Free Thoughts

Corey DeAngelis comes on the podcast to breakdown the different components of school choice and how it has evolved in the last 2 decades. In summary, DeAngelis believes that families have the best information about what their children need when it comes to education. This isn't a debate about private vs. public schools, but rather a debate about where money can best be spent for each and every student.

What is the difference between an education savings account and a school voucher?

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John Pfaff describes how the pandemic lockdown helped push down many crimes, but last year saw an unprecedented spike in homicides nationwide, likely more than twice the largest previous one-year rise. The spike in homicides will surely alter the politics of reform, now and in the years ahead.

Was there a COVID crime wave? Are shooting underreported or over-reported?

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Michael Huemer spends the show addressing many controversial philosophical questions; How can we know about the world outside our minds? Is there a God? Do we have free will? Are there objective values? What distinguishes morally right from morally wrong actions?

Why do people question the value of general philosophical knowledge? Why should people try to be rational?

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The reality is that when businesses respond to market prices and wages in ways that maximize share values they generally promote the welfare of a far larger number of stakeholders than when businesses discount the importance of share values in order to intentionally promote the welfare of stakeholders. Don Boudreaux joins the podcast to discuss the difference between stakeholder capitalism and shareholder capitalism and how they both relate to corporate responsibility.

What are the differences between shareholders and stakeholders?

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As governments and tech platforms seek to address the concerns driving the “techlash,” Neil talks about the lessons that provide guidance on how to avoid the worst pitfalls that could adversely affect efforts to improve the human condition online.

What is "legibility"? What concerns drive the “techlash” and what should platforms and governments do to address them?

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Daniel Shapiro examines how major welfare institutions, such as government-financed and -administered retirement pensions, national health insurance, and programs for the needy, actually work. Comparing them to compulsory private insurance and private charities, Shapiro argues that the dominant perspectives in political philosophy mistakenly think that their principles support the welfare state.

What is the difference between option luck and brute luck?

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There is much disagreement about what being a neoliberal actually means. It's generally believed to be a philosophical view that a society’s political and economic institutions should be robustly liberal and capitalist, but supplemented by a constitutionally limited democracy and a modest welfare state. But that certainly leaves room for much interpretation.

How does neoliberalism relate to utilitarianism? What is the relationship between neoliberalism and democracy?

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