Russ Roberts on the Difficulty of Giving Good Advice, Work-Life Balance, Our Obsession with Productivity, Storytelling and Wild Problems

On the 2nd episode of Invested, Michael hosts Russ Roberts, the first trained academic on the show. Russ is the President of Shalem College in Jerusalem and the John and Jean De Nault Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Roberts also hosts the weekly podcast EconTalk, which he started in 2006—with 875+ hour-long conversations with interesting thinkers to date, with guests including Marc Andreessen, Milton Friedman, and others.  His latest book is Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us. The book looks at the challenge of making big life decisions–whether to marry, whether to have children, what career path to follow–when there is little analytical evidence to help us. Past books include Gambling With Other People’s Money: How Perverse Incentives Caused the Financial Crisis and How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness.  You can find everything Russ Roberts at his website at RussRoberts.info and on Twitter @EconTalker.  Please enjoy and rate this episode 5 stars wherever you stream your podcasts!  Key Topics: [0:00] Do economists know what makes people happy?  [1:46] Introduction [3:48] Productivity in the modern age [6:00] Work-life balance, notifications, Shabbat  [11:44] Russ’ 12 rules for life  [12:44] Saying “I don’t know” [15:45] Knowing oneself  [16:53] Is economics important?  [18:44] Tribalism and belonging [20:54] Economists vs. investors – skin in the game  [25:34] Russ’ book ‘Wild Problems’  [27:33] Risk management vs. uncertainty  [30:33] Marriage  [33:08] Is data helpful in making decisions? [37:47] Timberland boots  [39:38] Rationality in economic decision making [43:48] The difficulty of giving good advice [47:06] Shalem College [51:51] The economic value of a liberal arts education [56:01] Restaurant culture in Israel [1:00:06] What Russ would be if not an economist [1:00:24] Russ’ rap videos [1:03:16] Inflation  [1:06:51] Will the EU last?  [1:08:53] How does Russ choose who to interview for EconTalk?  [1:10:46] Parenting and having children [1:18:09] Twitter [1:19:11] The title of Russ’ biography in 100 years Resources: To learn more about Russ Roberts, visit his website: RussRoberts.info Follow Russ on Twitter: twitter.com/econtalker Listen and Subscribe to Russ’ podcast, EconTalk: https://russroberts.info/econtalk/ Learn more about Shalem College: https://shalem.ac.il/en/ Watch Russ’s rap videos on John Maynard Keynes and F.A. Hayek: https://russroberts.info/videos/#rap Read Russ’ book, Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us: https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Problems-Guide-Decisions-Define/dp/0593418255 For show notes and past guests on Invested, please visit content.aleph.vc Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc  Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: aleph.vc  For the transcript of this episode, go to https://content.aleph.vc/invested-episode-02 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aleph-vc/ Follow Michael on Twitter: twitter.com/mikeeisenberg Follow Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mieisenberg/ Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberg Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/ Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/ Credits: Executive Producer: Erica Marom  Producer: Andrew Jacobson  Video and Editing: Ron Baranov  Music and Art: Uri Ar  Design: Rony Karadi