Hayek Program Podcast

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Nava Ashraf delivers a keynote lecture at the 2024 Markets & Society conference, exploring the role of trust and institutions and focusing on female entrepreneurship in developing countries, particularly Zambia. Ashraf argues that trust, institutional fairness, and negotiation skills matter for gender equity and economic development.Nava Ashraf is a Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she is also the Co-Director of the STICERD Psychology and Economics Programme.Her research combines psychology and economics using both lab and field experiments to test insights from behavioral economics in the context of global development, particularly digging into health and educational services. Ashraf explores intrahousehold decision-making and gender norms in the areas of finance, fertility, and labor force participation. Her work examines thorny questions like the role of trust and power dynamics in institutions, how flour

On this episode, Jessica Carges chats with Catherine Pakaluk on her latest book, Hannah's Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth (2024). Pakaluk describes the economic consequences of dropping fertility rates, explores the reasons for why women choose to have children, explains how we can increase fertility rates, and more.Catherine Pakaluk is the Director of Political Economy and an Associate Professor at The Catholic University of America. Her primary areas of research include economics of education and religion, family studies and demography, Catholic social thought and political economy. If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you get your podcasts.Virtual Sentiments, a podcast series from the Hayek Program, is streaming. Subscribe today and listen to season three, releasing now!Follow the Hayek Program on Twitter: @HayekProgramLearn more about Academic & Student

On this special crossover episode, Ideas of India podcast host, Shruti Rajagopalan, interviews Christopher J. Coyne on the economics of conflict and peace, the history of the U.S. security state, the US intervention in Afghanistan, domestic consequences of militarism abroad, and much more!For the full length transcript and for more episodes like this, check out the Ideas of India podcast page.Shruti Rajagopalan is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center and a Fellow at the Classical Liberal Institute at New York University School of Law. She leads the India political economy research program and Emergent Ventures India at Mercatus and hosts the Ideas of India podcast.Christopher J. Coyne is Associate Director of the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, and Director of the Initiative for the Study of a Stable Peace (ISSP).If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the s

On this episode, Jordan Lofthouse chats with Zane Austin Willard about interdisciplinary scholarship and using political economy to study LGBTQ plus issues. Zane explains his academic background in economics and communication studies and discusses power dynamics, queer culture and Rupaul’s Drag Race, the paradox of visibility, and the strengths and weaknesses of polycentric governance explored through the #MeToo movement.Zane Austin Willard is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at the University of South Florida and Visiting Assistant Professor of Communication and Media Studies at The University of Tampa. Zane’s research and teaching interests are in critical cultural and media studies, surveillance studies, and queer theory and gender and sexuality studies. Zane is an alum of the Mercatus Don Lavoie Fellowship, Frédéric Bastiat Fellowship, and Elinor Ostrom Fellowship.If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're available on Apple Po

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Kwame Anthony Appiah delivers a keynote lecture at the 2023 Markets & Society conference, exploring the historical and philosophical complexities of cultural property. Using examples from classical literature, African history, and global museum debates, he critiques modern repatriation efforts for oversimplifying ownership claims. Appiah argues that the ownership and heritage of cultural artifacts are historically complex, traceable through ancestry, territory, and identity. This complexity often creates contradictions in restitution debates. Instead of a narrow focus on repatriation, Appiah advocates for a more nuanced, cosmopolitan approach to heritage and museum collections.Kwame Anthony Appiah is a Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University, the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy, and the University Center for Human Values Emeritus at Princeton University. He earned his BA and PhD from the University of Cambridge and has

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Deirdre McCloskey delivers a keynote lecture at the 2022 Markets & Society conference. She argues that the "great enrichment"—a 30-fold rise in global income per capita since 1776—was driven by liberal economic ideas that champion individual freedom and equality of permission. McCloskey also critiques government intervention, emphasizing the transformative power of removing barriers to foster innovation, prosperity, and human flourishing, and more.Deirdre McCloskey is a Distinguished Professor Emerita of Economics and of History and Professor of English and of Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. McCloskey is also a Distinguished Affiliated Fellow with the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She has published numerous books including Why Liberalism Works: How True Liberal Values Produce a Freer, More Equal, Prosperous World for All(2019) and her tril

Mikayla Novak chats with Giandomenica Becchio on her latest book, The Doctrine of the Separate Spheres in Political Economy and Economics: Gender Equality and Classical Liberalism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024). Together they discuss Becchio’s background and inspiration, the separated roles of men and women in the public and private spheres, and key thinkers in classical liberalism that studied feminist economics.Giandomenica Becchio is Professor of History of Economic Thought, Methodology of Economics, and the Theory of Entrepreneurship in the Department of Economic and Social Sciences, Statistics and Mathematics, ISOMAS, at the University of Torino, Italy. If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you get your podcasts.Virtual Sentiments, our other podcast series from the Hayek Program is streaming! Subscribe today and listen to seasons one and two, and keep an eye out for season three com

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke gives the opening keynote lecture at the 2022 Markets & Society conference. In this lecture, Boettke speaks on the importance of “relations before transactions”, emphasizes the impact of social interactions on economic activity and the role of trust, norms, and institutions, and highlights the insights of Adam Smith, F.A. Hayek, and Elinor Ostrom. Boettke explores the intersections between markets and society, opening the conference with a discussion of its theme.Peter Boettke is a Distinguished University Professor of Economics and Philosophy at George Mason University and Director of the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He has published numerous books including Money and the Rule of Law: Generality and Predictability in Monetary Institutions (2021), Living Economics: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (2012), and Challenging Institutional Analysis and Deve

Welcome back to the series, Perspectives on Peace, hosted by Chris Coyne. The first four episodes of this series will focus on The Legacy of Robert Higgs (Mercatus Center, 2024) and will feature a collection of short interviews with many of the chapter authors.This episode focuses on state power, peaceful cooperation, and the regime uncertainty of Robert Higgs, featuring authors Ed Stringham on “Two Paths toward Anarcho-pacifism: Lessons from Christianity and Modern Economics”, and Don Boudreaux on “Regime Uncertainty and Market Uncertainty.” In their conversations, the authors explain their motives for writing and summarize their respective chapters.Edward P. Stringham is the Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of American Business and Economic Enterprise at Trinity College. Ed is an alum of the Mercatus PhD Fellowship.Donald J. Boudreaux is a Senior Fellow at the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a Professor of Econom

Welcome back to the series, Perspectives on Peace, hosted by Chris Coyne. The first four episodes of this series will focus on The Legacy of Robert Higgs (Mercatus Center, 2024) and will feature a collection of short interviews with many of the chapter authors.This episode focuses on the military and health industrial complexes of Robert Higgs, featuring authors Nathan Goodman on “The Military-­Industrial Complex and the Militarization of Society”, Raymond March on “What About the Healthcare State? Robert Higgs's Contribution to Health Economics”, and Yuliya Yatsyshina on “The War Industry as Economic Cancer.” In their conversations, the authors share the impact Robert Higgs has had on their life and career and dive into a short summary of their respective chapters.Nathan P. Goodman is a Senior Research Fellow and Senior Fellow at the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Nathan is an alum of the Mercatus PhD Fellowship.

This is the last episode of a three-part miniseries on entangled political economy (EPE), hosted by Mikayla Novak. Entangled political economy is a sub-discipline of political economy that explicitly views individuals and the private and public sectors as being intertwined in overlapping exchange relationships along competitive and collaborative dimensions.On this episode, Mikayla Novak is joined by Marta Podemska-Mikluch who discusses her life in Poland under socialism, her time working alongside Richard Wagner, genuine versus parasitical entrepreneurship, dyad versus triad exchanges, the health care system, the future of analyzing rhetoric using AI, and more!Marta Podemska-Mikluch is the Schnell Family Chair in Econ-Capital Systems and Associate Professor in Business and Economics and Public Health at Gustavus Adolphus College. She is the Director of the Entangled Political Economy Research Network (EPERN).If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're a

Welcome back to the series, Perspectives on Peace, hosted by Chris Coyne. The first four episodes of this series will focus on The Legacy of Robert Higgs (Mercatus Center, 2024) and will feature a collection of short interviews with many of the chapter authors.This episode focuses on the Ratchet Effect of Robert Higgs, featuring authors Abigail Hall on “Ideology, Crisis, and the Ratchet Effect: Retrospect and Prospects”, Jayme Lemke on “The Origins and Persistence of Discriminatory Institutions and Ideologies”, and Anthony Gregory on “The History, Ideology, and Shape of Leviathan: Researching the American State's Ratchet Effect, Growth, and Transformation.” In their conversations, the authors share the impact Robert Higgs has had on their life and career and dive into a short summary of their respective chapters.Abigail R. Hall is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Tampa. Abby is an alum of the Mercatus PhD Fellowship.Jayme Lemke is a Senior Fellow with the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanc

Welcome to the series, Perspectives on Peace, hosted by Chris Coyne. The first four episodes of this series will focus on The Legacy of Robert Higgs (Mercatus, 2024) and will feature a collection of short interviews with many of the chapter authors.On this episode, Chris Coyne and Don Boudreaux discuss the life and legacy of Robert Higgs as featured in the newly published edited volume, The Legacy of Robert Higgs (Mercatus Center, 2024). Coyne and Boudreaux emphasize Higgs’ work as an economist and economic historian, especially his influence on understanding economic history and the relationship between markets and political systems.Boudreaux shares personal anecdotes about his friendship with Higgs and highlights the key works that have shaped Higgs' legacy, including Crisis and Leviathan and Competition and Coercion. They discuss his understanding of the 19th and 20th century American economy, his role in the development of “The Independent Review,” his arguments for maintaining skepticism about government

Welcome to the series, Women and Policy, where Jessica Carges interviews women who work on policy research related to women.On this episode, Jessica Carges chats with Courtney Joslin on contraceptive accessibility and women's healthcare. Courtney explains how geography, high costs, and shortages of healthcare workers increase the difficulty of accessing contraceptives, how new state-based policies may provide innovative solutions, and how increased access leads to higher education, increased earnings, and lower healthcare costs.Courtney Joslin is a Resident Fellow and Senior Manager of the Project for Women and Families at the R Street Institute. Her work covers a range of issues such as telehealth, birth control, and economic mobility policy. Most recently, Courtney was the policy analyst for the Johnson Center for Political Economy at Troy University, where she worked with legislators and scholars on economic issues in Alabama. Courtney is an alum of the Mercatus MA Fellowship.Learn more about Jessica Carge

Welcome to the series, Women and Policy, where Jessica Carges will interview women who work on policy research related to women.On this episode, Jessica Carges chats with Diana Thomas on why childcare is so expensive and what can we do to improve it. They discuss key points on how changes of regulation in the childcare industry impact women in the labor force.Diana Thomas is an Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute for Economic Inquiry at the Heider College of Business at Creighton University. A German native, she earned her Diploma in Business Administration from Fachhochschule Aachen and her BS in Finance from George Mason University. After gaining some experience as a junior portfolio manager at a mutual fund management company in Frankfurt, Germany, Dr. Thomas returned to George Mason University to complete her MA and PhD in Economics. Diana is an alum of the Mercatus PhD Fellowship.Listen to Diana's episode on the regressive effect of regulation.Learn more about Jessica Carges' w

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Nathan Goodman chats with Anthony Gregory on his latest book, New Deal Law and Order: How the War on Crime Built the Modern Liberal State. Most Americans remember the New Deal as the crucible of modern liberalism. But while it is most closely associated with Roosevelt’s efforts to end the Depression and provide social security for the elderly, we have failed to acknowledge one of its most enduring legacies: its war on crime. The book reassesses the political importance of the 1930s by highlighting the general crisis of lawlessness, arguing that the Roosevelt administration’s criminal justice policies transformed liberalism and the constitutional order. They also helped legitimate government itself, transcending the institutional, jurisdictional, partisan, racial, and social divisions that had previously frustrated national enforcement authority.Anthony Gregory is a Hoover Fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace at Stanford University. Anthon

Welcome back to the Environmental Economics series, hosted by Jordan Lofthouse. On this episode, Jordan converses with Mikayla Novak and Nathan Goodman on their paper, "Militarized Climate Planning: What is Left?", co-authored by Lofthouse, Novak and Goodman. Their paper is influenced by Don Lavoie's critiques of central planning laid out in his book, National Economic Planning: What is Left?, applied to today's issue of militarized climate planning or "war footing." Instead of using climate planning to solve climate change, they advocate for a peaceful, polycentric approach that is more adaptive to local knowledge. Mikayla Novak is senior fellow with the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the Associate Director of the Entangled Political Economy Research Network. Learn more about her work with EPERN here.Nathan Goodman is a senior research fellow and senior fellow at the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Ph

Welcome back to the Environmental Economics series, hosted by Jordan Lofthouse. On this episode, Jordan interviews Justus Enninga on the intersection of economics, environmentalism and urbanism. In this conversation, Justus speaks on his PPE beginnings spawned from his time spent in Southeast India as well as on Tocqueville, city planning, climate migration, agglomeration effects in cities, immigrant influxes, and more.Justus Enninga is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Economy at King’s College London, where his research focuses on the intersection of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) as well as on the question of how different institutional arrangements help citizens to adapt to environmental challenges. In addition to being a PhD candidate, he also works as a director at the Prometheus Institut, a classical liberal think tank in Berlin, as well as an economic policy editor for The Pioneer. He is an alum of the Mercatus Adam Smith Fellowship.Check out Jordan Lofthouse's work.If you like

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Bobbi Herzberg interviews Matt Mitchell on Certificate of Need (CON) laws, what change in healthcare looks like, and socialized healthcare. Matthew Mitchell is a Senior Affiliated Scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a Senior Fellow in the Centre for Economic Freedom at the Fraser Institute.Read Matt's book, co-authored with Peter Boettke, Applied Mainline Economics: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Public Policy and check out his work on the Realities of Socialism.If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you get your podcasts.Virtual Sentiments, our new podcast series from the Hayek Program is now streaming! Subscribe today and listen to seasons one and two!Follow the Hayek Program on Twitter: @HayekProgramLearn more about Academic & Student ProgramsFollow the Mercatus Center on Twitter: @mercatusCC Music: Tw

On this episode of the podcast, Peter Boettke interviews Chris Coyne on his latest book, How to Run Wars: A Confidential Playbook for the National Security Elite, co-authored with Abigail R. Hall. How to Run Wars provides a satirical take on the logistics and ethical considerations involved in conducting wars, drawing inspiration from Bruce Winton Knight's How to Run a War. Chris discusses his motivations for writing the book, its contents, and his research agenda.To learn more about Chris’s research that aims to better understand stable peace and conflict, check out his Initiative for the Study of a Stable Peace (ISSP).Christopher Coyne is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University, the associate director of the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and Director of the Initiative for the Study of a Stable Peace (ISSP) through the Hayek Program.If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and t