Political Economy with James Pethokoukis: Recent Episodes
The Ricochet Audio Network
Tune in each week as the American Enterprise Institute's James Pethokoukis interviews economists, business leaders, academics and others on the most important and interesting issues of the day. You can find all episodes at AEI, Ricochet, and wherever podcasts are downloaded, and look for follow-up transcripts and blog posts at aei.org/publication/blog.
You remember your fourth grade history textbook: The British Empire unfairly taxed the American colonies. Tea was dumped in the Boston Harbor. Colonists refused taxation without representation. Therefore, the American Revolution was driven by economics, right? Well, maybe not.
Today on Political Economy, I’m talking with Deirdre McCloskey about the core ideas that drove the Revolution. We explore American capitalism and the idea of equal opportunity as America grows closer to its 250th birthday.
Deirdre is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. She is also a distinguished professor emerita of economics and history at the University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as a professor emerita of English and communication. She is the author of some two dozen books, including the Bourgeois trilogy, and has a wonderful article, “Economic Causes and Consequences of the American Revolution,” published in AEI’s recent book, Capitalism and the American Revolution, part of our America at 250 series.
Today on Political Economy, I’m talking with Andrew Biggs on why policymakers, the media, and most Americans are convinced of a retirement crisis that Biggs argues . . . doesn’t exist. Andrew and I discuss why this misperception continues to persist, and where the real flaws are in the American retirement system.
Andrew is a senior fellow here at AEI where he researches Social Security reform, public and private sector compensation, and state and local government pensions.
Prior to AEI, Biggs was principal deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration. In 2005, he served as the associate director of the White House National Economic Council. He is also the author of the new book, The Real Retirement Crisis: Why (Almost) Everything You Know About the US Retirement System Is Wrong.
Today on Political Economy, I talk with Derek Scissors about what the Trump Administration’s newly-declared tariffs mean for US-China relations and what to make of today’s economic uncertainty.
Derek is a senior fellow here at AEI, where he focuses on US-Asia economic relations. He is the chief economist of the China Beige Book and previously served as a commissioner on the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He is also the author of the China Global Investment Tracker.
Today on Political Economy, I talk with Mark Warshawsky about the state of the Social Security system as we size up some of the reforms currently on the table.
The arc of human history is a story of economics. Social values, human behavior, and the defining events of history are all woven into this field that seeks to explain how and why societies prosper — and why they often don’t.
Today on Political Economy, I talk with Andrew Leigh about the economic lessons we miss in history class and what we gain from a basic understanding of how our economy works.
Leigh is a member of the Australian House of Representatives and serves as the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, and Treasury.
His 2024 book, HowEconomics Explains the World: A Short History of Humanity, is the latest of his 11 books on economics, leadership, and public policy.
Today on Political Economy, Michael Strain and I discuss the key challenges currently facing the American economy; namely, the growing debt burden, lingering inflation, the market response to tariffs, and general uncertainty.
Strain is the director of Economic Policy Studies and the Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy here at AEI. He has published dozens of articles in leading academic and policy journals in addition to his 2020 book, The American Dream is Not Dead. He is a professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor.
Energy, transportation, housing — pro-growth advocates from Washington to Silicon Valley are calling for a revival of American infrastructure. They say, “It’s time to build.”
One massive problem, however: decades of environmental regulation, such as the National Environmental Policy Act, have slowed these efforts to a snail’s pace, if not halted them altogether.
Today on Political Economy, I talk with James Coleman about the kinds of policy reforms need before we can build.
Coleman is a nonresident senior fellow here at AEI. Concurrently, he is also a scholar of energy law at the University of Minnesota, where he specializes in North American energy infrastructure, transport, and trade. He previously taught law at Southern Methodist University, the University of Calgary, and Harvard Law School.
The US government has acted as major contributor to science research since the mid-20th century, both in terms of broad basic research and targeted projects. As industrial policy has gained traction, especially during the Biden Administration, the distinction between industrial and science policy has become increasingly obscure. Hybrid policies like the CHIPS and Science Act have spurred continued debate surrounding role and value of federal funding for science research. Today on Political Economy, I talk to Tony Mills about American science policy past, present, and future.
Mills is a senior fellow here at AEI and director of the Center for Technology, Science, and Energy. He is also a senior fellow at the Pepperdine School of Public Policy and a scholar associate of the Society of Catholic Scientists. His new paper, “Recovering Science Policy,” explores the blurred lines between US industrial and science policy in today’s political landscape.
Computer chips are the driving force behind everything from smartphones and cars to military defense systems and artificial intelligence. Not only are they the essential element of modern digital infrastructure, they are a critical element in the global balance of power.
Taiwan is home to the most advanced and productive chip plants in the world, precariously placing the technology between Communist China and the democratic West. In today’s geopolitical landscape, control over semiconductor supply chains is more than just an economic issue; it’s a matter of national security. Today on Political Economy, I’m talking with Chris Miller, author of Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology.
Miller is a nonresident senior fellow here at AEI, where his research focuses on Russian foreign policy, politics, economics, as well as Eurasian geopolitics and the geopolitics of technology. He is an assistant professor of international history and co-director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is also the director of the Eurasia program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
Growth is good for everyone in an economy, but it is also inherently disruptive. Today on Political Economy, I talk to Glenn Hubbard about why fear of change can trap us in an economic zero-sum game, and how embracing the growing pains of innovation can free us from that scenario, making things better for everybody.
Hubbard is a nonresident senior fellow here at AEI, where he writes about a wide range of economic topics, from poverty to international finance. He is the former dean of Columbia Business School, and currently serves as the director of the Jerome A. Chazen Institute for Global Business.
The Biden administration has set ambitious goals to decrease US carbon emissions. Starting in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act granted clean energy tax credits to businesses in hopes of encouraging a greener economy.
Kyle and Shuting Pomerleau see a carbon tax as a superior approach. To offset any regressive effects, they propose a revenue swap, using the income from the tax to directly finance an expanded child tax credit. Today on Political Economy, I talk to the Pomerleaus about their innovative policy proposal, and why a carbon tax might be a powerful, multifaceted solution.
Shuting Pomerleau is the deputy director of climate policy at the Niskanen Center. She has previously worked at the Cato Institute and the American Council on Renewable Energy.
Kyle Pomerleau is a senior fellow at AEI, where he studies federal tax policy. He was previously chief economist and vice president of economic analysis at the Tax Foundation.
American families are getting smaller, even as parents spend more time parenting; and while quality of life has ostensibly gone up, our willingness to bring children into our abundant world has seemingly gone down. Economists try to pinpoint market explanations and propose policy solutions to the falling birthrate, but Tim Carney has a more basic explanation for our shrinking, stressed-out families. Today I talk with Carney about his recent book, Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be.
Carney is a senior fellow here at AEI, as well as a senior columnist at the Washington Examiner. In addition to Family Unfriendly, he is the author of Alienated America and The Big Ripoff.
In this episode of Political Economy, I sit down with economist Leah Boustan to explore the truth behind the prevailing narratives that surround America’s immigration policy debates. Are immigrants truly responsible for job loss among native-born Americans? Does immigration burden the US economy? And do today’s immigrants assimilate less rapidly than their predecessors? We’ll delve into those...
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Recent results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called “the nation’s report card,” reveal the dire state of American education. The pandemic hit students hard, but it also presents educators and policymakers with an opportunity to rethink our schools. To discuss that, I’ve brought my colleague Rick Hess back on Political Economy. Rick is a Senior Fellow and Director of...
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Professional sports teams love to ask local governments for public funds to build their stadiums. The teams claim these subsidies will “pay for themselves” through increased tourism and entertainment spending. But economists aren’t so sure. For decades, researchers have cast doubts on these claims, yet local governments continue to help wealthy owners with their construction costs.
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We often hear that health care in the United States is expensive, but what does that mean exactly? How can policymakers reform our healthcare system with a market-based approach? My colleague James C. Capretta, author of US Health Policy and Market Reforms: An Introduction, joins this episode of Political Economy to discuss those questions and more. James is a senior fellow and holds the Milton...
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At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, my AEI colleague Stan Veuger told me we needed to support firms until the US economy could rebound. Two and a half years later, how have we fared? Dr. Veuger is back to discuss our fiscal response to the pandemic, the Fed’s tricky task of cooling inflation without causing a recession, and more. Stan is a senior fellow in economic policy studies here at the...
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When voters and politicians discuss tax policy, the rates we have to pay and the revenue government will raise are front of mind. But what about the other economic effects of the tax code? Taxes can affect savings and investment, economic growth, and more. In this episode of Political Economy, I’m joined by Kyle Pomerleau, who is a senior fellow here at the American Enterprise Institute...
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Why has the American political scene seemed to be so irrational in the past several years? Economist and author Bryan Caplan says it all comes down to social desirability bias, the observation that people prefer what sounds good to what’s true. In this episode, Bryan returns to Political Economy to explain why free markets are so unpopular, what people really mean when they complain about Big Tech...
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Poverty was the norm for most of human history. Then, starting in Britain in the 18th century, economic growth took off. So what happened? Economists have theories about the origins of the Industrial Revolution, from geography to culture to institutions. In a new book, Mark Koyama and Jared Rubin assemble the literature to give readers a big-picture view of how the world went from poverty to...
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When you think of the future of clean energy, wind and solar might be the first things that come to mind. But when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, the need for alternative sources of power becomes apparent. From advanced geothermal to nuclear fusion, up-and-coming advancements may deliver a future of abundant, clean energy. One of the most ambitious ideas is space-based solar...
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When the topic of productivity growth comes up, a common retort is that productivity and pay have delinked, meaning all the gains of productivity growth go to the top while workers’ wages remain stagnant. So how well do productivity gains translate into higher wages? It’s an important question with implications for public policies designed to boost productivity growth. Today, I’m joined by Anna...
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The Federal Reserve recently announced a 75-basis-point rate hike — the largest since 1994 — in an attempt to curb inflation. The Fed’s aim is to thread the needle by cooling the economy just enough to rein in rising prices without inducing a recession. But will the Fed succeed, or is a recession on the horizon? And if an economic downturn is coming, how severe will it be?
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Moore’s law, which states that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles every two years, has fueled rapid computing gains since the mid-20th century. But will this law last forever? Today’s guest, Neil Thompson, thinks its end is near. I’ve invited Neil on the podcast to explain why Moore’s Law may be coming to an end and what that means for productivity growth and continued innovation.
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When America endeavors to tackle an ambitious project, we speak in terms of moonshots or a “Manhattan Project for X.” The assumption is that vast government resources, directed toward some objective, can yield results on the scale of the Moon landing or the atom bomb. But federal research funding is more complicated than throwing dollars at our problems. And with Congress poised to inject American...
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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 columnist at...
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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...
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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 brought on...
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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...
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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...
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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 book...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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.
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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...
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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, they say.
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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 life of...
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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 about the...
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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 prospects...
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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...
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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...
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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?
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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...
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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.
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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...
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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...
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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 to hold...
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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...
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The word “order” evokes images of top-down structure and planning. Yet, in the absence of central control, economies almost seem to operate like machines — a concept economists call “emergent order.” How do systems of order emerge? And how can we benefit from the unplanned organization they create? Today, Neil Chilson joins “Political Economy” to explain the concept of emergent order and describe...
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Futurists of the past dreamed of tapping into the heat of the Earth’s mantle to supply our energy needs, but today’s geothermal provides only a tiny fraction of the power we use. In today’s episode, we’ll be discussing what’s next for geothermal, its possible advantages over solar and wind power, and the obstacles it faces. I’m joined by Jamie Beard to answer those questions and more.
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“Fusion power is the energy source of the future . . . and always will be,” skeptics joke. But a series of exciting breakthroughs have some experts convinced that we’re nearing a fusion revolution that could deliver abundant, clean energy for the future. My guest today is Arthur Turrell, and we’ll be discussing whether fusion power reactors are on the horizon, the advantages fusion may have over...
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Americans love rags-to-riches stories, believing hard work and talent — not connections — should be rewarded. But meritocracy has come under scrutiny, with some questioning how well America lives up to its ideals, while others ask if they’re even worth striving for. In this episode, we’ll discuss whether meritocracy succeeds in pulling talent up from the bottom, or if the system has become rigged by the already rich and powerful. To answer those questions, I’ve brought on Adrian Wooldridge.
Adrian is the political editor and Bagehot columnist at The Economist. His latest book is The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World.
Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/political-economy-james-pethokoukis/adrian-wooldridge-defending-meritocracy/.
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In 2017, the US announced its intent to return to the Moon for the first time in a half-century. NASA and its international partners in the Artemis program hope to land a crewed lunar mission in 2024, but some experts have cast their doubts. So how did America achieve such a feat in the ’60s? And why haven’t we been back since the Nixon era? My guest today, Charles Fishman, answers these questions and more.
Charles is a journalist and author of One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission that Flew Us to the Moon as well as The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water, among other works.
Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/political-economy-james-pethokoukis/charles-fishman-was-the-apollo-program-a-failure/.
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In the past, great inventions like the internal combustion engine and electrification had huge economic and societal impacts. Today, computing power continues to advance at an exponential rate and artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize the future. But will these innovations transform American society? Or will pessimism and fear slow the pace of technological progress? My guest today is Azeem Azhar.
Azeem is an entrepreneur and investor, and the founder of Exponential View, where his podcast and newsletter deliver in-depth tech analysis. This month, Azeem released The Exponential Age: How Accelerating Technology is Transforming Business, Politics, and Society.
Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/political-economy-james-pethokoukis/azeem-azhar-the-age-of-exponential-technology/.
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What will the American city look like one generation from now? While cities have always been hubs of opportunity, urban landscapes have faced an onslaught of difficulties in recent years. Soaring costs of living, the economic downturn of a global pandemic, and a recent uptick in violent crime are straining America’s urban engines of productivity. And trends toward remote work have some wondering whether cities are over. What can cities do to meet these challenges? And how can we prepare for the next pandemic? To answer these questions and more, I’m joined by Edward Glaeser.
Ed is the Chairman of the Department of Economics at Harvard University and co-author with David Cutler of Survival of the City: Living and Thriving in an Age of Isolation, released this week.
Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/political-economy-james-pethokoukis/ed-glaeser-how-cities-can-thrive-in-a-post-covid-age/.
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Today local governments compete to host growing companies in the hope that the opportunities they create will revitalize their home cities. But how much do these urban areas benefit from local innovations? And what changes should we expect given recent increases in working from home? Nicholas Bloom joins the podcast to discuss these questions and more.
Nick is the William Eberle Professor of Economics at Stanford University. This summer he co-authored, along with Tarek Hassan, Aakash Kalyani, Josh Lerner, and Ahmed Tahoun, the working paper “The Diffusion of Disruptive Technologies.” In the spring, he and Jose Maria Berrero and Steven Davis released a working paper titled “Why Working from Home Will Stick.”
Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/political-economy-james-pethokoukis/nicholas-bloom-do-innovation-hubs-work/.
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July was an exciting month for space enthusiasts of all sorts. From Richard Branson’s suborbital flight to Jeff Bezos’ launch, the era of private space travel has truly arrived. SpaceX and Blue Origin may be making the headlines, but they are far from the only companies involved in the emerging space economy. And at the same time, NASA intends to continue manned missions to the Moon with its Artemis program.
In a recent event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, John Roth, Rich Boling, Mike Gold, and Matthew Weinzierl discussed the present and future of space commerce, from tourism to manufacturing and beyond.
John Roth serves as vice president of business development for Sierra Space, a subsidiary of the Sierra Nevada Corporation. Richard Boling is vice president of corporate advancement at Techshot. Mike Gold is executive vice president of civil space business development and external affairs at Redwire Space. And Matthew Weinzierl is the Joseph and Jacqueline Elbling Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.
Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/political-economy-james-pethokoukis/john-roth-rich-boling-michael-gold-matthew-weinzierl-the-space-economy/.
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To some, Amazon is a great business that brings opportunity to over a million employees and generates value for hundreds of millions of customers. To others, it’s a company that exploits its workers and destroys small businesses. Similarly, some see Jeff Bezos as a successful visionary, and they look forward to seeing him apply his talents to exploring outer space. Others consider Bezos to be a policy failure, just as they view every other billionaire. Today, I’m speaking with Brad Stone to discuss the accuracy of these perceptions. We’ll also discuss how these views affect Amazon, how Bezos himself has viewed the company during his tenure as CEO, and what the future may hold for this retail giant.
Brad is the senior executive editor for global technology at Bloomberg News, as well as a writer for Bloomberg Businessweek. He is also the author of four books, the most recent of which is Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire, released last May.
Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/political-economy-james-pethokoukis/brad-stone-the-age-of-amazon/.
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Health safety measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic have shaken the American economy. Long term staples like indoor dining have taken a hit, while new opportunities have emerged in contactless services, telecommunications, and ecommerce. Just how have America’s entrepreneurs responded to these challenges and opportunities? Today, I’ve brought in John Haltiwanger to discuss.
John is the Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland. Last year, he was awarded the Global Entrepreneurship Research Award for his statistical work in studying firm dynamics.
Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/political-economy-james-pethokoukis/john-haltiwanger-american-entrepreneurship-during-the-pandemic/.
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Rivaling even the death toll of COVID-19, opioid abuse has wreaked havoc in countless American communities. Some have suggested that these deaths are the result of an economy that left Americans behind and feeling trapped. In their desperation, they reached to oxycontin and fentanyl to cope with the insecurity of a global economy. But is this the full story? My guest today is Ed Glaeser, whose analysis offers a different account.
Ed is the Chairman of the Department of Economics at Harvard University and co-author with David Cutler of “When Innovation Goes Wrong: Technological Regress and the Opioid Epidemic.“
Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/political-economy-james-pethokoukis/ed-glaeser-did-capitalism-cause-the-opioid-epidemic/.
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Subscribe to Political Economy with James Pethokoukis in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.