430. Will a Covid-19 Vaccine Change the Future of Medical Research?
We explore the science, scalability, and (of course) economics surrounding the global vaccine race. Guests include the chief medical officer of the first U.S. firm to go to Phase 3 trials with a vacci...
27 Aug 202058min
Introducing “People I (Mostly) Admire"
A new interview show with host Steve Levitt. Today he speaks with the Harvard psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker. By cataloging the steady march of human progress, the self-declared “polite Canad...
22 Aug 202042min
The Economics of Sports Gambling (Ep. 388 Rebroadcast)
What happens when tens of millions of fantasy-sports players are suddenly able to bet real money on real games? We’re about to find out. A recent Supreme Court decision has cleared the way to bring an...
20 Aug 202054min
429. Is Economic Growth the Wrong Goal?
The endless pursuit of G.D.P., argues the economist Kate Raworth, shortchanges too many people and also trashes the planet. Economic theory, she says, “needs to be rewritten” — and Raworth has tried, ...
13 Aug 202041min
How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War (Ep. 386 Rebroadcast)
Aisle upon aisle of fresh produce, cheap meat, and sugary cereal — a delicious embodiment of free-market capitalism, right? Not quite. The supermarket was in fact the endpoint of the U.S. government’s...
6 Aug 202043min
428. The Simple Economics of Saving the Amazon Rain Forest
Everyone agrees that massive deforestation is an environmental disaster. But most of the standard solutions — scolding the Brazilians, invoking universal morality — ignore the one solution that might ...
30 Jul 202032min
427. The Pros and Cons of Reparations
Most Americans agree that racial discrimination has been, and remains, a big problem. But that is where the agreement ends. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for informatio...
23 Jul 202040min
426. Should America (and FIFA) Pay Reparations?
The racial wealth gap in the U.S. is massive. We explore the causes, consequences, and potential solutions. Also: another story of discrimination and economic disparity, this one perpetrated by an int...
16 Jul 202044min
