The Curious Task

Sandra Peart — What Can We Learn From John Stuart Mill?

Alex Aragona speaks with Sandra Peart as she traces the life of John Stuart Mill and explores some of the key pillars of his thinking.

References from Episode 78 with Sandra Peart

• Sandra Peart is the author of Towards an Economics of Natural Equals: A Documentary History of the Early Virginia School, Escape from Democracy: The Role of Experts and the Public in Economic Policy, and the Essential John Stuart Mill, some of which are available for purchase on Amazon Canada (titles hyperlinked).
• The liberal themes of social tyranny, expression, and democracy were drawn from John Stuart Mill’s works, On Liberty (Batoche Books), and Utilitarianism (McMaster, Batoche Books) which are available for reading online (titles hyperlinked). 
• David Ricardo’s book, On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, can be read online on McMaster University’s Faculty of Social Sciences website at this link. 
• You can read The Later Letters of John Stuart Mill (1849-1873) that were referenced by Sandra throughout the podcast on Liberty Fund’s website here. 
• Here is one journal article on Wordsworth’s influence on Mill by Liz McKinnell. 
• The United Kingdom Parliament has published the following websites on the reformative legislative legacy of John Stuart Mill while he was an MP: John Start Mill Amendment and John Stuart Mill and the 1866 Petition.
• This is a link to the cartoon ridiculing John Stuart Mill’s franchise for women as “persons” published by Punch Magazine. 
• This is the harsher cartoon, “Miss Mill Joins the Ladies,” published by Judy.
• Here is a link to Hayek on Mill, which was edited by Sandra and features Hayek’s skepticism of Mill’s originality and the Taylor-Mill correspondence that was published by Hayek.

James Tooley — Is Low-Cost Private Education Possible?

Alex Aragona speaks with James Tooley as he retells some of his experiences discovering quality private education solutions in poorer communities, and how they compared to the government's offerings.

References from Episode 77 with James Tooley

• The E. G. West Centre at Newcastle University is the namesake of economist E. G. West. This page will direct listeners to his various articles and reports.
• James’ book, The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey Into How the World’s Poorest People are Educating Themselves is the basis of today’s discussion and can be purchased from Amazon Canada here. 
• You can read more about the John Templeton Foundation’s work at this link. 
• Here is a link to James’ case study research about for-profit private education in India.
• This is The Economist article about Indian private schools educating 50% of the population that James mentions briefly on the podcast.
• Here is a synopsis of The Elementary Education Act of 1870 which mandated public education for schoolchildren between five to thirteen years of age. James’ book with the Independent Institute, Really Good Schools is set for release in March 2021 and can be preordered here.

Steve Horwitz — What Drives Progress?

Alex Aragona speaks with Steve Horwitz as he explores what drives human progress, and why the market is so crucial to that.

References from Episode 76 with Steve Horwitz

• Steve Horwitz is the author of Austrian Economics: An Introduction; Microfoundations and Macroeconomics: An Austrian Perspective; Monetary Evolution, Free Banking, and Economic Order; and Hayek’s Modern Family: Classical Liberalism and the Evolution of Social Institutions which are available for purchase on Amazon Canada (titles hyperlinked).
• This article entitled Persistent Fallacies by Vuk Vukovic recounts the misconceptions surrounding growth and is a response to the book, Why Nations Fail, featuring an anecdote on Paul Samuelson’s forecast of the USSR overtaking the US economy that was referenced by Steve in the episode.   
• In case you missed Virginia Postrel’s episode on The Curious Task and wish to catch up with her research, her book, The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World, can be purchased on Amazon Canada at this link.
• The Cato Institute published an article by Adam D. Thierer on permissionless innovation, which also provides an overview of Deidre McCloskey’s contributions to the theory. It can be read here.  
• You can read Steve’s article, Privilege and the Liberal Tradition, on libertarianism.org.
• Here is an excerpt on Ludwig’s von Mises’ concept of peaceful transference from his book, Liberalism: In the Classical Tradition. 
• You can learn more about Robert Higgs’ concept of regime uncertainty through this downloadable PDF published by the Independent Institute. 
• This article by Gerald P. O’Driscoll, Jr. is an introduction to “sound money” that Steve also talks about during the podcast. 
• You can watch Hans Rosling’s TED video on The Magic Washing Machine at this link. 
• The joint research on inequality published by Steve and Vincent Geloso is available for reading here. 
• Here is the article written by Steve on Tyler Cowen’s joint article on The Great Stagnation, which is also available for reading online at this link.
• Here is some more background on precision medicine that Steve mentions briefly on the podcast.
• Here is the link to the 2007 panel discussion with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates that Alex mentions in the podcast.  
• The Back to the Future trilogy and Demolition Man can be purchased and/or streamed from Amazon Canada.  You can read more about John Stuart Mill’s “experiments of living” at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s website (Chapter 4.6).

Clark Neily — How Can America's Policing Problem Be Fixed?

Alex Aragona speaks with Clark Neily as he explores the causes of America's policing problems, and policies that may fix them.

References

1. “Terms of Engagement: How Our Courts Should Enforce the Constitution’s Promise of Limited Government” by Clark M. Neily

Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Terms-Engagement-Enforce-Constitutions-Government/dp/1594036969 

2. “A Libertarian Vision for Criminal Justice” by Clark Neily 

Link: https://www.libertarianism.org/essays/libertarian-vision-for-criminal-justice 

3. “Sagging Pants and the Long History of ‘Dangerous’ Street Fashion” by Gene Demby 

Link: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/09/11/347143588/sagging-pants-and-the-long-history-of-dangerous-street-fashion 

4. “America’s Criminal Justice System is Rotten to the Core” by Clark Neily

Link: https://www.cato.org/blog/americas-criminal-justice-system-rotten-core

5. “Varsity Blues Scandal Explained” by BC Law

Link: https://lawmagazine.bc.edu/2023/12/varsity-blues-sandal-explained/

6. “Qualified Immunity FAQ” by Legal Defense Fund

Link: https://www.naacpldf.org/qualified-immunity/#:~:text=The%20doctrine%20of%20qualified%20immunity,engaging%20in%20violent%20and%20abusive

7. “Cop Who Accidentally Shot 10-Year-Old When Aiming For Family Dog Can’t Be Sued, Federal Court Rules” by Nick Sibilla

Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicksibilla/2019/07/18/cop-who-accidentally-shot-10-year-old-when-aiming-for-family-dog-cant-be-sued-federal-court-rules/

8. “Ferguson Riot and Ferguson Unrest (2014-2015)” by BlackPast

Link: https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/ferguson-riot-and-ferguson-unrest-2014-2015/