The Importance of Intellectual Golf

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Mike Bunker: Most people don't have a taste or preference for grand schemes. He says the reason we care about policy is that we care about how people are able to live their lives, especially people who are not us. The sound engineer behind econ talk is Rich Goyette. Russ Roberts: What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Is the perfect really the enemy of the good? Or is it the other way around? In 2008, Duke University economist Michael Munger ran for governor and proposed increasing school choice through vouchers for the state's poorest counties. But some lovers of liberty argued that it's better to fight for eliminating public schools instead of trying to improve them. Munger realized his fellow free-marketers come in two flavors: directionalists--who take our political realities as given and try to move outcomes closer to the ideal--and destinationists--who want no compromises with what they see as the perfect outcome. Listen as Munger talks to EconTalk's Russ Roberts about two different strategies for achieving political goals. Along the way, they discuss rent control, the minimum wage, and why free-market policies are so rare.