The Week in Policymaker Ignorance

Scott considers the implicit assumptions underlying various responses to two recent news items, the Supreme Court's decision in the affirmative action cases and the injunction against the Biden Administration's internet censorship program.

In this last part of a three-part series, Scott analyzes the role that policymaker ignorance played in a number of crucial events in the lead up to the beginning of World War One.

In the second part of a multi-part series on policymaker ignorance and the start of World War One, Scott discusses the pre-history of the Great War.

The first part of a multi-part series on the role of policymaker ignorance in the decision to go to war in 1914. In this episode, Scott lays out the cast of characters, describes some narratives, and explores some themes to feature in subsequent parts of the series.

Scott discusses some prior co-authored work on policymaker ignorance and the history of nutrition policy in the United States. Here's a link to a preprint version of the paper discussed in the episode:

Social and Scientific Disorder as Epistemic Phenomena, or The Consequences of Government Dietary Guidelines

Co-authored with William Butos and Thomas McQuade. Butos and McQuade's recent (and relevant) book can be found here:

https://www.amazon.com/Hayekian-Systems-Structure-Interaction-Foundations-ebook/dp/B0BRYNMSKQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=C57NKABN712R&keywords=hayekian+systems&qid=1685833658&sprefix=hayekian+syste%2Caps%2C218&sr=8-1

Scott discusses the wisdom (or lack thereof) of the EPA's new proposed greenhouse-gas emissions standards.

Scott considers the Durham Report in the light of the problem of policymaker ignorance.

Do policymakers know enough to slow the rise of the oceans and heal our planet?

Scott revisits several topics discussed in prior episodes that have once again been in the news recently and looks forward to a future episode on policymaker ignorance and environmental policymaking.