Economic Rockstar

This is a 3rd instalment of my interviews with Professor David Kyle Johnson, an  Associate Professor of Philosophy at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

We catch up again after watching the 1973 dystopian movie 'Soylent Green' and discuss some economics and philosophical themes that run through the movie.

I hope you enjoy this one. Make sure to listen to episodes 146 and 151 featuring Professor Johnson.

Check out the show notes page for all links and resources mentioned in this episode over at www.economicrockstar.com/soylentgreen

This is a continuation of my conversation with Professor David Kyle Johnson from Episode 146.

Here we talk about some economic themes present in the 1970s movie Soylent Green and more.

Show notes at www.economicrockstar.com/episode151

Support the show for as little as $1 per month at www.patreon.com/economicrockstar

Thanks again for your continued support. It's always appreciated.

Chris Blattman is the Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies at The University of Chicago’s Pearson Institute and Harris Public Policy.

He is an economist and political scientist who studies poverty, violence and crime in developing countries.

Chris has designed and evaluated strategies for tackling poverty, including cash transfers to the poorest.

Much of his work is with the victims and perpetrators of crime and violence, testing the link between poverty and violence.

His recent work looks at other sources of and solutions to violence.

These solutions range from behavioral therapy to social norm change and local-level state building.

He has worked mainly in Colombia, Liberia, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Chicago’s South Side.

Dr. Blattman was previously a faculty member at Columbia and Yale Universities, and holds a PhD in Economics from UC Berkeley and a Master’s in Public Administration and International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School.

He chairs the Peace & Recovery sector at Innovations for Poverty Action and the Crime, Violence and Conflict initiative at MIT’s Poverty Action Lab.

Check out the show notes page for all the links, books and resources mentioned in this episode over at www.economicrockstar.com/chrisblattman

Support the podcast for as little as $1 per month over at Patreon: www.patreon.com/economicrockstar

Soumaya Keynes is the economics and trade correspondent at The Economist. She writes for the print edition and the Free Exchange blog.

Before joining The Economist Soumaya did research on the public finances and pensions at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an economic research institute.

Before that Soumaya worked in the Banking and Credit team at Her Majesty’s Treasury in London. Soumaya has an M.Phil. and B.A. in Economics from Trinity College, Cambridge.

She is co-host of a weekly podcast on trade economics called Trade Talks.

Check out the books, links and resources mentioned in this episode at www.economicrockstar.com/soumayakeynes

Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/economicrockstar

Tom W. Bell earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago in 1993, then practiced law in Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. before serving as a policy director at the Cato Institute. In 1998, he joined the faculty of Chapman University, Fowler School of Law, where he teaches all of the first-year common law courses and electives in high-tech and intellectual property law. Professor Bell has published papers on copyright, Internet law, polycentric law, prediction markets, and the Third Amendment (the one about quartering troops).

His books include "Intellectual Privilege: Copyright, Common Law, and the Common Good" (Mercatus 2014) and "Your Next Government? From the Nation State to Stateless Associations" (Cambridge University Press 2017). Through Archimediate LLC, Tom designs, installs, and supports legal systems for special jurisdictions. Most recently, that work has taken him to French Polynesia, where he helped forge a memorandum of understanding to allow seasteading in that island paradise.

Check out the show notes page at www.economicrockstar.com/tomwbell

Support the podcast for as little as $1 per month over at www.patreon.com/economicrockstar

Ngaio Hotte is a Ph.D candidate at the University of British Columbia. Her research title is ‘How can trust be built among parties engaged in collaborative natural resource governance?’ and she draws influence from the work of the only female Nobel laureate in economics, Elinor Ostrom.

Ngaio’s Research Interests include trust, government-to-government relations, Indigenous communities, collaboration and natural resources and we touch on some of these topics in out conversation in this episode.

Ngaio is co-founder of the consultancy firm Resource Economics Group, which is based in British Columbia in Canada. Resource Economics Group specializes in natural resources policy, planning and management. They do research and support decision-making related to the many values of natural resources and trade-offs associated with managing these values for the benefit of people and the planet.

You can find out more about Ngaio’s work at www.resource-economics.ca.

Check out all the links, resources, papers and books mentioned in this episode over at www.economicrockstar.com/ngaiohotte

Support the show on Patreon for as little as $1 per month. Find out more at www.patreon.com/economicrockstar

Dr. David Kyle Johnson is Associate Professor of Philosophy at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He earned a master’s degree and doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oklahoma.

At Oklahoma, he won the coveted Kenneth Merrill Graduate Teaching Award. In 2011, the American Philosophical Association’s committee on public philosophy gave him an award for his ability to make philosophy accessible to the general public.

Professor Johnson regularly teaches classes on metaphysics, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, and logic, as well as courses on critical thinking and scientific reasoning. He has published papers on human freedom, the problem of natural evil, the multiverse, the existence of souls, and many related topics in such journals as Religious Studies, Sophia, Philo, Philosophy and Literature, and Think. He also maintains two blogs for Psychology Today.

Professor Johnson also publishes on the intersection of pop culture and philosophy. One of his books, Inception and Philosophy: Because It’s Never Just a Dream, inspired an authors@Google talk with more than half-a-million YouTube views. He also has written numerous articles that explore the relationship between philosophical questions and such pop cultural phenomena as The Hobbit, Doctor Who, Batman, South Park, Johnny Cash, Quentin Tarantino, and Christmas.

Check out the shownotes page for all the links, books and resources mentioned in this episode at www.economicrockstar.com/davidkylejohnson

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com.economicrockstar

Marie Mora is professor of economics at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Professor Mora serves as director of the National Science Foundation-funded American Economic Association Mentoring Program and has served on the board of the American Economic Association’s Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession.

She also served two terms as a member of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data Users Advisory Committee, two terms as president of the American Society of Hispanic Economists and was a member of the Dallas Fed’s Texas Border Colonias Study Steering Committee and the Early Education Subcommittee of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee.

Her recognitions include the Outstanding Support of Hispanic Issues in Higher Education Award from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education and the Cesar Estrada Chavez Award from the American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity.

Marie Mora was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ San Antonio Branch in 2018.

She has co-authored a number of books Population, Migration, and Socioeconomic Outcomes of Island and Mainland Puerto Ricans and Hispanic Entrepreneurs in the 2000s.

Check out the links, books and resources over at the shownotes page at www.economicrockstar.com/mariemora

Support the show at www.patreon.com/economicrockstar

Donald Boudreaux is an American economist, author, professor, and co-director of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

He is the author of the 2007 and 2012 books Globalization and Hypocrites and Half-Wits, respectively.

He contributes a column twice a month to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and contributes to the Cafe Hayek blog.

Check out the links, books and resources mentioned in this episode at www.economicrockstar.com/donaldboudreaux

Mike Melissinos began his research into investing philosophy while working as a junior analyst at Bear Stearns and J.P. Morgan. Both the collapse of Bear and the Financial Crisis, in general, were eye-opening experiences and motivated him to launch his own investment firm – namely, to offer a better way to protect capital while still being able to capitalize on major trends.

He graduated from Seton Hall University (2006) with a degree in Accounting. In 2007, Michael worked as a hedge fund auditor for Rothstein Kass; from 2007-2009, he worked as an analyst for Bear Stearns and J.P. Morgan; and from 2009-2010, as an equities trader for SMB Capital.

In January 2011, four partners contributed a total of $300,000 to help Michael launch his investment management career. Today, he manages over $5 million for individuals and institutions.

Check out all the links, books and resources mentioned in this episode over at www.economicrockstar.com/mikemelissinos.

To support the podcast on Patreon, check out www.patreon.com/economicrockstar