Words & Numbers

Some goods and services we choose to provide via the government (mail delivery). Some we choose to provide via markets (grocery stores). And some we choose to provide via government and markets working together (road construction), or via them working in competition (education). This week, Clark Neily joins us to compare and contrast publicly provided and privately provided goods and services. Get...

Periodically, the Congressional Budget Office forecasts federal debt, revenue, and spending. For decades, the CBO has underestimated the future debt. If we adjust CBO’s forecasts by their historical error, we get a clearer picture of where the federal government’s finances will be in the next decade. Interestingly, the debt is approaching a point not seen since the first decade of our history when...

The United States is poised to rack up a record trade deficit this year. Politicians and the media will make a big deal about this, but the truth is that trade deficits really don’t matter. Trade is simply an exchange. So long as it’s voluntary, by definition, both parties are better off. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com Show Your Support for Wor...

James and Ant offer a post-game discussion of the first Presidential debate. Unfortunately, “post-game” is the right word because, for as much as the left and right bicker, the two parties have become largely the same. Regardless of who wins, the government goes on doing the same things it has always done. Mostly what people do now is to root for their team, not out of principle, but because it’s...

We devote plenty of time to discussing things that the government does wrong. This week, we change gears as Clark Neily joins us to discuss things throughout history that the Supreme Court has done right. 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 Deaths...

Little by little, things appear to be getting back to normal following COVID and the lockdown. James and Ant discuss what the world will look like as we recover from COVID. 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 Emu Today and Tomorrow https://www.emu...

Roger Ver, founder of bitcoin.com joins us this week to discuss the emergence of cryptocurrency as the answer to the problem of inflated sovereign currencies. Widespread adoption of cryptocurrency will likely emerge at about the same time that the US dollar begins to lose its value to the inflation needed to fund the government’s insatiable appetite for debt. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coerc...

Andrew Heaton joins us to discuss comedy, politics, and that we can’t seem to laugh at ourselves anymore because our politics have become our religion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our response to COVID has imposed changes across the whole economy. One of the industries that is likely to bear the lion’s share of those changes is higher education. COVID policies are laying bare the fact that both students and administrators have come to regard college less as a place to obtain an education than as a place to obtain a four-year “experience.” Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Co...

Steve Horwitz is back with us this week to discuss the Great Depression. The story that’s commonly handed down in high school history courses doesn’t match what economists and historians have come to understand about it. The government’s response was less an exercise in macroeconomic policy than it was an exercise in social engineering. The lessons of what didn’t work and why are important to us a...

Todd Zywicki, Professor of Law at GMU and head of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s Task Force on Consumer Financial Law joins us to discuss the pros and cons of consumer protection and financial regulation. 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 H...

For two millenia, economics was a field of philosophy. Starting in the late 1800s, economists began to employ mathematical modeling in their thinking. The requirements of mathematical modeling have led modern economists to begin by assuming that humans behave in certain ways. This week, Steve Horwitz joins us to discuss Austrian economics, which is a school of thought that goes back to economics’...

In past episodes, we’ve discussed problems with policing including qualified immunity and the militarization of police. In this episode, we revisit the topic from the perspective of a former police officer. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! https://isi.org/books/cooperation-and-coercion/ Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Quick...

The Constitution leaves policing up to the states. There is no provision for a national police force. Yet, numerous federal policing bodies have emerged and now the federal government is employing them in Portland in a manner that is a disturbing reminder of other governments’ secret police forces. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! https://isi.org/books/cooperation-and-coercion/ Show...

Conspiracy theories arise in part from our penchant for seeking patterns in random events and in part from our need to feel in control - to be able to explain the inexplicable. Some conspiracy theories are amusing, some will fool even skeptics, and some are dangerous. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! https://isi.org/books/cooperation-and-coercion/ Show Your Support for Words & Nu...

The Founders established the three branches of government to provide checks on one another. But parties have come to supplant these institutions as the focus of loyalty for politicians. In this episode, we explore what the rise of parties means for our system of checks and balances. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! https://isi.org/books/cooperation-and-coercion/ Show Your Support for...

Rob McDonald returns for the second of a two-part series in which we discuss the Founding and his new book, The American Revolution. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! https://isi.org/books/cooperation-and-coercion/ Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Quick Hits Misunderstanding Research https://www.thecollegefix.com/scholar-forc...

Rob McDonald joins us this Fourth of July week for the first of a two-part series in which we discuss the Founding and his new book, The American Revolution. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! https://isi.org/books/cooperation-and-coercion/ Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Quick Hits 30 Hour Work Week? https://www.economist.co...

Clark Neily joins us to discuss policing, the origin and effect of qualified immunity, and what the courts have said about whether police have a duty to protect citizens. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! https://isi.org/books/cooperation-and-coercion/ Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Quick Hits Lottery Winners https://www.ms...

In this episode, we answer listener questions that we didn’t have time to cover in the previous listener special episode. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! https://isi.org/books/cooperation-and-coercion/ Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbers Quick Hits Deepfake https://www.forbes.com/sites/robtoews/2020/05/25/deepfakes-are-going-t...

Deficit Day - the hypothetical day on which the federal government’s tax revenues for the year run out - lands on June 21. Not only is that the earliest Deficit Day has fallen since World War II, the date will get revised to even earlier in the calendar if the government undertakes more stimulus spending. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The riots sweeping the country are the result of a perfect storm. It’s about racism, but more. It’s about police accountability, but more. It’s about too many people being out of work, but more. The first step to solving our problems is understanding that they are often more complicated than they appear. Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now! http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com Show Your...

In this episode, we answer listener questions. 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 Doordash https://themargins.substack.com/p/doordash-and-pizza-arbitrage Joe Biden https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/amazon-joe-biden-taxes Foolishness of the W...

In New York City, stop and frisk was controversial because it was a violation of the Fourth Amendment. As implemented, police would stop and frisk people without showing probable cause that the people were committing, or might be committing, a crime. The courts subsequently required that police demonstrate probable cause. But social distancing laws appear to be poised to take the place of stop and...

This week is part two of Stossel in the Classroom meets Words & Numbers. We continue the conversation with John Stossel about economics, politics, and society. 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 Peer to Peer Charging https://www.researchgate....