In this episode, we explore everything from missing teaspoons and land acknowledgments to capital punishment and medieval economic thinking. We examine what everyday shortages reveal about prices and incentives, debate China’s use of executions for online scams, and unpack why symbolic gestures like mandatory land acknowledgments often collapse under scrutiny. We’re also joined by Andrew Heaton, host of The Political Orphanage podcast, to discuss zero-sum thinking, inequality versus poverty, and why so many economic intuitions still haven’t escaped the Dark Ages. Along the way, we look at profit caps, price controls, and the persistent temptation to treat economics like theology rather than systems thinking.

00:00 Introduction and Overview

00:28 Land Acknowledgment

01:30 The Curious Case of the Disappearing Teaspoons

03:31 What Teaspoons Teach Us About Prices and Resources

06:04 China Executes Online Scammers

08:21 When Capital Punishment Expands Too Far

09:51 Foolishness of the Week: Mandatory Land Acknowledgments

13:13 Free Speech, Property Theory, and a Faculty Lawsuit

18:32 Andrew Heaton Joins the Show

21:12 Economics Thinking That Never Escaped the Dark Ages

24:42 Zero-Sum Thinking and the Origins of Envy

27:37 Why Humans Think in Proportions, Not Absolutes

29:53 Inequality vs. Poverty

34:59 Greed, Merchants, and Medieval Economics

37:20 Why Price Controls Never Work

41:08 Theology vs. Economics

42:43 Why Profit Caps Backfire

48:09 Supply and Demand Is Not Optional

51:48 Systems Thinking vs. Witch Hunts

55:01 Why Bad Incentives Create Bad Outcomes

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