Paul Krugman and the Minimum Wage

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I think we're lucky to live in the United States where social science does actually matter for policy and better social science probably matters more. Do you think a majority of health economists oppose universal health insurance based on the study, the empirical evidence that it's not related to health outcomes? I don't think that's relevant. If there may be other good reasons to support insurance, and I'm not really interested in debating that.

Joshua Angrist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology talks to EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the craft of econometrics--how to use economic thinking and statistical methods to make sense of data and uncover causation. Angrist argues that improvements in research design along with various econometric techniques have improved the credibility of measurement in a complex world. Roberts pushes back and the conversation concludes with a discussion of how to assess the reliability of findings in controversial public policy areas.