In this first episode of Ideas and Lives, Professor Meir Kohn of Dartmouth College describes his historically-based theory of economic growth, based on his manuscript,Commerce, predation, and production: a new theory of economic progress. His interview with fellow economists Bob Lerman and Zvi Bodie not only offers an in-depth discussion of this theory but also deals with Meir's life journey from birth in Czechoslovakia, to growing up in England, to joining a kibbutz in Israel, and to becoming an accomplished economist in the US.  In addition, Meir describes his intellectual journey from econometrics, to finance and banking, and finally to the lessons of economic history for inform economic progress.