As Milton Friedman thought that the weight of careful research about the negative effects of the minimum wage would lead to an overwhelming consensus among economists and ultimately end public support for the policy. It didn’t work out that way, as anyone old enough to remember the “Fight for Fifteen” movement knows. Peter and Paul discuss Richard McKenzie’s article about Friedman’s prediction, why Friedman got it wrong, and the furor over an influential 1994 study that showed no negative employment effects.

In conjunction with Regulation Magazine Winter 2025 Edition.

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You might’ve heard that building more roads to reduce traffic doesn’t really work because of induced demand, the way in which building new infrastructure simultaneously creates more demand. In this episode, Peter and Paul discuss a similar effect for housing, which could make it harder to reduce housing inflation. In addition, they examine a counterintuitive finding: the cheaper a rental housing unit is, the higher the profit margins. That is the opposite of profits for new home construction, where higher-end housing commands larger margins.

In conjunction with Regulation Magazine Fall 2025 edition.

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Four decades ago, America stopped building new nuclear power plants. Some economists have even linked that decision to the era of lost economic growth known as the “Great Stagnation.” But now demand for energy is exploding, given the need for data centers to service AI, the electrification of cars, and other energy-thirsty applications. Nuclear energy boosters have declared an incipient nuclear renaissance, but, as Peter and Paul discuss, Steve Thomas’ cover article for Regulation Magazine, “The Next Nuclear Renaissance,” questions whether a nuclear energy production boom is actually coming to a reactor near you any time soon.

In conjunction with Regulation Magazine Fall 2025 edition.

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President Trump recently fired the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), claiming that the downward revision of employment numbers was evidence of some kind of conspiracy to make the administration look bad. Paul and Peter unpack what it is that the BLS actually does, why it’s constantly revising its estimates, and the potential negative consequences of politicizing economic data collection.

In conjunction with Regulation Magazine Fall 2025 edition

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The standard, classroom story about the history of antitrust starts with crusading progressive activists breaking up the Standard Oil trust in 1911 to save consumers from corporate greed. But a closer look at the case shows something rather different: a story about anti-competitive rent-seeking hidden in the guise of fighting for the little guy. Peter and Paul discuss William Shughart’s Regulation article “Reappreaising Standard Oil” and then apply what they learn to contemporary antitrust cases like Epic Games v Apple.

In conjunction with Regulation Magazine Summer 2025 edition.

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Wealthy Americans are able to avoid taxes through an accounting strategy known as “buy, borrow, and die.” It’s why Donald Trump is able to pay as little as $0 in federal income taxes some years. But, as Peter and Paul discuss, it turns out that the strategy might work differently than researchers used to think. 

Then, in the second half of the show, they discuss a surprising finding about income equality in Scandanavia, which isn’t a product of any of popular progressive redistribution policies like welfare benefits or parental leave. Rather, it’s because of significant wage compression and reduced income for highly educated workers.

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The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which subsidizes National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, received half a billion dollars from the federal government each year. While budget battles over the amount of funding are routine, there are more fundamental questions at stake. Join Peter Van Doren and Paul Matzko as they dig into the surprising, partisan history of the origins of public media and the unintended consequences of government subsidies.

In conjunction with Regulation Magazine Summer 2025 edition.

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Every minute, over 500 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube. Some of those videos likely infringe on existing intellectual property rights. In his Regulation cover article, law professor Jonathan Barnett argues that protections for intellectual property, including on platforms like YouTube, have become too weakened. That has resulted in a massive redistribution of wealth from IP holders to online platforms and users. Yet by lowering the functional costs of sharing ideas and data, the internet has generated an explosion in creativity, which is ostensibly the purpose of granting IP rights in the first place. Join Peter and Paul as they discuss whether there’s an optimal degree of strictness for intellectual property rights.

In conjunction with Regulation Magazine Spring 2025 edition.

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One of the hottest debated topics in environmental pollution policy is PM2.5, particulate matter that is so small it can bypass your respiratory system’s filters and enter your bloodstream. Everyone agrees that it’s a potential problem, but Paul and Peter discuss why a single national standard for PM2.5 might be an expensive mistake that actually hurts public health by misallocating attention and resources.

In conjunction with Regulation Magazine Spring 2025 edition.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.