The Curious Task

Alex speaks with Scott Scheall about Carl and Karl Menger and their influence on the history of economics, liberal theory, and - yes - mathematics.    Further Reading: "Karl Menger as Son of Carl Menger" - Scott Scheall & Reinhard Schumacher https://philarchive.org/rec/SCHKMA-4  Econlib Biography of elder Menger: https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Menger.html  1871. Principles of Economics. Translated by J. Dingwall and B. F. Hoselitz, with an introduction by Friedrich A. Hayek. New York: New York University Press, 1981.   1892. “On the Origin of Money.” Economic Journal 2 (June): 239–255.   “Mises Introduces the Austrian School,” http://mises.org/daily/3512 from Ludwig von Mises, Memoirs.   Joseph T. Salerno, “Biography of Carl Menger: The Founder of the Austrian School (1840-1921),” http://mises.org/about/3239   Biography of Karl Menger    https://www.hetwebsite.net/het/profiles/kmenger.htm    Including the following Major Works: Dimensiontheorie, 1928 "On Intuitionism", 1930, Blatter der deutschen Pilosophy Kurventheorie, 1932 "The New Logic", 1933, in Krise und Neuaufbau in den Exackten Wissenschaften Moral Wille und Weltgestaltung, 1934. "The Role of Uncertainty in Economics", 1934, ZfN "Remarks on the Law of Diminishing Returns: A study in meta-economics", 1936, ZfN "The Logic of Laws of Return: A study in meta-economics", 1954, in Morgenstern, editor, Economic Activity Analysis. "Austrian Marginalism and Mathematical Economics", 1973, in Hicks and Weber, editors, Carl Menger and the Austrian School of Economics Morality, decision, and social organization : toward a logic of ethics, 1974. Selected Papers in Logic and Foundations, Didactics, Economics, 1979. Reminiscences of the Vienna Circle and the Mathematical Colloquium, 1994.   (ed. L. Golland, B. McGuinness and A. Sklar) [prev] "On the direction of ideas and the principal tendencies of the Vienna Mathematical Colloqium", 1998,  in E. Dierker &  K. Sigismund, editors, Karl Menger Ergebnisse eines Mathematischen Kolloquiums    

Alex speaks with Jason Lee Byas about the complexities of responding to questions of historic injustice, reparations, and compensation within a libertarian framework.  Originally Aired as Episode 140 on Wednesday May 04, 2022  References 1. Articles by Jason Lee Byas, Center for a Stateless Society  Link: https://c4ss.org/content/author/jason-byas  2. “Rectification and Historic Injustice” by Jason Lee Byas Link: https://philpapers.org/archive/BYARAH.pdf  3. “A Black Commons: A Framework for Recognition, Reconciliation, and Reparations” by Julian Agyeman and Kofi Boone  Link: https://www.academia.edu/113180745/The_Black_CommonsA_Framework_for_Recognition_Reconciliation_Reparations  4. “Compensation for Historic Injustices: Completing the Boxill and Sher Argument” by Andrew I. Cohen Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40212837.pdf  5. “Should Race Matter?: Unusual Answers to the Usual Questions” by David Boonin Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Should-Race-Matter-Unusual-Questions/dp/0521149800  6. “The Ethics of Liberty” by Murray N. Rothbard Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Ethics-Liberty-Murray-N-Rothbard/dp/0814775594  7. “Historical Rights and Fair Shares” by A. John Simmons Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3505011  8. “The Multiculturalism of Fear” by Jacob Levy Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Multiculturalism-Fear-Jacob-T-Levy/dp/0198297122  9. “Apologies and Moral Repair: Rights, Duties, and Corrective Justice” by Andrew I. Cohen Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Apologies-Moral-Repair-Corrective-Justice/dp/0367508036

Alex speaks with Nigel Ashford about the prospects for a freer world and how the memory of history, the hope of younger persons, and the teaching of ideas can shape the future of classical liberalism.    Further Reading: https://libertarianism.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/socin003.pdf Chapter 2 of this book: https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Blundell-interactive.pdf https://fee.org/articles/the-tide-in-the-affairs-of-men/ https://cdn.mises.org/Intellectuals%20and%20Socialism_4.pdf https://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/why-do-intellectuals-oppose-capitalism http://wordlist.narod.ru/Government-Failure.pdf

Alex speaks with Jake Monaghan about ideal vs. ideal theory approaches to policing, the history and function of the police as an institution, and how to respond to police abolitionists.  Episode Notes Jake's book - the subject of the conversation - can be purchased here: https://a.co/d/ewVS0h9  References are made to G. A. Cohen's Why Not Socialism, which can be read here: https://www3.nd.edu/~pweithma/Readings/Cohen,%20Gerald/Cohen,%20G%20(Why%20not%20Socialism).pdf  ... and to "The Dispossessed", which can be read here:  https://files.libcom.org/files/Le%20Guin%20-%20The%20Dispossessed.pdf 

Alex speaks with Trevour Burrus about his concept of the Statrix and why the solution to every problem should not be more government programs, intervention and restriction.  Episode Notes: Introductory YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eavx1ZVVyzM    Seeing the Statrix: Invisible and Omnipresent by Trevor Burrus: https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/articles/burrus-cap-research-center-10-18-2018.pdf    The Boris Yeltsin Grocery Store Visit: https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/article/When-Boris-Yeltsin-went-grocery-shopping-in-Clear-5759129.php#photo-6130394    Trevor’s CATO article about the dairy industry: https://www.cato.org/commentary/rebel-farmers-government-cartels-how-new-deal-cartelized-us-agriculture 

Alex speaks with Camden Hutchison about the nuances of freedom of expression laws in Canada and the United States, and the ways in which immature understandings of free speech can obfuscate the public discourse surrounding this fundamental right in North American law and politics.    Episode Notes   Freedom of Expression: Values and Harms - Camden Hutchison https://albertalawreview.com/index.php/ALR/article/view/2733    Guide to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Including Freedom of Expression) https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/how-rights-protected/guide-canadian-charter-rights-freedoms.html    Guide to The Constitution (Including the First Amendment)  https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-government/the-constitution/#:~:text=The%20First%20Amendment%20provides%20that,the%20right%20to%20bear%20arms    Overview of Bill C-19 (Including Division 21 criminalizing various forms of Holocaust denial) https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/trans/bm-mb/other-autre/c19/remarks-remarques.html   

Alex speaks with Pete Boettke about the relevancy of Friedrich Hayek in the contemporary context, what it means to be a "Hayekian" and the curious tale of how Hayek came to be the focus of his latest book "F. A. Hayek: Economics, Political Economy and Social Philosophy" Episode Notes Pete’s book “F. A. Hayek: Economics, Political Economy and Social Philosophy“ https://a.co/d/ah7SpwW  Hayek on The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/friedrich-hayek/  Introduction to Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom” https://mises.org/library/road-serfdom-0  Murray Rothbard’s “Man, Economy and State” retrospective https://fee.org/articles/rothbards-man-economy-and-state-at-50/  Milton Friedman’s “Free To Choose” https://www.proglocode.unam.mx/sites/proglocode.unam.mx/files/docencia/Milton%20y%20Rose%20Friedman%20-%20Free%20to%20Choose.pdf  Hayek “Prices and Production” https://mises.org/library/prices-and-production-and-other-works  Introduction to economics of Lucas https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Lucas.html  Steve Horowitz on Hayek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5dR0zgC1ZI  Herbert Dreyfuss “What Computers Can’t Do” https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262540674/what-computers-still-cant-do/  Horowitz quote on Hayek “we have to learn to live in two worlds at once” https://www.jstor.org/stable/41560288  Hayek’s “The Fatal Conceit” https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo3643985.html  Kenneth Boulding “After Samuelson, Who Needs Adam Smith?” https://read.dukeupress.edu/hope/article-abstract/3/2/225/12381/After-Samuelson-Who-Needs-Adam-Smith“The Extended Present” (concept) https://medium.com/extended-present/about  The “Grapes vs. Cucumbers as pay for Monkeys” experiment (youtube video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meiU6TxysCg  The Constitution of Liberty - Hayek https://www.mises.at/static/literatur/Buch/hayek-the-constitution-of-liberty.pdf  Chandran Kukathas’ Liberal Archipelago https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-liberal-archipelago-9780199219209?cc=ca&lang=en&  Kind vs. Wicked learning environments. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/experience-studio/202007/experience-kind-vs-wicked   

Alex speaks with Darwynn Deyo about the many ways in which occupational licensing can in fact reduce efficiency in the workforce, make it harder for people to cross borders, and ultimately reduce economic mobility for already disadvantaged groups.    Episode Notes and Further Reading:   License To Work: A National Study of Burdens from Occupational Licensing (2022) https://ij.org/report/license-to-work-3/    Policy Brief: Licensing Barriers for Women in the Workforce - Dr. Darwyyn Deyo (2022) https://csorwvu.com/policy-brief-licensing-barriers-for-women-in-the-workforce/    Policy Brief: Survey of Universal Licensing Reforms in the United States - Dr. Darwyyn Deyo (2022) https://csorwvu.com/policy-brief-survey-of-universal-licensing-reforms-in-the-united-states/    Testing Licensing and Consumer Satisfaction for Beauty Services in the United States in Grease or Grit?: International Case Studies of Occupational Licensing and Its Effects on Efficiency and Quality - Darwyyn Deyo (2022)   Have license, will travel: Measuring the effects of universal licensing recognition on mobility - Darwyyn Deyo & Alicia Plemmons (2022)   Occupational Licensing: Improving Access to Regulatory Information - Morris M. Kleiner & Edward J. Timmons (2020)   Licensing massage therapists in the name of crime: the case of Harper v Lindsay - Darwyyn Deyo, Blake Hoarty, Conor Norris and Edward Timmons (2020)   Effects of Occupational Licensing and Unions on Labour Market Earnings in Canada - Tingting Zhang (2019)   Guild-Ridden Labor Markets: The Curious Case of Occupational Licensing - Morris M. Kleiner (2015)   

Alex speaks with Fiona Harrigan about the state of immigration in the United States and elsewhere, and the ways in which "outsiders" make "insiders" better off - both instrumentally and categorically.  Episode Notes: The Government Is Turning Border Surveillance on Everyday Americans by Fiona Harrigan https://reason.com/2023/03/28/the-government-is-turning-border-surveillance-on-everyday-americans/   Cutting Legal Immigration Won’t Help Low‐​Skilled American Workers By Alex Nowrasteh https://www.cato.org/blog/cutting-legal-immigration-wont-help-low-skilled-american-workers  NFAP study on Immigrant-founded startups https://nfap.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Immigrant-Entrepreneurs-and-Billion-Dollar-Companies.DAY-OF-RELEASE.2022.pdf  “Title 42 has ended. Here’s what it did, and how US immigration policy is changing” by Colleen Long https://apnews.com/article/immigration-biden-border-title-42-mexico-asylum-be4e0b15b27adb9bede87b9bbefb798d 

What's the harm in dreaming big? Significant, James Harrigan believes. Alex and James discuss the many ways in which Utopian theory has led to disaster in practice - From Plato to Lenin and into the present day.  Episode Notes: Keynes on Eugenics, Race, and Population Control https://mises.org/wire/keynes-eugenics-race-and-population-control  Phillip W. Magness, James R. Harrigan; John Maynard Keynes, H. G. Wells, and a Problematic Utopia. History of Political Economy 1 April 2020; 52 (2): 211–238. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-8173298 Plato’s Republic - Ethics and Politics https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-ethics-politics/  Thomas Moore’s Utopia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_(book)  “The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design” - F.A. Hayek