Ep 333: Strangers with Candy, with Art Carden

Economist and author Art Carden is certainly no stranger to the Libertarian Christian Podcast, with this episode marking his seventh appearance on the show. This time, he joins Doug Stuart to discuss his latest book, Strangers With Candy: Observations from the Ordinary Business of Life, in which Art highlights a simple economic fact: buying candy from strangers is commonplace in any modern economy.

Before diving into the book, Art and Doug spend some time discussing economics more broadly. Art walks us through the story of how he first became interested in economics, going on to explain and clarify a number of misconceptions surrounding the discipline. Drawing from his book, Art suggests that economists are to blame for many of these misconceptions, as they often do a bad job explaining the economics of how the world works. In Strangers With Candy, Art intends to rectify this issue, offering an accessible and easily digestible analysis of how economics impacts and shapes our day-to-day lives.

This episode gives listeners a taste of Art’s analysis, as well as discussion on a variety of related and intriguing topics, such as municipal development policy, economic growth vs economic progress, and Art’s argument for why business is a public service. If you’re interested in anything mentioned above, tune in now!

Art Carden is a professor of economics at Samford University’s Brock School of Business. He has worked with and contributed to a number of other organizations, including the American Institute for Economic Research, the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics, the Beacon Center of Tennessee, the Independent Institute, and the Foundation for Economic Education. He received his PhD from Washington University in Saint Louis. More information can be found in the additional resources section below.

Main Points of Discussion: 00:00    Introduction     02:13    How did Art get into economics?     05:14    Misconceptions about economists     15:05    Christians for Liberty Network     15:47    Why do economists struggle to explain the world?     19:15    Explaining the title “Strangers With Candy”      23:20    Economic growth vs economic progress     27:15    How not to help strangers     28:37    Municipal development: what are the tradeoffs?     34:05    Is business a public service?     41:46    Lightning round with Art

Additional Resources: - Buy Stranger's With Candy today: ---  https://strangerswithcandybook.com/ --- https://www.amazon.com/Strangers-Candy-Observations-Ordinary-Business-ebook/dp/B0C7RG5CXX  - Art's website: https://artcarden.com/ - Follow Art on Twitter: @ArtCarden - More from Art: --- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=508839  --- https://www.aier.org/people/art-carden/ 

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com