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Jeremy Horpedahl is the director of the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics and an associate professor at the University of Central Arkansas . Today we talk about American Compass’s Cost of Thriving Index (COTI), what it says and why it is wrong.

The COTI shows that Americans today have a higher cost of thriving than ever before, but in a paper with AEI’s Scott Winship, Horpedahl corrects the index and shows that the cost of thriving has instead decreased. Some of the corrections are essential to the average American’s life, for example accounting for changes in taxation in the past few decades. Listen in to hear more about the cost of thriving today, why it has decreased, and how I cannot pronounce COTI for the life of me.   

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Jeremy Lott is the managing editor at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, but he also has written several Adam Smith comics for Adam Smith Works, and written an impressively wide range of books, from a novel about William F. Buckley Jr.’s faith to children's books like Growlilocks to comics like Movie Men. 

Today, we talk about his experience creating in so many different mediums and the purpose of art, as well as the ideas of Adam Smith and their place in America today. 

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Today, I host Lawrence White on the podcast. He is an economics professor at George Mason University with a specialty in the history and theory of banking and money and is the author of several books including Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin.

We talk about why on earth money and monetary policy come across as so intimidating, then he takes us on a tour of the different currencies we’ve used. We talk about federal banks, the debate between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, and the use of cryptocurrencies. 

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Aaron Ross Powell, formerly of the Cato Institute (at the time of this interview), and currently the host of podcasts ReImagining Liberty and Zooming In, talks to us about his new book with Paul Matzko called Visions of Liberty.

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The Great Antidote is on a break from recording new content right now, but please enjoy this rerun of one of our favorites in the meantime. Happy Summer and catch you soon with new content!

Arnold Kling is an economist and the author of the book The Three Languages of Politics: Talking Across Political Divides. His substack, In My Tribe, explores many areas of economics and policy. Today, he talks to us about the divide in politics, explaining the need for his book and giving current examples. We explore affective polarization and the rise of polarization generally. 

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The Great Antidote is on a break from recording new content right now, but please enjoy this rerun of one of our favorites in the meantime. Happy Summer and catch you soon with new content!

Scott Winship, resident scholar and the director of poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), joins us this week to discuss the United States' "War on Poverty", the welfare state, and the future of anti-poverty policy.

Don't miss Kevin Lavery's Extra on this episode at AdamSmithWorks!

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The Great Antidote is on a break from recording new content right now, but please enjoy this rerun of one of our favorites in the meantime. Happy Summer and catch you soon with new content!

William B. Allen, resident scholar and former chief operating officer of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, talks to us today about the book he recently edited, The State of Black America. He tells us about his upbringing and the current narrative about racism and policy in the United States. Is it a problem? What should we do about it? 

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Emily Hamilton is a senior research fellow and the director of the Urbanity Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. 

Today, we talk about the current housing market and the regulations that prevent the building of more affordable, diverse, and abundant types of housing. Hamilton tells us the story of DC and similar areas, where deregulation of housing has begun, explaining the effects. We talk about NIMBY arguments against deregulation, her responses to them, and what deregulation would mean for Americans. 

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This week is going to be a little different. Today I am excited to share with you a recording of the play Enquiry Concerning Hereafter by Duane Kelly.  (You can also read the script here.)

The play is about the friendship between (and deaths of) Adam Smith and David Hume. Enjoy! 

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This week is going to be a little different. Today I am excited to share with you a recording of the play Enquiry Concerning Hereafter by Duane Kelly.  (You can also read the script here.)

The play is about the friendship between (and deaths of) Adam Smith and David Hume. Enjoy! 

Support the show

Never miss another AdamSmithWorks update.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.