An open marketplace plays a part in more areas than most people realize. The role is often overlooked in the areas of segregation and discrimination. Supporters of free markets support the right to associate with whoever you wish, while at the same time abhor individual liberties being taken away based on race or an association to other groups. So where is the line? Can the two ever truly within a free market, absent of coercion? Originally recorded in 1987, economist Jennifer Roback had studied the economics of discrimination for years. What role does the free market have in alleviating discrimination? “Well, there’s certainly no question in my mind that the marketplace can do a great deal more than the common person gives it credit for. And so I think that it’s, it’s not quite fair to say well let the market take care of it and everything will be fine. That’s not quite true, but it’s a lot closer to being true then what most people think. And the reason it’s not quite true to say let the market take care of it is that the market itself is embedded in a whole set of legal and cultural institutions and you have to address those. And that’s what’s so challenging about this line of research, is that you can’t just say well let the market take care of it and you’re finished with your story, that can’t be the end of the story. You have to ask what legal institutions support the market. What do we mean by a contract? What do we mean by a legal remedy and so forth?” Join this 1987 conversation as Roback discusses the intricacies of this touchy subject in the latest episode of the Free To Choose Media Podcast, Jennifer Roback. Original Record Date: 1987

Individuals act on self-interest. No, that doesn’t mean that people are only motivated by selfish materialism. It comes down to an understanding that actions made today will have consequences tomorrow. Those decisions drive our economy. They are based on the best choices someone can make today, which will provide the best future for themselves and their loved ones. So where do charity and altruism fit into that economic worldview? Nobel laureate Dr. Gary Becker says they play into each other more than people think, but an important distinction should be made, “Even a bunch of selfish individuals, under appropriate circumstances, can lead to results that are in the public welfare. So for example, an entrepreneur, who may be perfectly selfish in my concept, not worried directly about the well-being of others, because of what he or she does and because of competitive forces, etc., may well, of course, improve the well-being of others, but that’s not altruism in my concept. I say that’s the basic result that Adam Smith saw. And the greatest result, I think, in social science is that a collection of private selfish individuals may in their collective actions contribute to the public well-being, but you want to sharply distinguish from Adam Smith to the moral sentiments who really did deal with altruism.” Hear the rest of the conversation with Becker and political scientist Aaron Wildavsky and find out what they say these concepts can teach us about society and economics in the latest episode of the Free To Choose Media Podcast. Originally Recorded: 1993

We’ve all read a bad novel at one point or another. You’ve probably thought to yourself that you could do better. Well, you’re not alone. Writing a full novel can be a painstaking and time-consuming process. It’s more difficult than people think, but not impossible. Have you ever wondered exactly what goes into writing some of your favorite novels? The frustrating, satisfying, and therapeutic properties of the writing process are all covered by a panel of authors in this week’s podcast. Author, Joe McNamara explains how his personal experiences fueled his writing, “My characters were able to say things about all of this that I couldn’t say as police chief. In fact, in one of the books, the police chief, the last one-The Blue Mirage, is about a police chief and he’s complaining so much about politicians that one of his aides says, “Now chief, remember, we can’t have a democracy without them.” And it is something I think we Americans all need to remind ourselves of and I love to write about that conflict where, in a democracy, the police must be under civilian control, the military and the police. But who are the civilians? They’re the people that gave us Watergate and all of the other scandals and their ideals and standards of ethics are not what we expect from professional law enforcement. That’s why we always have that conflict that the police authority can be misused for corrupt or political purposes as it has continuously throughout our history.” Listen to more of the conversation with McNamara and his fellow authors in the latest episode of the Free To Choose Media Podcast, Mystery Stories.

While individuals remain the ultimate units within a society, their organization into families is often overlooked, even sacrificed. Human beings are social in nature and depend upon one another for survival. Nowhere else is this more evident than with the upbringing of children. Is it possible that by promoting the rights of some, while sacrificing the right of others, the family unit is suffering? Journalist Midge Decter thinks so, but that does not mean the end is near. “Because sometimes to tell the truth and we all know it, families can be a royal pain in the neck, but because it is an institution in which the needs of men and women and children are somehow adjudicated and somehow the mode is found in which people can help one another and bring to one another what they need. And in which children know, every child in the family knows that he is vitally important to someone else. And this is something that children really need to know. So, families are absolutely the bedrock of the sense of well-being in this country. So what we have here is a country which is actually very well off. A funny example of this, not so funny, a peculiar example of this is the state of the American economy. It’s booming along and every single day all you can hear are these terrible predictions that any minute now, the country is going to collapse.” Listen to Decter weave her views through the lenses of feminism, family, and security in the latest episode of the Free To Choose Media Podcast, Midge Decter.

How life on our planet started and where it is going is an uncertainty that continuously plagues scientists. Even as science moves forward, the topic is ripe for exploration and discussion. Divine intervention, the luck of the draw, or a chain of repeatable chemical reactions? What are the forces that established life on Earth? What are the forces that drive it today and where can we expect it to go from here? The topic clearly lends itself to more questions than answers. Nobel Prize winner Christian de Duve attempts to answer these questions, “I don’t think something as complex as a living cell, even the simplest living cell, doesn’t simply arise by the throw of a die. It’s not a question of getting the lucky number at a Monte Carlo or even the lottery, or whatever, because it’s too complex. To make a cell, you need a very large number of chemical processes building something that is increasingly complex. That doesn’t depend on chance. That depends on the operation of chemical reactions, and chemical reactions are very highly deterministic reproducible laws. Otherwise, there would be no chemistry. There would be no chemical factories. When you mix A & B in chemistry under given conditions, you always get C. It’s not a question of luck.” Listen to the discussion between de Duve and legendary broadcaster Hugh Downs as they explore these complex questions in the latest episode of the Free To Choose Media Podcast, Origins of Life.

European countries in the Eastern Bloc were faced with a dilemma after the fall of Soviet Russia. They were tasked with transitioning from a centrally planned economy to a market-based one. That proved more difficult for some than for others. How quickly those countries should make the transition was also a hot topic of debate. Gently nudge the economy along, or rip off the bandage and change everything all at once? Nobel laureate Gary Becker lays out his main reason to fast-track the process, “In any country when you experience rapid change, the window of opportunity to make major changes before the political forces arise, (is small). It’s clear that in Eastern Europe the Communist and people who had depended on the Communist system were thrown on the defensive as a result of the, basically, revolutions that went on in these nations. … We see that in some of these countries that are going slowly, in Romania, in Bulgaria, and some, in Poland which went rapidly in some respects, and in Russia and some of the other Russian Republics where they’ve been frozen – it’s been very difficult to do anything. So move quickly and have a chance to make changes that are irreversible before the political forces can organize.” Or, are some aspects of a market economy at least better than none at all? Join Becker as well as British Nobel economist Ronald Coase as they discuss their differing opinions on the matter in the latest episode of the Free To Choose Media Podcast, European Markets.

What is the legitimate role of government in a free society? Most agree that there is one, albeit small. The Constitution lays out these roles, but they are ignored and trampled on year after year. Laws are passed, programs are implemented, and taxes are collected all in the name of progress. Yet most conflict directly with the liberties granted and restrictions imposed by the Constitution. The problem is not going away and seems to be getting worse. History is on our side. When governments have overstepped, the results have not been kind. Dr. Walter Williams puts these concerns in an economic perspective. “When you hear Presidents talking about, or people asking Presidential Candidates “What’s your economic plan,?” I find that rather amazing because the bosses in Eastern Europe had economic plans and the Soviet Union had economic plans and China and Cuba and North Korea. And if you ask what’s a common characteristic of all these economic plans, they’ve been failures. They’ve led to lower standards of living and lower human rights protections. And, low and behold, we have Americans asking for the same thing.” Join Dr. Williams and Dr. James Buchanan as they discuss how our rights are slowly being taken away in the latest episode of the Free To Choose Media Podcast.

Is there a more market-based approach to government? Regardless of the outcome of elections, there seems to be a growing number of Americans who are dissatisfied with the result no matter which party is in control. Congressional control flips at a rate you can nearly set your watch to. What are Americans looking for? They’re looking for another way. They’re looking for a solution that the two-party system cannot provide; a choice of candidates that doesn’t force them to sacrifice a portion of their principles. Former CATO President, Ed Crane sums it up, “In my view, there’s a huge disenfranchised element of the American population. I think Americans, inherently, are libertarian. That they basically believe in a combination of views that the conservative, liberal dichotomy on the political spectrum does not adequately represent. I think, for instance, most conservatives if you believe in a free market, the free enterprise system, you’re offered a package deal that involves very often an intolerant attitude toward social relations and certainly a very militaristic one in terms of international relations. Conversely if you’re very much concerned with peaceful relations among nations as I am and you decided that you want to accept a liberal package you’re given a package that includes income redistribution, government control of the economy. And I think it’s an unfortunate choice…” Listen to the rest of what he has to say and the role that think tanks can play in the process in the latest episode of the Free To Choose Media Podcast, Ed Crane.

Where do science and culture meet? The rise in popularity of science fiction has shaped popular culture as of late, but remains a source of controversy in society as a whole. This divide traces back to the days when religion, not necessarily evidence, ruled the day. Still, after all this time, science is treated as an evil by some as opposed to a basis of rational thought. Why? With how far we have come since the days of Galileo and DaVinci, why is science still treated with disdain or indifference by some? Gregory Benford, Professor of Physics at UC Irvine has an interesting perspective. “The general ignorance about science in the culture arises deeply from inadequate education K through 12 and has an enormous impact on national politics upon rational discussion of the standard style of the media now. Either the fictionalized media or the so-called news media is essentially paranoid. You can only report a scientific story with a high profile by making it induce paranoia in at least some fraction of the viewership. So, the first question that the reporters learn to ask of anything new is who does it threaten. Not who does it help.” So can science and its supporting evidence ever truly be something a society can rally around? Or will there always be a subset of those who use it as a divisive technique? Hear the discussion between Benford and his colleague, UC Irvine Professor of Biology, Michael Rose, in the latest episode of the Free To Choose Media Podcast, Science and Culture.

Gary Becker, Economist who studies the impact of family decisions on economics, discusses the importance of families in understanding behavior and the economic effects of their choices. He explores the role of rationality and incentives in evaluating policies, analyzes human capital and education, and examines the challenges faced by unmarried mothers. Becker predicts the continued strength of the family despite changing structures.