EconTalk is a weekly
podcast hosted by
professor Russell Roberts at
George Mason University. The talk consists of Roberts interviewing a guest—often a professional
economist--while discussing topics in economics. Each episode lasts roughly an hour, but it varies widely. The podcast is notable for its clear and thoughtful conversations about economics, and for its ability to bring the economic way of thinking to a vast range of subjects.
EconTalk is hosted by the Library of Economics and Liberty (sponsored by the Liberty Fund). The podcast received 2nd place awards in 2006 and 2007 in the Weblog Awards, followed by 1st place in 2008. Roberts has interviewed several Nobel Prize laureates on EconTalk.
Themes
Throughout the podcasts, Roberts puts emphasis on a running series of economic ideas, weaving them into the topic of the interview. Major themes include the way markets evolve, spontaneous order, and the division of labor. Guests often include authors of recently published books of current interest in economics. A few guests appear regularly and converse with Roberts about questions that arise in the press or in classrooms. Topics of interest to guests as well as topics suggested by commenters and listeners sometimes become extended themes in subsequent podcasts. Additional themes include the economics of sports, health, the law,
public choice, and education.
Spontaneous order
Roberts has a particular interest in
spontaneous order and related
Hayekian themes which emphasize the role and nature of knowledge. This often finds form in how societies organize themselves in not just economic but in social and political spheres as well. A running question Roberts poses to guests in this vein is how we should set out to describe this critical idea, as normal conversation rarely captures the essence of the idea.
The division of labor
Adam Smith's
division of labor plays a recurring role in the podcasts, particularly in how it contributes to the creation of wealth. These increases in productivity are notably striking and often appear in conversations concerning trade, growth, and technology.
The future
Roberts sometimes asks his guests if they are optimistic about the future, particularly at the end of the interview. Guests occasionally speculate on what may evolve in the long run.
Controversial topics
Invited guests sometimes include controversial authors or areas of discussion in economics where there is current disagreement. Authors on opposing sides of an economic debate are invited to present their perspectives and are challenged with ideas on the opposing side.
Episode list
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2006
March
Don Cox on The Economics of Parenting (3/16)
April
Mike Munger on Ticket Scalping and Opportunity Cost (4/10)
Skip Sauer on The Economics of Sports (4/18)
May
Don Cox on The Economics of Inheritance (5/4)
Alex Tabarrok on The Economics of Medical Malpractice (5/30)
June
Richard Epstein on The Economics of Organ Donations (6/5)
Russ Roberts on Intermittent Explosive Disorder: Mental Illness or Made-Up Malady? (6/16)
Mike Munger on Giving Away Money: An Economist's Guide to Political Life (6/23)
July
Gary Becker* (7/10)
Robert Barro on Growth (7/17)
Eric Hanushek on Making Schools Better (7/24)
John Cogan on Improving the health care system (7/31)
August
Chris Anderson on The Long Tail (8/07)
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita on The Political Economy of Power (8/14)
Milton Friedman* on Money (8/28)
September
Milton Friedman* on Capitalism and Freedom (9/4)
Richard Epstein on Legislators v. Wal-Mart (9/11)
Edward Glaeser on the Economics of Paternalism (9/18)
Darius Lakdawalla on the Economics of Obesity (9/25)
October
Mike Munger on Private v. Public Risk-Taking (10/3)
Larry Iannaccone on the Economics of Religion (10/9)
Walter E. Williams on Life, Liberty, and Economics (10/16)
Skip Sauer on the Economics of (10/23)
Clint Bolick on Judicial Activism (10/31)
November
Richard Thaler on Libertarian Parentalism (11/6)
Sam Peltzman on Regulation (11/13)
Stanley Engerman on Slavery (11/20)
Virginia Postrel on Style (11/27)
December
Bryan Caplan on Discrimination and Labor Markets (12/4)
Donald Boudreaux on Law, Legislation and Liberty (12/11)
Pete Boettke on Katrina and the Economics of Disaster (12/18)
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2007
January
Mike Munger on Price Gouging (1/8)
Bruce Yandle on the Bootleggers and Baptists (1/15)
Greg Mankiw on Gasoline Taxes, Keynes and Macroeconomics (1/22)
Michael Lewis on the Hidden Economics of Baseball and Football (1/29)
February
Robert Lucas, Jr.* on Growth and Poverty (2/5)
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita on Democracies and Dictatorships (2/12)
Richard Epstein on property rights and drug patents (2/19)
Viviana Zelizer on Money and Intimacy (2/26)
March
Gregg Easterbrook on the American standard of living (3/5)
Tyler Cowen on Liberty, Art, Food and Everything Else in Between (3/12)
David Leonhardt on the Media (3/19)
Kevin Kelly on the Future of the Web and Everything Else (3/26)
April
Mike Munger on the Division of Labor (4/2)
John C. Bogle on Investing (4/9)
Donald Boudreaux on Buying Local (4/16)
Alvin Rabushka on the Flat Tax (4/23)
Nassim Taleb on Black Swans (4/30)
May
John Allison on Strategy, Profits, and Self-Interest (5/7)
Cass Sunstein on Infotopia, Information and Decision-Making (5/14)
Vernon L. Smith* on Markets and Experimental Economics (5/21)
Robin Hanson on Health (5/28)
June
Amity Shlaes on the Great Depression (6/4)
Daniel H. Pink on A Whole New Mind (6/11)
David Weinberger on Everything is Miscellaneous and the Wonderful World of Digital Information (6/18)
Bryan Caplan on the Myth of the Rational Voter (6/25)
July
Mike Munger on Recycling (7/2)
Ed Leamer on Outsourcing and Globalization (7/9)
Ticket Prices and Scalping (7/16)
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita on Reagan, Yeltsin, and the Strategy of Political Campaigning (7/23)
David R Henderson on Disagreeable Economists (7/30)
August
Eric Hanushek on Educational Quality and Economic Growth (8/7)
Barry Weingast on Violence, Power and a Theory of Nearly Everything (8/13)
Deborah Gordon on Ants, Humans, the Division of Labor and Emergent Order (8/20)
Paul Romer on Growth (8/27)
September
George Schultz on Economics, Human Rights and the Fall of the Soviet Union (9/3)
Tyler Cowen on Your Inner Economist (9/10)
Richard Epstein on Property rights, Zoning and Kelo (9/17)
Mike Munger and Russ Roberts on Recycling, Peak Oil and Steroids (9/24)
October
Don Boudreaux on Market Failure, Government failure and the Economics of Antitrust Regulation (10/1)
Thomas McCraw on Schumpeter, Innovation, and Creative Destruction (10/8)
Robert Frank on Economics Education and The Economic Naturalist (10/15)
Ian Ayres on Super Crunchers and the Power of Data (10/22)
Bruce Yandle on the Tragedy of the Commons and the Implications for Environmental Regulation (10/29)
November
Arnold Kling on the Economics of Health Care and The Crisis of Abundance (11/5)
Joel Waldfogel on Markets, Choice, and The Tyranny of the Market (11/12)
Henry Aaron on Health Care Costs (11/15)
Cass Sunstein on Worst-case Scenarios (11/19)
Daniel Botkin on Nature, the Environment and Global Warming (11/26)
December
Mike Munger on Fair Trade and Free Trade (12/3)
Pete Boettke on Austrian Economics (12/10)
Karol Boudreaux on Property rights and Incentives in Africa (12/17)
William Duggan on Strategic Intuition (12/24)
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2008
January
Edward Castronova on the Exodus to the Virtual World (1/7)
Mike Munger on the Nature of the Firm (1/14)
Don Boudreaux on Globalization and Trade Deficits (1/21)
Paul Collier on the Bottom Billion (1/28)
February
Daniel B. Klein on Coordination and Cooperation (2/4)
William Easterly on Growth, Poverty, and Aid (2/11)
Timothy Brook on Vermeer's Hat and the Dawn of Global Trade (2/18)
Thomas Sowell on Economic Facts and Fallacies (2/25)
March
Vernon L. Smith* on Rationality in Economics (3/3)
Stephen Marglin on Markets and Community (3/10)
Tyler Cowen on Monetary Policy (3/17)
Mike Munger on Subsidies and Externalities (3/25)
Deirdre McCloskey on Capitalism and the Bourgeois Virtues (3/31)
April
Christopher Coyne on Exporting Democracy after War (4/7)
Diane Coyle on the Soulful Science (4/14)
Russ Roberts on the Least Pleasant Jobs (4/21)
William Bernstein on the History of Trade (4/28)
May
John Nye on Wine, War and Trade (5/5)
Chris Anderson on
Free (5/12)
Allan Meltzer on the Fed, Money, and Gold (5/19)
Robin Hanson on Signalling (5/26)
June
Gene Epstein on Gold, the Fed, and Money (6/2)
Steve Cole on the market for new cars (6/9)
Don Boudreaux on Energy Prices (6/16)
Richard McKenzie on Prices (6/23)
Arnold Kling on Hospitals and Health Care (6/30)
July
Michael Munger on the Political Economy of Public Transportation (7/7)
Eric Hanushek on Education and School Finance (7/14)
Doug Rivers on polling (7/21)
Hal Varian on Technology (7/28)
August
Robert Barro on Disasters (8/4)
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita on Iran and Threats to U.S. Security (8/11)
John Taylor on Monetary Policy (8/18)
Russell Roberts on The Price of Everything (8/25)
September
Jonathan Rauch on the Volt, Risk, and Corporate Culture (9/1)
Joseph Ellis on American Creation and the Founding (9/8)
Robert Shiller on Housing and Bubbles (9/15)
Karol Boudreaux on Wildlife, Property, and Poverty in Africa (9/22)
Arnold Kling on Freddie and Fannie and the Recent History of the U.S. Housing Market (9/29)
October
William Bernstein on Inequality (10/6)
Patri Friedman on Seasteading (10/13)
Clay Shirky on Coase, Collaboration and Here Comes Everybody (10/20)
Mike Munger on Middlemen (10/27)
November
Richard Epstein on Happiness, Inequality, and Envy (11/3)
Arnold Kling on Credit Default Swaps, Counterparty Risk, and the Political Economy of Financial Regulation (11/10)
George Selgin on Free Banking (11/17)
Thomas Hazlett on Telecommunications(11/24)
December
Eric Rauchway on the Great Depression and the New Deal (12/1)
Steven Lipstein on Hospitals (12/8)
Robert Higgs on the Great Depression (12/15)
George Srour on Education, African Schools, and Building Tomorrow (12/22)
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2009
January
Pete Boettke on the Austrian Perspective on Business Cycles and Monetary Policy (01/05)
Steve Fazzari on Keynesian Economics (01/12)
Eric Raymond on Hacking, Open Source, and the Cathedral and the Bazaar (01/19)
Russ Roberts on Truth and Economics (with Robin Hanson as host) (01/26)
February
John Cochrane on the Financial Crisis (02/02)
Daron Acemoglu on the Financial Crisis (02/09)
Amar Bhide on Outsourcing, Uncertainty, and the Venturesome Economy (02/16)
Allan Meltzer on Inflation (02/23)
March
Todd Zywicki on Debt and Bankruptcy (03/02)
Jimmy Wales on Wikipedia (03/09)
Dan Klein on Truth, Bias, and Disagreement (03/16)
Nassim Taleb on the Financial Crisis (03/23)
Brink Lindsey on the Age of Abundance (03/30)
April
Daniel Klein on The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Episode 1—An Overview (4/06)
Don Boudreaux on Macroeconomics and Austrian Business Cycle Theory (4/13)
Daniel Klein on The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Episode 2—A Discussion of Part I (4/15)
Russ Roberts on Wealth, Growth, and Economics as a Science (4/20)
Daniel Klein on The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Episode 3—A Discussion of Part II (4/22)
Ricardo Reis on Keynes, Macroeconomics, and Monetary Policy (4/27)
Daniel Klein on The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Episode 4—A Discussion of Part III (4/29)
May
Ed Leamer on Macroeconomic Patterns and Stories (5/04)
Alan Wolfe on Liberalism (5/11)
Daniel Klein on The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Episode 5—A Discussion of Parts III (cont.), IV, and V (5/13)
Michele Boldrin on Intellectual Property (5/18)
Peter Leeson on Pirates and The Invisible Hook (5/25)
Daniel B. Klein on The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Episode 6—A Discussion of Parts VI and VII, and Summary (5/27)
June
Richard Epstein on the Rule of Law (6/01)
Riccardo Rebonato on Risk Management and the Crisis (6/08)
Charles Platt on Working at Wal-Mart (6/15)
Micheal Munger on Franchising, Vertical Integration, and the Auto Industry (6/22)
Mark Helprin on Copyright (6/29)
July
Paul Collier on Democracy and Violence (7/6)
Justin Fox on the Rationality of Markets (7/13)
John Taylor on the Financial Crisis (7/20)
Peter Henry on Growth, Development, and Policy (7/27)
August
Paul Graham on Start-ups, Innovation, and Creativity (8/3)
Eric Hanushek on Test-based Accountability, Federal Funding, and School Finance (8/10)
Christopher Hitchens on Orwell (8/17)
David Brady on Health Care Reform, Public Opinion, and Party Politics (8/24)
Mike Munger on Cultural Norms (8/31)
September
Tyler Cowen on Culture, Autism, and Creating Your Own Economy (9/7)
John Nye on the Great Depression, Political Economy, and the Evolution of the State (9/14)
Paul Buchheit on Google, Friendfeed, and Start-ups (9/21)
William Cohan on the Life and Death of Bear Stearns (9/28)
October
Gary Stern on Too Big to Fail (10/5)
Daniel Willingham on Education, School, and Neuroscience (10/12)
Mike Munger on Shortages, Prices, and Competition (10/19)
Charles Calomiris on the Financial Crisis (10/26)
November
Michael Heller on Gridlock and the Tragedy of the Anticommons (11/2)
Scott Sumner on Monetary Policy (11/9)
Richard Posner on the Financial Crisis (11/16)
Carmen Reinhart on Financial Crises (11/23)
Peter Boettke on Elinor Ostrom, Vincent Ostrom, and the Bloomington School (11/30)
December
Megan McArdle on Debt and Self-Restraint (12/7)
Arnold Kling on Prosperity, Poverty, and Economics 2.0 (12/14)
James Hamilton on Debt, Default, and Oil (12/21)
Clifford Winston on Market Failure and Government Failure (12/28)
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2010
January
Thomas Rustici on Smoot-Hawley and the Great Depression (1/4)
Michael Belongia on the Fed (1/11)
Mike Munger on Many Things (1/18)
Michael Spence on Growth (1/25)
February
Lawrence White on Hayek and Money (2/1)
Russ Roberts on Smith, Ricardo, and Trade (2/8)
Edmund Phelps* on Unemployment and the State of Macroeconomics (2/15)
Garett Jones on Macro and Twitter (2/22)
March
Barry Ritholtz on Bailouts, the Fed, and the Crisis (3/1)
Katherine Newman on Low-wage Workers (3/8)
Don Boudreaux on Public Choice (3/15)
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* denotes a
Nobel Prize winner.
References
External links
EconTalk home page
Archives page
Category:Audio podcasts
Category:Economics websites
