Renowned US financial advisor, author, and podcaster David Bahnsen argues the best way to defend human flourishing against dangerous economic thinking is to relearn time-tested economic truths. David talks about his new book “There’s no Free Lunch: 250 Economic Truths” with show host Gene Tunny. David and Gene also talk about David’s previous books on the crisis of responsibility afflicting our societies, Elizabeth Warren’s economic policies, and investing in a post-crisis world. 

About this episode’s guest - David Bahnsen

David L. Bahnsen is Founder, Managing Partner, and Chief Investment Officer of the Bahnsen Group. He oversees the management of over $3.5 billion in client assets. Prior to launching The Bahnsen Group, he spent eight years as a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and six years as a Vice President at UBS. He is consistently named as one of the top financial advisors in America by Barron’s, Forbes, and the Financial Times (2016-2021).

Links relevant to the conversation

David Bahnsen’s books:

There’s No Free Lunch: 250 Economic Truths

Elizabeth Warren: How Her Presidency Would Destroy the Middle Class and the American Dream

The Case for Dividend Growth: Investing in a Post-Crisis World

Crisis of Responsibility: Our Cultural Addiction to Blame and How You Can Cure It

David’s podcasts:

Capital Record

The Dividend Cafe

Radio Free California

Other relevant links:

The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left by Yuval Levin

Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)

Thanks to the show’s audio engineer Josh Crotts for his assistance in producing the episode. 

Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.

The British-French supersonic airplane Concorde soared through the skies at Mach 2 in the years 1976 to 2003. Its history illuminates several important economic and business lessons. Is a supersonic airplane simply uneconomic or will commercial passengers fly supersonic again? Show host Gene Tunny and his fellow economist Arturo Espinoza Bocangel discuss.  

Links relevant to the conversation

EP129 which mentioned the Concorde:

https://economicsexplored.com/2022/03/07/top-10-insights-from-economics-ep129-show-notes-transcript/

Economist article on the Concorde with good summary of what went wrong:

https://www.economist.com/business/2003/10/16/after-concorde

Conversation article on future of supersonic air travel:

https://theconversation.com/supersonic-flights-are-set-to-return-heres-how-they-can-succeed-where-concorde-failed-162268

AP article on Concorde being “unexpected success” in 1986:

https://apnews.com/article/fa1e281d544267a8afe77afceaf3f03f

Early seventies cost-benefit analysis of the Concorde mentioned in the episode:

http://www.bath.ac.uk/e-journals/jtep/pdf/Volume_V1_No_3_225-239.pdf

Other websites consulted:

https://daily.jstor.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-supersonic-concorde/

https://www.businessinsider.com/concorde-supersonic-jet-history-2018-10?r=AU&IR=T

https://theadaptivemarketer.com/2012/01/14/a-pricing-lesson-from-the-concorde/

https://www.heritageconcorde.com/who-built-concorde

https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-concorde/

https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/concorde2.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/phil-collins-live-aid/

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/celebrity-passengers-and-caviar-at-55000-feet-what-it-was-like-to-fly-concorde-in-the-70s

https://www.economist.com/1843/2018/09/03/when-concorde-was-the-future

Thanks to the show’s audio engineer Josh Crotts for his assistance in producing the episode. 

Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.

We explore a new book “Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement to Regenerate Nature, Society, and the Economy”, by Dr Wayne Visser of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and Antwerp Management School. Wayne explains why the future will be better than you think.

About this episode’s guest - Wayne Visser

Wayne Visser is a globally recognised Cambridge “pracademic.” An idea-monger, storyteller, and meme weaver, he is the author of 40 books. His work as a champion for thriving, strategy analyst, sustainability academic, documentary filmmaker, poet, and professional speaker has taken him to more than 75 countries. He has been recognized by Trust Across America as one of the world’s top 100 thought leaders in trustworthy business and named a top-100 sustainability leader by ABC Carbon.

Dr. Visser currently serves as head tutor, fellow, and lecturer at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, as well as professor of integrated value at Antwerp Management School, where he holds the world’s first academic chair in sustainable transformation. He is also a director of the think tank and media company Kaleidoscope Futures Lab and founder of CSR International. Previous roles include director of sustainability services for KPMG and strategy analyst for Capgemini in South Africa.

Follow Wayne on Twitter: @WayneVisser

Links relevant to the conversation

Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement to Regenerate Nature, Society, and the Economy

DNA Spray-On Technology Could Revolutionize Food Traceability

Thanks to the show’s audio engineer Josh Crotts for his assistance in producing the episode. 

Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.

Show host Gene Tunny reviews his top ten insights from economics with Tim Hughes. These include insights regarding specialization and trade, opportunity cost, and the price mechanism, among others. Applications to traffic congestion and climate change, among other issues, are explored. 

An e-book of Gene's top 10 insights is available to  subscribers of the economicsexplored.com website.  

Links relevant to the conversation

On comparative advantage:

https://www.economicsonline.co.uk/global_economics/comparative_advantage.html

https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/ap-macroeconomics/basic-economics-concepts-macro/scarcity-and-growth/v/comparative-advantage-specialization-and-gains-from-trade

On California’s emissions reduction scheme:

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/cap-and-trade-program

Thanks to the show’s audio engineer Josh Crotts for his assistance in producing the episode. 

Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.

Philosophy Professor Deb Brown helps us explore some big questions around risk, cost-benefit analysis, and public policy, particularly relating to the pandemic. Deb also explains what was so important about the Enlightenment. 

About this episode’s guest - Prof. Deb Brown

Deborah Brown is Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry at the University of Queensland, Australia. During her time in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deb has coordinated a wide range of projects focusing on critical thinking. She has been instrumental in establishing connections and partnerships within the school sector, including with the Queensland Department of Education, as well as building partnerships across UQ and with international education providers. 

As part of her role, Deb works to link the UQ Critical Thinking Project into relevant projects within the university to provide educators with an understanding of how to embed critical thinking in classroom practice and assessment and to maximise outcomes for students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Deb has established a professional development program for educators, booster courses for school and university students and research collaborations with a diverse range of researchers from the broader UQ community. 

Deb has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland and a Master of Arts and PHD from the University of Toronto.

Links relevant to the conversation

Truth (or the lack of it) in politics and how to think critically with help from Descartes – EP123

Abbreviations

QALY Quality-Adjusted Life Year

Thanks to the show’s audio engineer Josh Crotts for his assistance in producing the episode. 

Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.

With US inflation at a 40-year high, who wins and who loses? Are greedy corporations to blame as some pundits are suggesting? A wide-ranging conversation with Darren Brady Nelson, Chief Economist of LibertyWorks, an Australian libertarian think tank, which also considers so-called Woke Capitalism and what’s going on with China. In the second part of the show, the Grattan Institute’s Economic Policy Program Director Brendan Coates explains the franking credits controversy, related to some peculiar Australian tax rules, to show host Gene Tunny.   

About this episode’s guests

Darren Brady Nelson is an Austrian School economist and liberty evangelion as well as a C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton style Christian. He is currently the Chief Economist at LibertyWorks of Brisbane Australia and a long-time policy advisor to The Heartland Institute of Chicago USA. He is also a regular commentator in traditional and online Australian and American media. Check out his full profile at Regular guests – Economics Explored.

Brendan Coates is the Economic Policy Program Director at Grattan Institute, where he leads Grattan’s work on tax and transfer system reform, retirement incomes and superannuation, housing, macroeconomics, and migration. He is a former macro-financial economist with the World Bank in Indonesia and consulted to the Bank in Latin America. Prior to that, he worked in the Australian Treasury in areas such as tax-transfer system reform and macro-economic forecasting, with a strong focus on the Chinese economy.

Links relevant to the conversation

Americans Return to Work as Biden Administration Work Disincentives Expire, but Jobs Remain Over 7 million Below Trend | Latest | America First Policy Institute (article referring to inflation tax of $855/year for an American family associated with a 7% yearly inflation rate)

Summers stumbles – John Quiggin

Woke Capitalism Is a Monopoly Game | Mises Wire

Joe Biden appears to insult Fox News reporter over inflation question

The implications of removing refundable franking credits - Grattan Institute

Charts

US CPI inflation rate, through-the-year

US Producer Prices inflation rate, through-the-year

US inflation expectations - University of Michigan estimates

Clarifications

“Average hourly earnings for all employees on US private nonfarm payrolls increased by 5.7% year-on-year in January of 2022” (see United States Average Hourly Earnings YoY - January 2022 Data - 2007-2021 Historical) This compares with inflation running at 7.5% through-the-year. 

Amazon hikes average US starting pay to $18, hires for 125,000 jobs | Reuters

Abbreviations

CPI Consumer Price Index

PPI Producer Price Index

Credits

Thanks to Darren and Brendan for great insights and conversation, and to the show’s audio engineer Josh Crotts for his assistance in producing the episode. 

Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.

The economics of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) is explored with Ben Phillips, Associate Professor at the Australian National University, and a leading expert on microsimulation modelling. Also, show host Gene Tunny reflects on experimental evidence regarding UBI.

About this episode’s guest - Ben Phillips

Associate Professor Ben Phillips is a Principal Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Research and Methods. He has nearly 20 years of experience as an economic and social researcher in Australia. Prior to joining the ANU Ben was responsible for a range of modelling projects at NATSEM including the STINMOD microsimulation model of Australia’s tax and transfer system. Ben managed several key projects including the distributional analysis of the Australian Government’s 2014-15 and 2015-16 Budgets.

Prior to joining the ANU Ben twice worked at NATSEM and has also had roles at the Australian Bureau of Statistics as a methodologist and economist, The Housing Industry Association as a senior economist and the Bureau of Tourism Research as an economic forecaster. Ben has a first class honours degree in economics and is undertaking a PhD through the Crawford School of Public Policy focusing on the tax and transfer system.

Links relevant to the conversation

EP112 – Taxing the rich: Billionaire and inheritance taxes with Miranda Stewart

Ben’s co-authored 2019 paper: A basic income for Australia? Exploring rationale, design, distribution and cost

Economist article Gene quotes from: Might the pandemic pave the way for a universal basic income?

Thanks to the show’s audio engineer Josh Crotts for his assistance in producing the episode. 

Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored. 

Price controls are being suggested by some commentators as a way to fight inflation. But, as Lawrence W. Reed, President Emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education explains, price controls would be a really bad idea. Larry also chats with show host Gene Tunny about whether Jesus was a socialist, why banks and the state should be kept separate, and why President Biden would benefit from lessons on infrastructure from the 21st President Chester A. Arthur. 

About this episode’s guest - Lawrence W. Reed

Lawrence W. (“Larry”) Reed became President of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in 2008 after serving as chairman of its board of trustees in the 1990s and both writing and speaking for FEE since the late 1970s. He previously served for 21 years as President of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, Michigan (1987-2008). He also taught economics full-time from 1977 to 1984 at Northwood University in Michigan and chaired its department of economics from 1982 to 1984.

In May 2019, he retired to the role of President Emeritus at FEE and assumed the titles of Humphreys Family Senior Fellow, and Ron Manners Global Ambassador for Liberty. 

He holds a B.A. in economics from Grove City College (1975) and an M.A. degree in history from Slippery Rock State University (1978), both in Pennsylvania. He holds two honorary doctorates, one from Central Michigan University (public administration, 1993) and Northwood University (laws, 2008).

Reed has authored nearly 2,000 columns and articles in newspapers, magazines and journals in the United States and abroad. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Examiner, Christian Science Monitor, Intellectual Takeout, USA Today, Baltimore Sun, The Epoch Times, Detroit News and Detroit Free Press, among many others. He has authored or coauthored eight books, the most recent being  Was Jesus a Socialist? (a major expansion in 2020 of an earlier essay) and Real Heroes: Inspiring True Stories of Courage, Character and Conviction.  Additionally, he co-authored and edited five e-Books. See the “Books” section of this web site for more info. He is frequently interviewed on radio talk shows and has appeared as a guest on numerous television programs.

Links relevant to the conversation

Larry’s article “Price controls: killing the messenger”:

https://elamerican.com/price-controls-killing-the-messenger/

Larry’s article “Why I wish we could put Chester Arthur and Joe Biden in a room together to talk infrastructure spending”:

https://fee.org/articles/why-i-wish-we-could-put-chester-arthur-and-joe-biden-in-a-room-together-to-talk-infrastructure-spending/

Larry’s article “The World’s Oldest Republic Reveals the Secret to Peace and Prosperity”:

https://fee.org/articles/the-world-s-oldest-republic-reveals-the-secret-to-peace-and-prosperity/

Larry’s article “Why the Separation of Bank and State Is so Important”:

https://fee.org/articles/why-the-separation-of-bank-and-state-is-so-important/

Leonard E. Read’s article “I, Pencil”:

https://fee.org/resources/i-pencil/

Article on “Is It Wrong for Christians to Raise Rent on Tenants? Dave Ramsey Sparks Controversy With His Answer”:

https://churchleaders.com/news/414426-is-it-wrong-for-christians-to-raise-rent-on-tenants-dave-ramsey-sparks-controversy-with-his-answer.html

The parable of the vineyard workers: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zd76rj6/revision/5

Thanks to the show’s audio engineer Josh Crotts for his assistance in producing the episode. 

Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.

RMIT’s Dr Leonora Risse, formerly of Harvard’s Women and Public Policy Program, argues greater gender diversity in economics would improve the quality of economic analysis and policy advice. Arguably, it would shine more light on and promote solutions to gender inequality (e.g. the gender pay gap). Is Leonora right, or is this “self-serving identity politics” as some fellow economists have alleged about a focus on gender issues? Economics Explored host Gene Tunny explores this question in a wide-ranging conversation with Leonora. The discussion considers differing average preferences among male and female economists on policy issues such as fiscal austerity and redistribution, touching on UBI. 

About this episode’s guest - Dr Leonora Risse

Dr Leonora Risse is an economist who specialises in gender equality. She is a Research Fellow with the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia, and recently spent time in residence at Harvard University as a Research Fellow with the Women and Public Policy Program.

Leonora is a co-founder of the Women in Economics Network (WEN) in Australia and currently serves as the WEN National Chair. Leonora earned her PhD in Economics from the University of Queensland, and previously served as a Senior Research Economist for the Australian Government Productivity Commission. She is currently appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Economics at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

Leonora’s research focuses on understanding gender differences in economic opportunities and outcomes, encompassing such issues as the gender pay gap, women’s under-representation in leadership, and the influence of societal norms. Her areas of expertise extend to labour economics, demographic economics, economic psychology, disadvantage and wellbeing.

She engages regularly with public audiences, government, industry and community groups on gender equality issues. This includes identifying evidence-based strategies to close gender gaps and applying a ‘gender lens’ to economic analysis and policy design.

Leonora was named among Apolitical’s 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy in 2021.

Leonora’s Twitter handle: @leonora_risse

Links relevant to the conversation

Leonora’s papers:

Lifting diversity and inclusion in economics: How the Australian Women in Economics Network put the evidence into action

Economics and Gender Equality: A Lens from Within

Other material:

Reserve Bank of Australia: Women in Economics educational material

The Gender Pay Gap with Dr Leonora Risse

Thanks to the show’s audio engineer Josh Crotts for his assistance in producing the episode. 

Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.

Why politicians need to stop lying and cut the endless BS. A conversation with Philosophy Professor Deb Brown, Director of the Critical Thinking Project at the University of Queensland. Deb also chats with show host Gene Tunny and guest co-host Tim Hughes about what it means to think critically, drawing on her expertise in philosophy, including her study of Descartes.      

About this episode’s guest - Professor Deb Brown

Deborah Brown is Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry at the University of Queensland, Australia. During her time in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deb has coordinated a wide range of projects focusing on critical thinking. She has been instrumental in establishing connections and partnerships within the school sector, including with the Queensland Department of Education, as well as building partnerships across UQ and with international education providers. 

As part of her role, Deb works to link the UQ Critical Thinking Project into relevant projects within the university to provide educators with an understanding of how to embed critical thinking in classroom practice and assessment and to maximise outcomes for students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Deb has established a professional development program for educators, booster courses for school and university students and research collaborations with a diverse range of researchers from the broader UQ community. 

Deb has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland and a Master of Arts and PHD from the University of Toronto.

Links relevant to the conversation

Abbreviations Deb uses:

• NAPLAN: National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy
• SES: Socio-economic status

The Australian ABC News article Deb was quoted in:

Is telling the truth too much to ask of our politicians?

A book Deb highly recommends:

On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt

Article on the AUKUS (Australia-UK-US) nuclear submarine agreement:

https://www.ussc.edu.au/analysis/explainer-what-is-the-aukus-partnership

NPR report on Trump-Trudeau argument about the US’s trade balance with Canada:

Trump Admits To Making Up Trade Deficit In Talks With Canadian Prime Minister

Note that the claim made by President Trump was that the US was running a trade deficit with Canada, whereas the US typically has a trade surplus with Canada (i.e. typically US exports of goods and services to Canada exceed imports to the US from Canada). The White House argued that President Trump was referring to the trade balance relating to goods only and excluding services. 

Thanks to the show’s audio engineer Josh Crotts for his assistance in producing the episode. 

Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.