Russ and Levi discuss tariff policy and the costs associated with recent tariffs designed to protect American jobs. How should we evaluate the costs and benefits of tariffs? 

Levi and Russ discuss the concept of the universal destination of goods. What are the limits of property rights? How do we understand moral obligations to help others financially?

Show Notes

Faith and Economics - Federal Food Programs: Efficiency and Ethics

Faith and Economics - Universal Basic Income

The Religious Roots of Modern Poverty Policy

Lecture by Edward Feser

Blog article by Jacyn Dawes

Drs. Maria Pia Paganelli, Derek Yonai, and Michael Thomas join us to discuss Adam Smith's body of work and its implications for the place of economics in social science today.

We dig into the mailbag for this episode! How do economists understand government debt? Can this understanding inform our ethical views of debt?

Russ, Levi, and Jacob discuss one of the most popular proposals for a Universal Basic Income. Democrat presidential candidate Andrew Yang's proposed "Freedom Dividend" was recently criticized by the Acton Institute. We provide important commentary on his proposal and Acton's response!

We discuss the origins of capitalism in the west. What did early monasteries have to do with it? Were they early entrepreneurs?

Show notes:

How Caring for the Poor Led to the Beginnings of Capitalism

How Progressive is the US Tax Code?

We discuss an interesting graph of changes in the cost of products and services over the past few decades. Does the increasing cost of health care and education make a normal, prosperous middle class life more difficult? Does the reduction in cost of other things offset this pernicious effect?

Acton institute blog article

From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State by David Beito

Atlas MD

American Association of Physicians and Surgeons

We discuss the notion of Democratic Socialism and its relationship to Christianity. Should Christians embrace Democratic Socialism? Is this political philosophy, advocated by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex and Bernie Sanders, a coherent way forward?

This week we talk with Professor Jeremy Jackson of North Dakota State University about his research on the relationship between economic freedom in the U.S., happiness, and social capital. Are residents of more economically free states happier? Do they form more tight-knit communities?

In this episode, Russ, Jacyn, and Jacob discuss biblical and financial instances of moral hazard, asymmetric information, and "Too Big to Fail."