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Words & Numbers — Education
Words & Numbers

Words & Numbers is one of the highest-rated economics podcasts in the world. Each episode, Antony Davies and James R. Harrigan dig into economics, political science, and current events to explain what’s actually happening and why it matters.

Copyright: © Creative Commons

Latest Episodes:

Episode 192: Trading with Benefits Oct 14, 2020

Show notes

The United States is poised to rack up a record trade deficit this year. Politicians and the media will make a big deal about this, but the truth is that trade deficits really don’t matter. Trade is simply an exchange. So long as it’s voluntary, by definition, both parties are better off.

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http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com

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Quick Hits

US Debthttps://www.cnn.com/2020/10/08/economy/deficit-debt-pandemic-cbo/index.html https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEGDQ188S

Facebook Currencyhttps://news.trust.org/item/20201012143626-bfcy3

Foolishness of the Week

Super Trump

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/520540-trump-wanted-to-rip-open-shirt-to-show-superman-t-shirt-when-leaving

Topic of the Week

Trade Deficit

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IEABC

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https://twitter.com/antonydavies

James R. Harrigan on Twitter

https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan

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Episode 191: Your Post-Game Presidential Debate Oct 07, 2020

Show notes

James and Ant offer a post-game discussion of the first Presidential debate. Unfortunately, “post-game” is the right word because, for as much as the left and right bicker, the two parties have become largely the same. Regardless of who wins, the government goes on doing the same things it has always done. Mostly what people do now is to root for their team, not out of principle, but because it’s their team.

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Quick Hits

Swearing Parrots

https://www.insider.com/foul-fowl-language-2020-9

Armenia and Azerbaijan Conflict

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/armenia-azerbaijan-clash-nagorno-karabakh-why-it-could-get-uglier/

Foolishness of the Week

Mask Bashing

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/top-trump-campaign-official-ridicules-joe-biden-s-mask-wearing-n1242041

Topic of the Week: The Presidential Debate

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Antony Davies on Twitter

https://twitter.com/antonydavies

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https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan

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Episode 190: What the Supreme Court Got Right Sep 30, 2020

Show notes

We devote plenty of time to discussing things that the government does wrong. This week, we change gears as Clark Neily joins us to discuss things throughout history that the Supreme Court has done right.

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Quick Hits

Deaths by Car and SUV

https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/passenger-vehicle-occupants

https://newsroom.aaa.com/tag/driving-cost-per-mile/

Term Limits for the Supremes?

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/09/25/democrats-introduce-bill-to-democratize-supreme-court-limit-terms-to-18-years/

Rationing

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/other/uk-supermarkets-tesco-and-morrisons-are-rationing-toilet-paper-and-hand-sanitizer-as-fears-of-panic-buying-return-one-worker-said-their-store-was-worse-than-a-bad-christmas/ar-BB19pTBr

Foolishness of the Week

Time Travelling Professor

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleiii

Topic of the Week: The Supreme Court's History

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Antony Davies on Twitter

https://twitter.com/antonydavies

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https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan

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Episode 189: Living That Post-COVID Life Sep 23, 2020

Show notes

Little by little, things appear to be getting back to normal following COVID and the lockdown. James and Ant discuss what the world will look like as we recover from COVID.

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Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon

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Quick Hits

Emu Today and Tomorrow

https://www.emutoday.com

Flight to Nowhere

https://gizmodo.com/australias-7-hour-flight-to-nowhere-sells-out-instantly-1845101789

First Annual Clusterchuck

https://www.pittwire.pitt.edu/news/history-professor-s-far-flung-fun-brings-students-together

Trump Endangering Journalists

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/517270-msnbc-trump-endangering-journalists-undermining-freedoms-with-comments-about

Foolishness of the Week

Supreme Court Appointment

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/over-our-dead-bodies-liberals-threatens-to-burn-it-all-down-if-gop-replace-ginsburg-before-election-day

Topic of the Week: Things Returning to Normal

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Antony Davies on Twitter

https://twitter.com/antonydavies

James R. Harrigan on Twitter

https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan

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Episode 188: Crypto Coercion Sep 16, 2020

Show notes

Roger Ver, founder of bitcoin.com joins us this week to discuss the emergence of cryptocurrency as the answer to the problem of inflated sovereign currencies. Widespread adoption of cryptocurrency will likely emerge at about the same time that the US dollar begins to lose its value to the inflation needed to fund the government’s insatiable appetite for debt.

Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now!

http://www.cooperationandcoercion.com

Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon

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Quick Hits

Payroll Tax Deferral

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/11/business/trump-payroll-tax-cut.html

Mumbai Traffic Lights

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/05/india/mumbai-traffic-lights-tests-scli-intl/index.html

Foolishness of the Week

Joe Exotic

https://www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/amazon-picks-up-show-starring-nicolas-cage-as-joe-exotic-the-tiger-king/

Topic of the Week: Cryptocurrency

Roger Ver

https://www.rogerver.com

Bitcoin.com

https://www.bitcoin.com/

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Let Us Know What You Think

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Antony Davies on Twitter

https://twitter.com/antonydavies

James R. Harrigan on Twitter

https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan

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Episode 187: A (Non-)Comedy of Errors Sep 09, 2020

Show notes

Andrew Heaton joins us to discuss comedy, politics, and that we can’t seem to laugh at ourselves anymore because our politics have become our religion.

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Episode 186: Experiencing Higher Education Sep 02, 2020

Show notes

Our response to COVID has imposed changes across the whole economy. One of the industries that is likely to bear the lion’s share of those changes is higher education. COVID policies are laying bare the fact that both students and administrators have come to regard college less as a place to obtain an education than as a place to obtain a four-year “experience.”

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Quick Hits

Virtual Graduation

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/25/asia/india-university-virtual-reality-graduation-scli-intl/index.html

Flying Cars

https://dnyuz.com/2020/08/29/humans-take-a-step-closer-to-flying-cars/

Foolishness of the Week

Drones and Drugs

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36013/mexican-drug-cartel-now-assassinating-its-enemies-with-improvised-explosive-toting-drones

Topic of the Week

How Not to Be Terrible at College

https://fee.org/shows/audio/words-numbers/how-not-to-be-terrible-at-college#player

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Antony Davies on Twitter

https://twitter.com/antonydavies

James R. Harrigan on Twitter

https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan

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Episode 185: The Depressing Results of Great Depression Policies Aug 26, 2020

Show notes

Steve Horwitz is back with us this week to discuss the Great Depression. The story that’s commonly handed down in high school history courses doesn’t match what economists and historians have come to understand about it. The government’s response was less an exercise in macroeconomic policy than it was an exercise in social engineering. The lessons of what didn’t work and why are important to us as we struggle with the COVID economy.

Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now!

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Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon

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Quick Hits

How Not to Be Terrible at College

https://fee.org/shows/audio/words-numbers/how-not-to-be-terrible-at-college#player

Liquid Democracy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_democracy

Post Office

https://facts.usps.com/top-facts/

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/513241-house-passes-25b-bill-to-boost-postal-service

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2013/jul/24/american-postal-workers-union/postal-service-claim-not-fully-target/

Foolishness of the Week

Germany’s Universal Income

https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-begins-universal-basic-income-trial-three-years-2020-8

Topic of the Week: The Great Depression

Steve Horwitz on the Great Depression

https://youtu.be/EWyzWKnkwUg

George Selgin on the Great Depression

https://www.cato.org/blog/new-deal-recovery-part-7-fdr-gold

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Antony Davies on Twitter

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James R. Harrigan on Twitter

https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan

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Episode 184: Reevaluating Regulations Aug 19, 2020

Show notes

Todd Zywicki, Professor of Law at GMU and head of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s Task Force on Consumer Financial Law joins us to discuss the pros and cons of consumer protection and financial regulation.

Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now!

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Show Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreon

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Quick Hits

Covid Caseshttps://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Cases.aspx

Nathan Benefield on Covid Cases

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/closer-look-coronavirus-numbers-pa-nathan-benefield/

Hospital Utilization Data

https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/covid19/report-patient-impact.html#anchor_1594393649

The Long Arm of the California Tax Office

https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/california-dems-wealth-tax-follows-people-who-move-out-of-the-state/

Foolishness of the Week

Wisconsin Requires Face Masks at Home

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/511483-wisconsin-state-agency-requires-employees-to-wear-masks-while

Topic of the Week

Todd Zywicki

https://www.law.gmu.edu/faculty/directory/fulltime/zywicki_todd

https://www.amazon.com/Consumer-Financial-Management-Association-Synthesis/dp/0195169921

Unkoch My Campus

http://www.unkochmycampus.org/cfpb

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Antony Davies on Twitter

https://twitter.com/antonydavies

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https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan

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Episode 183: Economics’ Roots Aug 12, 2020

Show notes

For two millenia, economics was a field of philosophy. Starting in the late 1800s, economists began to employ mathematical modeling in their thinking. The requirements of mathematical modeling have led modern economists to begin by assuming that humans behave in certain ways. This week, Steve Horwitz joins us to discuss Austrian economics, which is a school of thought that goes back to economics’ philosophical roots by beginning with questions, rather than assumptions, about how humans behave.

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Quick Hits

Shampoo Assistants

https://nypost.com/2020/08/08/ny-dems-push-for-law-mandating-training-for-shampoo-assistants/

Democratic Campaign

https://theweek.com/speedreads/929999/biden-campaign-reportedly-making-ruthless-cuts-convention-speaking-list

Foolishness of the Week

Bernie’s Latest Wealth Tax

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/18/upshot/warren-wealth-tax.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/06/sanders-billionaire-tax-bill-would-cost-bezos-musk-zuckerberg.html

Topic of the Week

Steve Horwitz

http://www.sghorwitz.com/

Austrian Economicshttps://www.amazon.com/Austrian-Economics-Introduction-Libertarianism-Org-Guides/dp/1948647958/ref=sr_1_1

Theory and Practice in the Austrian School

https://www.amazon.com/Theory-Practice-Austrian-School-Unbound-ebook/dp/B00CF0GXZO

Join the Conversation

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Let Us Know What You Think

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Antony Davies on Twitter

https://twitter.com/antonydavies

James R. Harrigan on Twitter

https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan

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