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Econ talk is a weekly podcast from the library of economics and liberty. Today's guest is Nasimtl, author of fooled by randomnis and anti fragile books. We'll be discussing skin in the game, an idea that has been around for 2,000 years. And how it was used to protect against tail events such as building collapses.

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.