Skin in the Game

3min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Sesso: Government is good at getting rid of skin in the game. The reall ovitent depends on how much harm you can cause, he says. He suggests we should be eager to impose a moral code on ourselves as an acuristic. Sesso: We're not in the countien domain. You know it. So cave because i'm lying to you.

Nassim Taleb of NYU-Poly talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his recent paper (with Constantine Sandis) on the morality and effectiveness of "skin in the game." When decision makers have skin in the game--when they share in the costs and benefits of their decisions that might affect others--they are more likely to make prudent decisions than in cases where decision-makers can impose costs on others. Taleb sees skin in the game as not just a useful policy concept but a moral imperative. The conversation closes with some observations on the power of expected value for evaluating predictions along with Taleb's thoughts on economists who rarely have skin in the game when they make forecasts or take policy positions.