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Russ Roberts – Our guest this week is the host of the extremely popular EconTalk podcast. In this episode talk economics, education, passion, and more! Although sometimes Economics can seem dry and boring, Russ has made a living out of making it understandable and bringing it to the masses.
Russell Roberts is the John and Jean De Nault Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He tries to make economics understandable to a general audience.
Roberts hosts the weekly podcast EconTalk–hour-long conversations with authors, economists, and business leaders. Past guests include Milton Friedman, Nassim Taleb, Christopher Hitchens, Jimmy Wales, Joseph Stiglitz, and John Bogle. EconTalk was named podcast of the year in the 2008 Weblog Awards.
His latest book is The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity.
” I believe the power of Economics is to help provide a unique lens for looking at the world.”
– Russ Roberts
Quotes from Russ:
[shadowbox]”Economics is about getting the most out of life. Life is about decisions and choices, and economics forces you to think about things like opportunity cost and various markets.”
“There are unseen forces in the world that push things in one direction or another. If you understand economics you can often see some of the machinery behind the scenes.”
“There are things out in the world that are orderly and are caused by human beings, but nobody ever planned them or designed them.”
“Like many industries or institutions, education is extremely clogged with habits, culture, and customs that may not be the best ones. Normally those businesses would disappear, but it’s not a very competitive environment, so there isn’t a lot of pressure to innovate.”[/shadowbox]
What we learn in this episode:
- How does economics play a role in our daily lives?
- What is spontaneous order? How is it explained by traffic?
- What does Russ believe is the problem with the modern American university?
- How did Russ get one of the coolest jobs on the planet?
Resources:
http://www.invisibleheart.com/
http://www.hoover.org/fellows/russell-roberts
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