Podcast appearances and mentions of gordon tullock

She's an economist, an institution-builder, an ecosystem-nurturer and one of our finest thinkers. Shruti Rajagopalan joins Amit Varma in episode 410 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her life & times -- and her remarkable work. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Shruti Rajagopalan on Twitter, Substack, Instagram, her podcast, Ideas of India and her own website. 2. Emergent Ventures India. 3. The 1991 Project. 4. Life Lessons That Are Priceless -- Episodes 400 of The Seen and the Unseen. 5. Other episodes of The Seen and the Unseen w Shruti Rajagopalan, in reverse chronological order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. 6. The Day Ryan Started Masturbating -- Amit Varma's newsletter post explaining Shruti Rajagopalan's swimming pool analogy for social science research. 7. A Deep Dive Into Education -- Episode 54 of Everything is Everything. 8. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 9. Population Is Not a Problem, but Our Greatest Strength -- Amit Varma. 10. Our Population Is Our Greatest Asset -- Episode 20 of Everything is Everything. 11. Where Has All the Education Gone? -- Lant Pritchett. 12. Lant Pritchett Is on Team Prosperity — Episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen. 13. The Theory of Moral Sentiments — Adam Smith. 14. The Wealth of Nations — Adam Smith. 15. Commanding Heights -- Daniel Yergin. 16. Capitalism and Freedom -- Milton Friedman. 17. Free to Choose -- Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman. 18. Economics in One Lesson -- Henry Hazlitt. 19. The Road to Serfdom -- Friedrich Hayek. 20. Four Papers That Changed the World -- Episode 41 of Everything is Everything. 21. The Use of Knowledge in Society -- Friedrich Hayek. 22. Individualism and Economic Order -- Friedrich Hayek. 23. Understanding the State -- Episode 25 of Everything is Everything.  24. Richard E Wagner at Mercatus and Amazon. 25. Larry White and the First Principles of Money -- Episode 397 of The Seen and the Unseen. 26. Fixing the Knowledge Society -- Episode 24 of Everything is Everything. 27. Marginal Revolution. 28. Paul Graham's essays. 29. Commands and controls: Planning for indian industrial development, 1951–1990 -- Rakesh Mohan and Vandana Aggarwal. 30. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything. 31. India: Planning for Industrialization -- Jagdish Bhagwati and Padma Desai. 32. Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration -- Bryan Caplan and Zach Weinersmith. 33. Cows on India Uncut. 34. Abdul Karim Khan on Spotify and YouTube. 35. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything. 36. Objects From Our Past -- Episode 77 of Everything is Everything. 37. Sriya Iyer on the Economics of Religion -- The Ideas of India Podcast. 38. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ramachandra Guha: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 39. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Pratap Bhanu Mehta: 1, 2. 40. Rohit Lamba Reimagines India's Economic Policy Emphasis -- The Ideas of India Podcast. 41. Rohit Lamba Will Never Be Bezubaan — Episode 378 of The Seen and the Unseen. 42. The Constitutional Law and Philosophy blog. 43. Cost and Choice -- James Buchanan. 44. Philip Wicksteed. 45. Pratap Bhanu Mehta on The Theory of Moral Sentiments -- The Ideas of India Podcast. 46. Conversation and Society — Episode 182 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Russ Roberts). 47. The Common Sense of Political Economy -- Philip Wicksteed. 48. Narendra Shenoy and Mr Narendra Shenoy — Episode 250 of The Seen and the Unseen. 49. Sudhir Sarnobat Works to Understand the World — Episode 350 of The Seen and the Unseen. 50. Manmohan Singh: India's Finest Talent Scout -- Shruti Rajagopalan. 51. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 52. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen. 53. The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao — Episode 283 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 54. India's Massive Pensions Crisis — Episode 347 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah & Renuka Sane). 55. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan — Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen. 56. Breaking Through — Isher Judge Ahluwalia. 57. Breaking Out — Padma Desai. 58. Perestroika in Perspective -- Padma Desai. 59. Shephali Bhatt Is Searching for the Incredible — Episode 391 of The Seen and the Unseen. 60. Pics from the Seen-Unseen party. 61. Pramod Varma on India's Digital Empowerment -- Episode 50 of Brave New World. 59. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha Is the Impartial Spectator — Episode 388 of The Seen and the Unseen. 60. Our Parliament and Our Democracy — Episode 253 of The Seen and the Unseen (w MR Madhavan). 61. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Pranay Kotasthane: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. 62. The Overton Window. 63. When Ideas Have Sex -- Matt Ridley. 64. The Three Languages of Politics — Arnold Kling. 65. Arnold Kling and the Four Languages of Politics -- Episode 394 of The Seen and the Unseen. 66. The Double ‘Thank You' Moment — John Stossel. 67. Economic growth is enough and only economic growth is enough — Lant Pritchett with Addison Lewis. 68. What is Libertarianism? — Episode 117 of The Seen and the Unseen (w David Boaz). 69. What Does It Mean to Be Libertarian? — Episode 64 of The Seen and the Unseen. 70. The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom -- David Boaz. 71. Publish and Perish — Agnes Callard. 72. Classical Liberal Institute. 73. Shruti Rajagopalan's YouTube talk on constitutional amendments. 74. What I, as a development economist, have been actively “for” -- Lant Pritchett. 75. Can Economics Become More Reflexive? — Vijayendra Rao. 76. Premature Imitation and India's Flailing State — Shruti Rajagopalan & Alexander Tabarrok. 77. Elite Imitation in Public Policy — Episode 180 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok). 78. Invisible Infrastructure -- Episode 82 of Everything is Everything. 79. The Sundara Kanda. 80. Devdutt Pattanaik and the Stories That Shape Us -- Episode 404 of The Seen and the Unseen. 81. Y Combinator. 82. Space Fields. 83. Apoorwa Masuk, Onkar Singh Batra, Naman Pushp, Angad Daryani, Deepak VS and Srijon Sarkar. 84. Deepak VS and the Man Behind His Face — Episode 373 of The Seen and the Unseen. 85. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away -- The Beatles. 86. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen. 87. Data For India -- Rukmini S's startup. 88. Whole Numbers And Half Truths — Rukmini S. 89. The Moving Curve — Rukmini S's Covid podcast, also on all podcast apps. 90. The Importance of Data Journalism — Episode 196 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rukmini S). 91. Rukmini Sees India's Multitudes — Episode 261 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rukmini S). 92. Prosperiti. 93. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin. 94. The Dilemma of an Indian Liberal -- Gurcharan Das. 95. Zakir: 1951-2024 -- Shruti Rajagopalan. 96. Dazzling Blue -- Paul Simon, featuring Karaikudi R Mani. 97. John Coltrane, Shakti, Zakir Hussain, Ali Akbar Khan, Pannalal Ghosh, Nikhil Banerjee, Vilayat Khan, Bismillah Khan, Ravi Shankar, Bhimsen Joshi, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Esperanza Spalding, MS Subbulakshmi, Lalgudi Jayaraman, TN Krishnan, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Ranjani-Gayatri and TM Krishna on Spotify. 98. James Buchanan, Gordon Tullock, Israel Kirzner, Mario Rizzo, Vernon Smith, Thomas Schelling and Ronald Coase. 99. The Calculus of Consent -- James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock. 100. Tim Harford and Martin Wolf. 101. The Shawshank Redemption -- Frank Darabont. 102. The Marriage of Figaro in The Shawshank Redemption. 103. An Equal Music -- Vikram Seth. 104. Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 - Zubin Mehta and the Belgrade Philharmonic. 105. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's violin concertos. 106. Animal Farm -- George Orwell. 107. Down and Out in Paris and London -- George Orwell. 108. Gulliver's Travels -- Jonathan Swift. 109. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass -- Lewis Carroll. 110. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. 111. The Gulag Archipelago -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. 112. Khosla Ka Ghosla -- Dibakar Banerjee. 113. Mr India -- Shekhar Kapur. 114. Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi -- Satyen Bose. 114. Finding Nemo -- Andrew Stanton. 115. Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny. 116. Michael Madana Kama Rajan -- Singeetam Srinivasa Rao. 117. The Music Box, with Laurel and Hardy. 118. The Disciple -- Chaitanya Tamhane. 119. Court -- Chaitanya Tamhane. 120. Dwarkesh Patel on YouTube. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free! Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Learn' by Simahina.

Send us a textWhat if transaction costs could shape entire political and economic systems? Join us for an insightful discussion with Shruti Rajagopalan, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, as she takes us through her fascinating journey from the University of Delhi to George Mason University. Her research on India's economic liberalization shaped her understanding of economics and public choice theory, and now she is looking at the Indian Constitution as a subject of study. She shares how India's socialist elements and frequent amendments navigate the balance between democracy and central planning.Explore the contrasting worlds of constitutional amendments in the United States and India, where transaction costs play a pivotal role. We unravel the philosophical differences in how these two nations interpret their constitutions, impacting citizens' rights and governance in uniquely distinct ways. Through metaphors like the Ship of Theseus, we evaluate the stability and adaptability of these constitutions, shedding light on how they sustain their respective democratic frameworks amid evolving societal needs.Adding a dose of humor, we recount a satirical tale of international contractors bidding for a White House fence and explore the complexities of voting systems influenced by transaction costs. The episode takes a reflective turn as we discuss Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs, highlighting themes of personal sacrifice and political intricacies. This conversation promises to enrich your understanding of how economics, law, and political systems intricately intertwine, offering both serious insights and light-hearted moments to ponder.Links:Dr. Shruti Rajagopalan's web site at Mercatus and her personal web siteDr. Rajagopalan's podcast, "Ideas of India" and publicationsBook o'da'month: U.S. Grant, Personal Memoirs, Modern Library, 1999. A note on the TWEJ: Some listeners may find the joke racist. But in fact each of the three stereotypes captures a kind of "excellence," though the three kinds of excellence might not all be equally socially admirable. Gordon Tullock, who was discussed in this episode, made some observations about corruption that are worth keeping in mind: Western nations abhor, or pretend to abhor, corruption, though in fact there is plenty of it in the West. Tullock's point was that, in a nation with dysfunctional institutions, corruption can be efficiency enhancing. Institutions matter. The point is not that Germans are inherently organized and methodical, nor that Mexicans are inherently hard-working and efficient, and certainly not that Indians are all corrupt. But the political and economic systems of those nations create a setting where such actions are "rational," and even expected.  I wrote a piece for Public Choice on Tullock's insight, and the problem of India, and that's why I enjoyed this joke!If you have questions or comments, or want to suggest a future topic, email the show at taitc.email@gmail.com ! You can follow Mike Munger on Twitter at @mungowitz

Send us a Text Message.Sandra Peart is a Distinguished Professor of Leadership Studies and the President of the Jepson Scholars Foundation at the University of Richmond, as well as a coauthor of Towards an Economics of Natural Equals: A Documentary History of the Early Virginia School, with David Levy. She is also a distinguished fellow of the history of economics society. Today we talk about the importance of humility in discussing important ideas in addition to the importance of asking the right questions, ethical questions. She leads us through the intellectual landscape of the 60s, post World War II, and the birth of the Virginia School of Economics, which was intent on asking important questions about humanity and the nature of equality. We talk about James Buchanan, Warren Nutter, Gordon Tullock, and their influences such as Adam Smith and Frank Knight. We talk about how public choice and experimental economics both critique and improve the field of economics. Never miss another AdamSmithWorks update.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

In a democracy, every vote should be equal. But in India, that's not the case. Shruti Rajagopalan joins Amit Varma in episode 336 of The Seen and the Unseen to give a detailed primer into the complex issue of Delimitation -- and to suggest her own radical solution. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Shruti Rajagopalan on Twitter, Substack, Instagram and her podcast, Ideas of India. 2. Demography, Delimitation, and Democracy -- Shruti Rajagopalan's detailed post on Delimitation. 3. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen w Shruti Rajagopalan, in reverse chronological order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. 4. India's Emerging Crisis of Representation -- Milan Vaishnav and Jamie Hintson. 5. Of Openings and Possibilities -- Pranay Kotasthane on Delimitation. 6. South India Would Like to Have a Word — Episode 320 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nilakantan RS). 7. Jayaprakash Narayan Wants to Mend Our Democracy -- Episode 334 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jayaprakash Narayan). 8. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen. 9. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen. 10. Amit Varma on the Creator Economy -- A recent episode of the Ideas of India podcast. 11. Gurwinder Bhogal Examines Human Nature -- Episode 331 of The Seen and the Unseen. 12. The Prism -- Gurwinder Bhogal's Substack newsletter. 13. Public Choice Theory — Episode 121 of The Seen and the Unseen. 14. Public Choice: A Primer — Eomonn Butler. 15. Public Choice -- Politics Without Romance -- James M Buchanan. 16. Politics Without Romance -- Amit Varma's column archives for Bloomberg Quint. 17. David Hume on Britannica, Wikipedia and Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 18. Adam Smith on Britannica, Wikipedia and Amazon. 19. James M Buchanan on Britannica, Wikipedia, Econlib and Amazon. 20. Gordon Tullock on Wikipedia, Econlib, Mercatus and Amazon. 21. The Calculus of Consent — James M Buchanan and Gordon Tullock. 22. Democracy in Deficit -- James M Buchanan and Richard E Wagner. 23. Shruti Rajagopalan on our constitutional amendments. 24. Subhashish Bhadra on Our Dysfunctional State -- Episode 33 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. Caged Tiger: How Too Much Government Is Holding Indians Back — Subhashish Bhadra. 26. Where Have All The Leaders Gone? -- Amit Varma. 27. The Political Theory of a Compound Republic -- Vincent Ostrom. 28. Urban Governance in India — Episode 31 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 29. India's Greatest Civil Servant — Episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu, on VP Menon). 30. Great Soul -- Joseph Lelyveld. 31. Understanding Gandhi. Part 1: Mohandas — Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 32. Understanding Gandhi. Part 2: Mahatma — Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 33. Population Is Not a Problem, but Our Greatest Strength — Amit Varma. 34. A Life in Indian Politics — Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jayaprakash Narayan). 35. The First Assault on Our Constitution — Episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tripurdaman Singh). 36. Nehru's Debates — Episode 262 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tripurdaman Singh and Adeel Hussain.) 37. Coalition Politics and Economic Development -- Irfan Nooruddin. 38. The Laffer Curve. 39. The Anti-Defection Law — Episode 13 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra). 40. Our Parliament and Our Democracy — Episode 253 of The Seen and the Unseen (w MR Madhavan). 41. The Four Quadrants of Conformism — Paul Graham. 42. ‘Let Me Interrupt Your Expertise With My Confidence' — New Yorker cartoon by Jason Adam Katzenstein. 43. Eppur si muove. 44. Jagdish Bhagwati's co-written defence of demonetisation, and Shruti Rajagopalan's co-written rebuttal. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! Episode art: ‘Figure it Out' by Simahina.

Art Carden discusses which economists should have gotten the Nobels before they died. Ludwig Von Mises was a great economist and his student Fredrick Hayek won the Nobel the year he died. Frank H. Knight the father of the Chicago School. Gordon Tullock should have shared the Nobel with James Buchanan. Armen Alchain, Harold Demsetz, William Baumol, Julian Simon, W.H. Hutt and Aaron Director should also have won the Nobel.

Eric Crampton, Chief Economist at The New Zealand Initiative joins us once again to talk about his very favourite economist, Gordon Tullock.

This episode of the Popperian Podcast features an interview that Jed Lea-Henry conducted with Rafe Champion. They speak about the social (institutional) theme within Karl Popper's philosophy of science as well as his approach to politics. Popper argued that objectivity in science does not come from the impartiality of scientists, but rather from the social/institutional aspect of the scientific method. This is a theme that has been largely overlooked by Popper scholars (and even by Popper himself), but which was brought to life by the later scholarship of Ian Jarvie and Gordon Tullock. Rafe Champion grew up on a dairy farm in the far northwest of Tasmania and studied Agricultural Science at the University of Tasmania followed by post-graduate research in Adelaide. He moved into the social sciences in Sydney but did not achieve an academic career and spent most of his professional career in policy, planning and research on health and welfare issues. His main interest after he encountered Popper's ideas on critical rationalism, objective knowledge & etc. was to explore and explain their implications and applications. His first wife (Kilmeny Niland 1950-2009) was a talented and versatile artist and she created the beautiful Rathouse website to provide a platform for Rafe's interpretation of the work of Popper, Bartley III, Hayek and others including the great psychologists Karl Buhler and Ian D. Suttie. *** The Rat House - Karl Popper, Hayek, and Mises' philosophies.Insights by Rafe Champion. (the-rathouse.com) *** Popper's Institutional Turn (4) POPPER'S INSTITUTIONAL TURN FINAL | Rafe Champion - Academia.edu *** Reason and Imagination: Some thoughts of Karl Popper and William W Bartley Reason and Imagination : Rafe Champion : 9781507512111 (bookdepository.com) *** The Organization of Inquiry by Gordon Tullock Organization of Inquiry : Charles K Rowley : 9780865975330 (bookdepository.com) *** The Republic of Science by Ian Jarvie The Republic of Science : Ian C. Jarvie : 9789042015159 (bookdepository.com) Support via Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/jedleahenry Support via PayPal – https://www.paypal.me/jrleahenry Shop – https://shop.spreadshirt.com.au/JLH-shop/ Support via Bitcoin - 31wQMYixAJ7Tisp773cSvpUuzr2rmRhjaW Website – The Popperian Podcast — Jed Lea-Henry Libsyn – The Popperian Podcast (libsyn.com) Youtube – The Popperian Podcast - YouTube Twitter – https://twitter.com/jedleahenry RSS - https://popperian-podcast.libsyn.com/rss *** Underlying artwork by Arturo Espinosa

Today's podcast is titled, “Democracy and Rent Seeking.” Recorded in 1992, Nobel Laureate James M. Buchanan and Prof. Gordon Tullock discuss events in the public choice arena since the publication of their groundbreaking 1962 book, The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy. Listen now, and don't forget to subscribe to get updates each week for the Free To Choose Media Podcast.

Even after doing three separate shows on rewriting the U.S. Constitution from three different perspectives (Libertarian, Progressive and Conservative), I'm still hungry for more insights on how to think about designing the ideal constitution.I found aspects of each team's revisions attractive, but if I could push a button to make one the law of the land, would I? Even if I thought that the original could be improved, what unintended consequences might there be from dismantling the document that has worked at least reasonably well for almost 250 years?Professor Michael Munger returned to the show to elaborate on a topic [he recently discussed with Russ Roberts on the always-interested EconTalk podcast](https://www.econtalk.org/michael-munger-on-constitutions/#audio-highlights). They delved into the work of public choice economics like James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, who concerned themselves with the nature of constitutions – rules about rules – and how groups can balance their collective interests against individual liberties.We discussed the challenge of improving a constitutional order, when the document in question is the result of an evolutionary process. The American Constitution, for all of its faults, is the oldest document of its kind in the entire world. Does that mean we're stuck with what we've got, whether we like it or not? Or could we possibly do better?

https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/does-georgism-work-part-2-can-landlords   [Lars Doucet won this year's Book Review Contest with his review of Henry George's Progress and Poverty. Since then, he's been researching Georgism in more depth, and wants to follow up with what he's learned. I'll be posting three of his Georgism essays here this week, and you can read his other work at Fortress Of Doors] Hi, my name's Lars Doucet (not Scott Alexander), and this is a guest post in an ongoing series that assesses the empirical basis for the economic philosophy of Georgism. Part 0 - Book Review: Progress & Poverty Part I  - Is Land Really a Big Deal? Part II - Can Land Value Tax be passed on to Tenants?

Frank brings on econ-smartypants Nathan Goodman to talk about the latent class theory present in Public Choice Theory and how it explains not just capitalism and why leftists have failed to overcome capitalism but also why leftists have failed to realize how to overcome and understand capitalism. Mentioned: Public Choice Theory Introduction to the Three Volumes of Marx's Capital, Michael Heinrich Politics Without Romance, James Buchanan Political Capitalism (book), Randall Holcomb Triumph of Conservtism, Gabriel Kolko The Problem of Social Costs, Ronald Coase Nature of the Firm, Ronald Coase Seeing Like a State, James C. Scott Rent Extract and Rent Creation in the Economic Theory of Regulation, Fred McChesney https://www.jstor.org/stable/724475 The God that Failed, Richard Crossman ed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_that_Failed Calculation and Coordination, Peter Boettke Soviet Venality: A Rent Seeking Model of the Soviet State, Peter Boettke The Road to Crony Capitalism, Michael Munger and Mario Villarreal-Diaz https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/18113/Munger%20and%20Villareal%20Published%20version%202019.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y The Rise and Decline of Nations, Mancur Olson Collective Action and the Civil Rights Movement, Dennis Chong Freedom in Contention: Social Movements and Liberal Political Economy, Mikalya Novak Evasive entrepreneurship, Niklas Elert and Mangus Henrekson https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11187-016-9725-x Approaching the Singularity Behind the Veil of incomputability: on Algorithmic governance, the economist-as-expert, and the piecemeal circumnavigation of the Administrative State, Abigail Devereaux https://cosmosandtaxis.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/devereaux_ct_vol_7_iss_1_2_rev.pdf Transitional Gains Trap, Gordon Tullock https://www.jstor.org/stable/3003249 Calculus of Consent, James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock Democracy in Chains, Nancy MacLean Effective Altruism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_altruism Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology, David Graeber https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/david-graeber-fragments-of-an-anarchist-anthropology Political Capitalism (paper), Randall Holcomb https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/2/cj-v35n1-2.pdf The Coase Theorem, Applied to Markets and Government, Randall Holcomb https://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?id=1325

In today's podcast, Milton Friedman is joined by guests Dr. Gordon Tullock of the University of Arizona and Dr. Henry Levin of Stanford University for an updated discussion of some of the ideas presented in the documentary segment of “The Failure of Socialism,” part of a 1990 update to the ten-part public television series “Free To Choose.” Listen now.

Acting Academic and Research Director Syed Kamall welcomes Professor Christian Bjørnskov to discuss the life and work of two economists - Gordon Tullock and James Buchanan. Christian is a Professor at the Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aahrus University. ‘School of Thought’ is the IEA discussion series based on the book ‘101 Great Liberal Thinkers’ by Dr Eamonn Butler.

On November 6-7, 1987, The Federalist Society held a symposium at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, DC on "Foreign Affairs and The Constitution: The Roles of Congress, The President, and The Courts". This panel was titled "The Virtues and Vices of Democracy in Conducting Foreign Policy".Featuring:Irving Kristol, The Public InterestProf. Gordon Tullock, University of Arizona College of Business and Public AdministrationGodfrey Hodgson, AuthorModerator: Charles Krauthammer, The New Republic*******As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speakers.

On November 6-7, 1987, The Federalist Society held a symposium at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, DC on "Foreign Affairs and The Constitution: The Roles of Congress, The President, and The Courts". This panel was titled "The Virtues and Vices of Democracy in Conducting Foreign Policy".Featuring:Irving Kristol, The Public InterestProf. Gordon Tullock, University of Arizona College of Business and Public AdministrationGodfrey Hodgson, AuthorModerator: Charles Krauthammer, The New Republic*******As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speakers.

In the mid-1960s, the University of Virginia had an impressive economics department with scholars such as James Buchanan, Gordon Tullock, Ronald Coase, Leland Yeager, and G. Warren Nutter. In 1963, Richard Wagner began his PhD in economics at UVA. What exactly led Richard Wagner to UVA for his graduate studies? What was it like to take classes and work with these notable scholars? Hayek Program scholar Richard Wagner discusses all of this and more with colleague Donald Boudreaux on this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast. CC Music: Twisterium

Phil Magness returns to the podcast to discuss the life and work of James Buchanan and to defend him against some of the more bizarre criticisms levied against him. James Buchanan was a Chicago-school economist who created the field of public choice economics along with Gordon Tullock. He was awarded the Nobel prize in 1986. Buchanan has received criticism recently from Duke historian Nancy MacLean, whose book Democracy in Chains places Buchanan at the center of a grand right-wing conspiracy to maintain segregation and undermine democratic institutions. Phil shows that the theory of Buchanan as a segregationist falls apart under scrutiny. It all stems from a typo in a footnote that erroneously placed Buchanan's article on school choice in a segregationist newspaper (the Richmond News-Leader) when in fact the article was published in the competing (and not segregationist) Richmond Times-Dispatch.  

Richard E. Wagner joins us for a discussion on life and thought of James M. Buchanan, who was one of the founders of public choice theory.Show Notes and Further ReadingWagner’s latest book is James M. Buchanan and Liberal Political Economy: A Rational Reconstruction (2017).A good portion of what we discuss in this episode deals with Nancy MacLean’s account of Buchanan in Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America (2017).Aaron mentions this article by Lee Fang in The Intercept, “Sphere of Influence: How American Libertarians Are Remaking Latin American Politics.” Buchanan and Gordon Tullock co-wrote The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy (1962), considered one of the landmark works of public choice theory.Our other podcast episode with Wagner gives a pretty good introduction to public choice theory, but listeners may also be interested in this episode on the same topic. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dr. Emily Skarbek is a Lecturer in Political Economy at King's College London. Emily’s research examines the role of voluntary associations in solving complex public goods problems after natural disasters. Her empirical approach is three-pronged, drawing on archives, historical sources, and field-work following large-scale natural disasters. In addition, Emily has a passion for the history of economic thought, which she believes can play a key role in advancing contemporary debates. She is particularly interested in the epistemic arguments of Friedrich Hayek. In 2014, Emily was awarded the annual Gordon Tullock prize for best article published in Public Choice by a junior scholar. She is also a contributing author to several books including After Katrina: The Political Economy of Disaster and Community Rebound and Hayek and the Modern World. Dr. Skarbek received her PhD in Economics from George Mason University and was previously an Assistant Professor at San Jose State University and a Fellow at the Center for History of Political Economy at Duke University. Check out the show notes page for all resources, links and books mentioned by Emily at www.economicrockstar.com/emilyskarbek

This week Peter Van Doren joins us to explain the economics of decision making in politics. What is public choice theory and how does it explain what happens in a majority rules democracy? Is public choice a type of macroeconomic theory? How does ordering a series of votes change their outcome? What’s rent-seeking? What does the phrase “concentrated benefits and diffuse costs” mean? What’s the median voter theorem and how does it affect our politics in America?Show Notes and Further ReadingKenneth Arrow, Social Choice and Individual Values (book)Anthony Downs, An Economic Theory of Democracy (book)Mancur Olson, The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups (book)James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy (book)Michael E. Levine and Charles R. Plott, “Agenda Influence and Its Implications” (article)Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) (Wikipedia article)Say’s Law (Wikipedia article)Pareto Efficiency (Wikipedia article) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Diana Thomas discusses the relationship between the Virginia School of Political Economy and the Austrian School of Economics. Diana is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Heider College of Business at Creighton University. The Virginia School is a branch of public choice, the application of the tools and techniques of economics to the study of political actors. The Virginia School’s founders, James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, were the first to systematically apply a rational choice framework to the study of politics in The Calculus of Consent. Two assumptions commonly made by neoclassical economists are the “benevolence assumption” and the “omniscience assumption.” The benevolence assumption is implicit in normative analysis of what governments “ought” to do, as this assumes that political actors are motivated to maximize the common good rather than pursuing their self-interest. This assumption is challenged by public choice economists. The omniscience assumption is at play in economic models that depict the economy as being in equilibrium, whereby nobody is misinformed of or surprised by economic reality. This assumption is challenged by Austrian economists. The omniscience assumption implies that the economy should be possible to rationally plan, an idea that Mises and Hayek debunked in the socialist calculation debate of the 1920s and 30s. As Diana states in her paper, Entrepreneurship: Catallactic and Constitutional Perspectives, “both Buchanan and Tullock reference Mises’ Human Action as the central reference for their understanding of methodological individualism.” The Virginia and Austrian schools also share common understandings of rationality and of self-interest. Diana draws a parallel between Israel Kirzner’s distinction between calculative and entrepreneurial action and Buchanan’s distinction between reactive and creative action. While calculative or reactive action consists in simply responding to known incentives and constraints, entrepreneurial or creative action consists in envisioning a future that is different from the present and in acting on that expectation. Kirzner applies the concept of entrepreneurship to businessmen seizing anticipated arbitrage opportunities in the market. Buchanan applies the concept of creative action to political actors attempting to reform constitutional rules. Buchanan conceives of constitutional rules as being made behind a “veil of uncertainty” since it is beyond political actors’ ability to predict in precisely what situations the rule will be applied, and whether their own self-interest will be served or hurt in those situations. Diana believes that political action is more entrepreneurial than most economists recognize.  But while market entrepreneurship is guided by profit and loss towards those processes that best serve consumers, political entrepreneurship has no such guiding principle. Political entrepreneurs may innovate in ways that actually harm their constituents, but these innovations may nonetheless thrive and endure. Poll numbers and bad press can motivate political actors, but these signals may not conform to the actual impacts of the policy. Good policies are often derided as evil, while bad policies are often popular. A US President can boost his popularity by declaring war, but US military ventures have a terrible track record in terms of their ultimate consequences (see Chris Coyne’s After War). Market innovations such as Lyft and Uber clearly benefit consumers, and yet there has been a political backlash against these popular businesses. Public choice economists recognize that voters are “rationally ignorant,” since becoming informed about issues is costly, while the benefit is only manifested in better policy if the specific voter happens to be the swing vote in an otherwise tied election. Given these incentives, it would be irrational to be informed about policy, so it’s surprising that so many people vote at all. Diana explains it in terms of “expressive voting.” Voters vote because they want to express their views, not because their vote is particularly potent in shaping political outcomes. Diana argues that policies aren’t particularly strongly affected by who is elected to office, rather they stem from institutional incentives. The median voter theorem demonstrates how, under plausible conditions, politicians attempt to please the most people by converging to a centrist policy. Another theory says that policy is not directed primarily by elections but by the lobbying efforts of special interest groups (see Olson). Since these groups get concentrated benefits from preferential policies, they have a strong incentive to agitate for them. Those who pay the costs of these policies (usually consumers) have only a small incentive to agitate against them, as the costs are dispersed among a great number of individuals. Specific examples of policies made for the benefit of concentrated special interests are the US sugar quota, and Canadian customs duties charged for the importation of dairy products (leading to absurd cases of cheese smuggling). You can read more from Diana Thomas at her professional website.