The Soul of Enterprise: Business in the Transformation Economy

It is December 24th, the busiest day for the North Pole and wouldn't you know it but a worldwide taxing authority has decided that today is the day to conduct Santa's Audit. For Peter Jackson's Get Back! We snuck our TSOE microphones in on the conversation between the auditor and Santa's head accounting elf. What you are about to hear is the edited audio. The full audio can be heard by subscribers on our Patreon channel at http://patreon.com/tsoe Merry Christmas!

We are honored to welcome back, for the third time, economist Michael Munger. He's the author of many great books, including Tomorrow 3.0; Is Capitalism Sustainable?; and The Sharing Economy. Join Ed and Ron for what will surely be an enlightening and fun conversation with one of our favorite guests.

Ron and Ed first encountered Colin Rule's work when reading Richard and Daniel Susskind's book, The Future of the Professions (Episode 74) in which the online dispute resolution system used by eBay was touted as handling more cases per year than the entire US court system. In what promises to be a wide-ranging interview, Ron and Ed will explore this topic and more.

In the past year, two short stories have come to Ron and Ed's attention that provide some economic insights: Somerset Maugham's The Verger and Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron. In The Verger, a church employee is fired even though he does his work quite satisfactorily. Bergeron is a cautionary tale of the notion of equity - equality of outcome. Links can be found here if you want to read them beforehand: * The Verger - https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/Maugham_The_Verger_0.pdf * Harrison Bergeron - https://www.iwp.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Harrison-Bergeron.pdf

The Beatles are considered the most influential popular music act of the twentieth century, widely recognized for their influence on popular culture. The inability of other bands and artists to imitate their fame has prompted questions such as: How did the Beatles become so successful? What factors contributed to their success? Why did they break up? Ron and Ed will explore these questions and more in their interview with Professor Samuel R. Staley, author of The Beatles and Economics

Drones are among the most exciting and promising new technologies to emerge in the last few decades. Photographers, firefighters, filmmakers, engineers, and retailers have all used drones to improve public safety, innovate, and enhance creativity. Yet drones pose unique regulatory and privacy issues, and lawmakers at the federal and state levels are adopting policies that both ensure the safety of our national airspace and restrict the use of warrantless aerial surveillance. At a time when low-flying drones are affordable and ubiquitous, how useful are the airspace regulations and privacy laws designed for traditional airplanes and helicopters? Is there a way to build a regulatory and legal environment that ensures entrepreneurs and hobbyists can safely use drones while also protecting us from intrusive aerial surveillance?

Ron and Ed welcome back Professor Baruch Lev from NYU Stern Business School. He was last on back in July 2016 and we discussed his book, The End of Accounting and the Path Forward for Investors and Managers. We talk more about that book and his more recent article in Accounting Today, The sad state of accounting standards.

Would you rather pay for healthcare or for better health? For school or education? For groceries or nutrition? A car or transportation? A theater performance or entertainment? In The Ends Game, Marco Bertini describes how some firms are rewriting the rules of commerce: instead of selling the means (their products and services), they adopt innovative revenue models to pursue ends (actual outcomes). Ron and Ed are thrilled to have Marco on the show for what promises to be a stimulating conversation.

Ed and Ron are honored to welcome back Dan Morris, CPA, to the show. He's a master at the value conversation, and implemented Value Pricing back in his firm in 1996. He specializes in cryptocurrencies, wealth management, asset protection, multinational tax structures, tax optimization and much more. An excellent conversationalist, you don't want to miss this episode with one of the most innovative CPAs we know.

Inspired by A. J. Jacobs when he appeared on Russ Robert's great podcast EconTalk, Ron and Ed have each been keeping a One Thing journal for the last few years. In this episode, they will share some of the best One Things.