Hayek Program Podcast

15 years after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the lessons and stories emerging from the event continue to offer valuable insights into the world of disaster recovery. On this archived episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, we revisit a lecture by Emily Chamlee-Wright, President & CEO of the Institute for Humane Studies, and Nona Martin, Affiliated Senior Scholar at the Mercatus Center. The lecture focuses on both the nature of post-disaster recovery and the nature of the social order itself – how societies are able to achieve a level of complex social coordination that far exceeds our ability to design and includes an oral history of reconstruction and recovery from Hurricane Katrina. CC Music: Twisterium

To reflect on the significance of Hayek’s Nobel Prize and the various strands of influence his work has had in subsequent decades of scholarship. In 2014, the Mercatus F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics hosted a keynote speech and panel discussion by some of Hayek’s most prominent colleagues and interlocutors. They discussed the breadth of Hayek’s vision, his contribution, and its influence on the research of other elite economic thinkers. In this installment of the series, Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith reflects on Hayek's insight on competition as a discovery process and how scientific knowledge can actually advance on the back of failed experiments. CC Music: Twisterium

In this archived episode of Hayek Program Podcast, Distinguished New York University Professor Emeritus Israel M. Kirzner was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fund for the Study of Spontaneous Order for his pioneering work on the theory of the entrepreneurial market process. The event was chaired by Mario Rizzo, Associate Professor of Economics at New York University, and featured comments from Peter Boettke, Director of the F. A. Hayek Program and Professor of Economics at George Mason University, Peter Klein, W. W. Caruth Chair and Professor of Entrepreneurship at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, and Donald Boudreaux, Senior Fellow with the F.A. Hayek Program and Professor of Economics at George Mason University. CC Music: Twisterium

Adam Smith’s insights into human nature are just as relevant today as they were 300 years ago. What does it take to be truly happy? Should we pursue fame and fortune or the respect of our friends and family? How can we make the world a better place? In this archived book panel, Russ Roberts, John and Jean De Nault Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, tackles these questions in a discussion on his book How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life. He is joined by chair Peter Boettke, Director of the F.A. Hayek Program, and commenters Ryan Hanley, Professor of Political Science at Boston College, and Daniel Klein, Professor of Economics at George Mason University. CC Music: Twisterium

In this archived episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Distinguished Affiliated Fellow Deirdre McCloskey considers the insights and findings of her book "Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can't Explain the Modern World" in a presentation hosted by the George Mason University Economics Society. Listen as McCloskey details the 17th and 18th century rise of capitalism and how economic change depends less on foreign trade, investment, or material causes, and more on ideas and what people believe. CC Music: Twisterium

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, we visit the archives for a discussion on studying in Austrian economics between Peter Boettke & Mario Rizzo, Associate Professor of Economics at New York University and Director of the Foundations of the Market Economy Program. In it, Rizzo recounts his time spent in Austrian economics, both in learning about the field and in trying to establish programs of study in it, followed by a general discussion on Austrian economics, specifically the economics of time and ignorance. CC Music: Twisterium

*Note*: Due to the style and age of recording for this particular event, some audio quality issues may persist. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. In this archived episode of the Hayek Program Podcast from 2010, we revisit an event where Professor Emeritus of Economics at George Mason University and Nobel Laureate James M. Buchanan was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fund for the Study of Spontaneous Orders at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. This event was co-hosted by the Fund for the Study of Spontaneous Orders at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, Liberty Fund, the George Mason University Economics Department, and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and took place at Mason’s Fairfax campus. The panel discussion of Buchanan’s work was led by the Dean Emeritus of the GMU Law School, Henry Manne, who was joined by: • Amartya K. Sen, Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences, 1998, Thomas W. Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke talks with Alain Marciano on the details of his ongoing work in the James Buchanan archives. Discover the joys and challenges of archival research as they discuss how the archives add a new dimension to Buchanan’s persona and what clues they give into his thought and process. Additionally, hear what lessons Alain Marciano has learned in his time with the archives and how his own view of Buchanan has developed during this time. CC Music: Twisterium

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Christopher Coyne interviews Anja Shortland on her book "Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business." Listen as they unpack the many puzzles of kidnapping, such as which incentives influence the perpetrators, how a powerful private governance system has ordered the negotiation and transaction process, why most kidnappings end peacefully, and what happens when kidnapping goes wrong. CC Music: Twisterium

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke interviews Hayek Program Emeritus Distinguished Senior Fellow, Karen Vaughn, on academic entrepreneurship. Dr. Vaughn recounts her role in the early days of George Mason University's Economics Department and the creation of its PhD program in Economics. She also discusses James Buchanan’s move to Mason and the development and evolution of several professional organizations, including the History of Economics Society and the Southern Economic Association. CC Music: Twisterium

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke interviews Hayek Program Emeritus Distinguished Senior Fellow, Karen Vaughn, on her career as an Austrian economist. During the conversation she tells of how she became interested in Austrian economics, recounts her work on the socialist calculation debate, and proposes ways for contemporary and future Austrians to best explain the market process to those unfamiliar with it. CC Music: Twisterium

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Jayme Lemke sits down with Hayek Program Emeritus Distinguished Senior Fellow Karen Vaughn to discuss her career as a woman in the field of economics as both a professor and department chair at George Mason University. Dr. Vaughn recounts her experiences balancing the responsibilities of being both a scholar and a mother at a time when few women were involved in economics. Additionally, she details why a pro-market stance helps women, offers advice on how future generations can help women in economics, and discusses prioritizing quality over quantity in scholarly publications. CC Music: Twisterium

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Lawrence H. White and David Beckworth discuss the legacy and work of Allan H. Meltzer as laid out in a recent book edited by Beckworth, "Reflections on Allan H. Meltzer’s Contributions to Monetary Economics and Public Policy." During the conversation, they covered the details of Meltzer's life as an economist and how his work continues to influence other monetarists today as well as Meltzer’s views on monetary rules and fiat money versus the gold standard. CC Music: Twisterium

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke discusses his latest book, "Public Governance and the Classical-Liberal Perspective", with Eileen Norcross, the Vice President of Policy Research and a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center. During the conversation, Peter Boettke and Eileen Norcross touch upon the main themes of public governance from a polycentric order and how this order differs from the traditional public governance approaches. CC Music: Twisterium

In this 1984 lecture, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Market Processes in conjunction with the George Mason University Economics department, Nobel-Laureate F. A. Hayek discusses the evolution of morality and social norms, arguing that they result from unplanned, emergent processes. He contrasts this conclusion with other philosophical accounts of law and morality. CC Music: Twisterium

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, we begin the spring semester with a book panel discussion of Public Governance and the Classical-Liberal Perspective written by Paul Dragos Aligica, Peter J. Boettke, and Vlad Tarko. Peter Boettke began the discussion with an overview of the book and the ongoing debate about governance generated by the recent populist and paternalist challenges to democracy and liberalism. Then Eileen Norcross, Vice President of Policy Research at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and Justin Ross, an Associate Professor at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, Bloomington provide commentary on the book. CC Music: Twisterium

The current global-justice literature starts from the premise that world poverty results mostly from the actions of governments and citizens of rich countries. As a result, it recommends vast coercive transfers of wealth from rich to poor societies alongside stronger governance. But is it possible that global injustice is actually home-grown? If so, how can we alleviate poverty? What duties do we owe the world’s poor? In this throwback episode of the Hayek Program Podcast on "Justice at a Distance", Loren Lomasky argues that native restrictions to freedom lie at the root of poverty and stagnation, and that free markets in goods, services, and labor are capable of alleviating poverty. CC Music: Twisterium

On this episode of the podcast, the Hayek Program hosts a book panel on “Humanomics: Moral Sentiments and the Wealth of Nations for the Twenty-First Century” by Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith and Bart Wilson. In the panel, participants explore the main themes and applications of the book including how integrating insights from Adam Smith’s work into contemporary empirical analysis helps to shape economic betterment as a science of human beings. Charlie Holt and Ryan Hanley join Vernon Smith and Bart Wilson on the panel as Peter Boettke moderates. CC Music: Twisterium

In our final installment of the Hayek Program’s 2019 Future of Work Conference, we hear from Elizabeth Rhodes, research director for the Basic Income Project at Y Combinator Research. In her talk, she shares her research experiences in projects relating to a guaranteed basic income, including research on how she believes recent economic growth has been unevenly distributed and how intergenerational mobility has decreased. She also focuses on how the nature of modern jobs has changed and what can be done to address these changes while also addressing deficiencies in the current social safety net.

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, we welcome our next keynote speaker from the Future of Work 2019 conference, Michael Munger, a professor of political science, economics, and public policy at Duke University. In his talk, he discusses the future of gigs and sharing in the economy and the role of storage could change. Additionally, he examines the messiness of economic revolutions and how a universal basic income could play a role in the next one. CC Music: Twisterium