Send us a textThomas Jefferson was a complicated figure. Essential to the start of our country and the university I attend, he is impossible to ignore. Yet, he held slaves, and at the same time said “all men are created equal.” What’s up with that?!Yet, we need to be able to talk about him. We also need to be able to acknowledge the contributions he has made to the world, while also acknowledging the flaws in his character and behavior. His legacy is complicated, and he was a complicated person. We all are. So how do we reconcile these parts of him? Join us in our attempt to understand this. Today, we talk about Thomas Jefferson and his complicated relationship with slavery. Cara Rogers Stevens, professor of history at Ashland University and codirector of the Ashbrook Scholars Program, joins us to talk about this. She is also the author of Thomas Jefferson and The First Against Slavery, which informs much of our conversation.Want to explore more:Read the Complete Works of Thomas Jefferson at the Online Library of Liberty.Hans Eicholz, 1776 and All That: Thomas Jefferson on Adam Smith, at AdamSmithWorks.Darren Staloff on the American Founding, a Great Antidote podcast.Understanding Jefferson: Slavery, Race, and the Declaration of Independence, a Liberty Matters forum at the Online Library of Liberty.Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, U.S. Slavery and Economic Thought, in the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.Never miss another AdamSmithWorks update.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Send us a textTrade is all the rage these days. Or, at least, raging about trade is. Today, we unpack what trade and free trade are, and how to talk about it. We also address the abundance of lawyers in trade policy. Douglas Irwin is a professor of economics at Dartmouth College and the author of several books including Clashing Over Commerce and Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade.Want to explore more?Douglas Irwin, International Trade Agreements, in the Concise Encyclopedia of EconomicsSamuel Gregg on National Security and Industrial Policy, a Great Antidote podcast.Why Industrial Policy is (Almost) Always a Bad Idea (with Scott Sumner), an EconTalk podcast.Colin Grabow on the Jones Act 2: Treason and Cruises, a Great Antidote podcast.Jon Murphy, Does National Security Justify Tariffs? at Econlib Never miss another AdamSmithWorks update.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Anna Claire Flowers, a PhD candidate in Economics at George Mason University, delves into F. A. Hayek's concept of the mesocosmos—social groups that bridge individualism and society. She discusses the crucial role of the family in fostering societal benefits and individual well-being. The conversation also navigates the relationship between micro and macro social structures, critiques ideologies affecting personal engagement, and emphasizes self-governance's importance within economic contexts. Flowers blends philosophy with practical insights for a rich exploration of social dynamics.

Send us a textWelcome back! Happy New Year! Glad to be back! Come one, come all! Eric Leeper is the Paul Goodloe McIntire Professor in Economics at the University of Virginia. He also is a visiting scholar at the Mercatus Center at GMU. Today, we talk about inflation. He explains to us how inflation theory has evolved and how we forgot about the relationship between the fiscal and monetary sides of the economy.Want to explore more?John Cochrane on Monetary versus Fiscal Policy, A Great Antidote podcast.Leonidas Zelmanovitz, The Boundaries of Fiscal and Monetary Policy, at Econlib.Allen Meltzer on Inflation, an EconTalk podcast.Thomas Hoening on Inflation and the Federal Reserve, a Great Antidote podcast.Maryann Keating, Adam Smith and the Public Debt, at AdamSmithWorks.Never miss another AdamSmithWorks update.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Send us a textNot often do we find people who make the case for how race, liberty, and equality belong together. Even less often do we find them making arguments in the height of racially and economically troubled times. And EVEN LESS do we find audio clips of them doing so. These people are inspiring. They stand up against the currents of the time to speak their minds, for the benefit of everyone. In doing so, they garner respect and build coalitions across ideological lines, because they have to. We can learn from them and aspire to be like them today.In a really unique episode, I am excited to welcome David Beito to the podcast to talk about Rose Wilder Lane’s column, "Rose Lane Says," and how she brought together these three concepts of race, liberty, and equality to make an appealing case for freedom. He shares with us a clip of Lane herself, speaking on these issues. Want to explore more?Timothy Sandefur on Freedom's Furies, a Great Antidote podcast.Nico Perrino on Individual Rights and Free Expression, a Great Antidote podcast.Rachel Ferguson on Black Liberation Through the Marketplace, a Great Antidote podcast. Alice Temnick, Prudence on the Prairie, at Speaking of SmithMustafa Akyol, Liberty Was Islam's First Call, at the Online Library of LibertyNever miss another AdamSmithWorks update.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Send us a textAdam Smith was a man who read the Stoics. He liked them, too, talking them up in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, particularly in the section on grief. Then he lost two of his closest relations (old timey, right?), David Hume and his mother. These world-shaking events caused him to reevaluate what he said about grief in TMS and change our interpretation of his commentary on grief.So what did he say about grief before, and how did the actual experience of grief change his mind? How does grief work, and how do we get through hard times? How do art and philosophy play different roles in the human experience?Today, I’m excited to welcome Liberty Fund’s Sarah Skwire back to the podcast. She is a Senior Program Officer there, and a resident scholar on people-who-thought-things-and-wrote-things. I truly enjoyed this conversation and I hope you do too! Never miss another AdamSmithWorks update.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Send us a textThis year’s Nobel Prize winners in economics are Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson, who wrote on the importance of inclusive institutions to economic growth. But what on earth are ‘inclusive institutions’ and how do they differ from exclusive ones?Inclusive institutions are norms, either written or unwritten, about things like property rights, democracy, and the rule of law. But what other institutions are important to economic growth, if there are others?Some of this year’s winners endorse a strong antitrust regime. How do you reconcile the importance of property rights to growth with a desire to limit and take down companies built upon those rights?At the time this episode was recorded, everyone in economics was talking about the Nobel Prize, both this year’s winners and their research. But what other economists (and their work) should we be looking to? Today, I am excited to welcome David Henderson back to the podcast. Henderson is the Wall Street Journal’s go-to writer when it comes to the Nobel in economics and an Emeritus Professor of Economics at the Naval Postgraduate School and a research fellow with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. His substack is titled I Blog to Differ, so go check it out! He answers questions just like these in our interview, so tune in to hear the answers!!Never miss another AdamSmithWorks update.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Send us a textPicture a policy conversation, perhaps in Washington, about national security. Who’s sitting around the table? It might be the President, national security advisors, military personnel, or generals, but not economists. And yet, national security is often used as a reason to intervene into the economy. At the mention of national security, it seems economists often shut their mouths and run away (or hide under a rock, or something). But why? How should economists think about and engage with concerns about national security? Today, the wonderful Sam Gregg joins us to talk to us about industrial policy and national security. He is the author of The Next American Economy and he is the Frederick Hayek Chair in Economics and Economic History at the American Institute for Economic Research.He explains how national security is often used as a justification for industrial policy, and how industrial policy actually harms both national security and economic strength. Join us to hear about the economic policy that improves national security!!Never miss another AdamSmithWorks update.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Send us a textHow do you teach about a man who does not fit neatly into a box? Hayek is one such man, and today, we tackle the difficult task of putting him in a box. We conclude that we cannot put someone like F. A. Hayek into boxes such as “economist” or “philosopher” or “political theorist”, because he did it all. How and when do you teach the ideas of a man who did it all? I’m excited to welcome Tawni Hunt Ferrarini to the podcast today to talk to us about teaching Hayek and his most important ideas. Ferrarini is a co-author of Common Sense Economics and an economic educator worldwide. We go through multiple ideas of in-class examples and places his thought could be applied in the context of modern education. Keep listening to hear me talk about how I, Pencil is scary. Want to explore more?Explore the Common Sense Economics website.Tawni Hunt Ferrarini, Real Life Economics: Rational or Complex, at EconTalk.Ryan Yonk on the China Dilemma, a Great Antidote podcast.Come explore Hayek with us in these two upcoming Online Programs led by Dr. Ferrarini:A Timeless [asynchronous] discussion, October 28-November 3 in the LF Portal.Dive Deep into Hayek's "Use of Knowledge in Society," a one session Virtual Reading Group, November 13th.Never miss another AdamSmithWorks update.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Send us a textIt’s often said that if you want to get to know someone, you should look through their garbage. Now, I don’t recommend this method of getting to know someone (it’s kind of gross). But biographers often have the luck of getting to know the people they study by looking through their stuff- that stuff not being actual garbage. For example, Bruce Caldwell spent time with Hayek’s skis and botanical photographs. You might be thinking, why do I care? Why does anyone care? Hayek didn’t even write about skiing or photography! That’s exactly the point: the minutia of life, those characteristics that are seemingly irrelevant to the output of an academic can give insight into their uniqueness. Hayek’s context, his family, and youth and involvement in certain political parties, shines a light on what, why, and how he thought, which helps us to better understand him and his ideas. Join me today in conversation with Bruce Caldwell, one of Hayek’s biographers, to explore the context of Hayek and what it means to be a biographer. Caldwell is a research professor of economics at Duke where he is the Director of the Center for the History of Political Economy. He is also the co-author of the book Hayek: A Life, among other works. He also believes Santa Claus exists (stay tuned to hear why!). Want to explore more?Don Boudreaux on the Essential Hayek, a Great Antidote podcast.Bruce Caldwell on Hayek, an EconTalk podcast.Rosolino Candela, Using Reason to Understand the Abuse and Decline of Reason, an Econlib Liberty Classic.Peter Boettke, Hayek's Nobel at 50, at EconLog.Peter Boettke, Hayek's Epistemic Liberalism, in Liberty Matters at the Online Library of Liberty.Never miss another AdamSmithWorks update.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.