his blog Irrussianality, which you can read onl...

Alex Aragona speaks with Scott Scheall as he explores how the knowledge problem and other epistemological considerations must be considered before political incentives. References from Episode 84 with Scott Scheall Scott Scheall is the author of the book, F. A. Hayek and the Epistemology of Politics: The Curious Task of Economics, which can be purchased from Routledge  at this link . You can read...

Alex Aragona speaks with Shikha Dalmia about minority groups as defenders of rights and freedoms, and the North American libertarian movement during and after Donald Trump's presidency. References from Episode 83 with Shikha Dalmia You can read Shikha’s articles published at Reason Foundation  here  and her articles in The Week  here .  Here  are some statistics of the the share of votes for Donal...

Alex Aragona chats with Art Carden as he explains the kind of deal we need to make if we want to see great prosperity. References from Episode 82 with Art Carden Art Carden is the co-author of the book, Leave Me Alone and I’ll Make You Rich, with Deirdre McCloskey, which is available on Amazon Canada  at this link (Kindle Edition and Hardcover) . Art references Shylock from  The Merchant of Venice...

Alex Aragona speaks with Erik Kimbrough as he explores the role social norms, groups, and other factors play in our decision making processes. References from Episode 81 with Erik Kimbrough You can find a list of Erik’s work  here , or on  SSRN  and  RePEc  ( Erik Kimbrough ), some of which were quoted during this episode and formed the basis of discussion. These include Erik’s discussions on norm...

Alex Aragona chats with Ross Emmett and Steve Slivinski as they explore the policies that can hurt businesses, and their work on the Doing Business North America index. References from Episode 80 with Ross Emmett and Steve Slivinski Ross Emmett and Stephen Slivinski are directors of the Doing Business North America project. Their 2020 report forms the basis of this episode and can be found at thei...

Alex Aragona speaks with Peter Jaworski as he explores his definition of libertarianism, and how different kinds of morality can lead to certain conclusions about libertarian institutions. References from Episode 79 with Peter Jaworski Peter Jaworski is the co-author of the book, Markets without Limits: Moral Virtues and Commercial Interests, which is available for purchase on Amazon Canada  at th...