We’re experiencing the rise of a new kind of socialist. The original definition of socialism—state ownership of the means of production—is beginning to fall by the wayside. What self-proclaimed socialists are asking for now is for the state to control the means of production. While this might seem like a pedantic distinction, it’s an important one. But the rebranding of socialism by democratic socialists like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez still fails to take into account the most important aspect of sound economics: human behavior. Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they drill down into the pitfalls of socialism and more on this week’s episode of Words and Numbers.

Show Notes:

Half the world will be middle-class by 2020

World poverty rates

Madsen Pirie

High schooler faces prison for shooting zombies

Foolishness of the week

NASCAR driver loses sponsorship for father’s remarks

Topic of the week: Socialism

Socialism

Theory of pervasive shortages under socialism

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Antony Davies on Twitter

James R. Harrigan on Twitter

Words & Numbers Backstage

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