The Curious Task

James Tooley — Is Low-Cost Private Education Possible?

In Special Episode 2, Matt Bufton pointed to The Curious Task Episode 77 with James Tooley as one of his favourites. If you haven't had a chance to listen to it before, we hope you find it interesting. If you have, enjoy its re-release!

References from The Curious Task Special Episode 3 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 can be purchased here.

Celebrating 100 Episodes

To celebrate reaching 100 episodes, host Alex Aragona, producer Sabine El-Chidiac, and executive producer Matt Bufton look back on the origins and growth of the podcast, some of their favourite episodes, and so much more in this very special bonus episode. 

References from The Curious Task Special Episode 2 with Matt Bufton, Sabine El-Chidiac and Alex Aragona

• You can listen to Graeme Thompson discuss Canadian Liberalism here. Dennis Rasmussen discusses if America failed here.
• The very first episode of The Curious Task with Nigel Ashford can be listened to here.
• Alex Salter talks about central banking on The Curious Task here.
• Matt mentions that two of his favourite episodes on The Curious Task are Mustafa Akyol on freedom in the Muslim world here, and James Tooley on private education here.
• The Beautiful Tree by James Tooley can be purchased from Amazon here.
• Sabine mentions that two of her favourite episodes on The Curious Task are Tom Palmer on what is war good for here, and Jacob Levy on civil society here.
• Rationalism, Pluralism, and Freedom by Jacob Levy can be purchased from Amazon here.
• Alex mentions that two of his favourite episodes on The Curious Task are Aeon Skoble on anarchy here, and Eric Schliesser on neoliberalism here.
• You can learn more about our Patreon here.

Steve Horwitz — What Drives Progress?

In honour of Steve Horwitz (1964-2021), we are re-releasing his conversation with Alex Aragona on what drives progress — a topic near and dear to Steve's heart.

References from The Curious Task Special Episode 1 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).

Tyler Cowen — Is Scarborough The Dining Capital of the World?

Tyler Cowen chats with Alex Aragona about all things food — great things to eat, where to find them, and how an economist gets lunch.

References from The Curious Task Episode 100 with Tyler Cowen

• You can purchase An Economist Gets Lunch by Tyler Cowen from Amazon here.
• You can read more from Tyler Cowen at the blog Marginal Revolution here. Find their course materials at Marginal Revolution University here.
• Tyler Cowen also has a food blog here.
• Read more about locavorism in The Locavore's Dilemma by Pierre Desrochers and Hiroko Shimizu, available through Amazon here.

Aeon Skoble — Is Anarchy Relevant For Classical Liberalism?

Alex Aragona peaks with Aeon Skoble as he outlines his ideas on what anarchism is, how we should think on it, and how it overlaps with classical liberal ideas.

References from The Curious Task Episode 99 with Aeon Skoble

• Aeon Skoble is author of Deleting the State and editor of a collection of essays called The Simpsons and Philosophy. He has a chapter titled “What Is the Point of Anarchism” in The Routledge Handbook of Anarchy and Anarchist Thought. Read more from Aeon Skoble on the blog Radical Classical Liberal here.
• Aeon Skoble mentions Robert Nozick, who argues for a minimal state in Anarchy, State, and Utopia available for purchase here. Aeon Skoble further discusses Robert Nozick in this video produced by the Fraser Institute here.
• Learn more about the prisoner’s dilemma here.
• The relationship between anarchism and law is explored by Bruce Benson in his book The Enterprise of Law, available for purchase here.

Janet Bufton and Sarah Skwire — Why Tweet The Wealth of Nations?

Alex Aragona speaks with SmithTweeters Janet Bufton and Sarah Skwire as they describe what drew them to the idea of reading through all of The Wealth of Nations and providing an ongoing commentary on Twitter, and how Adam Smith's ideas remain relevant. 

References from The Curious Task Episode 98 with Janet Bufton and Sarah Skwire

• Janet Bufton previously spoke on The Curious Task, which you can listen to here. Sarah Skwire has also appeared on The Curious Task here.
• You can read the #WealthofTweets here.
• The digression on silver in the Wealth of Nations can be read online here.
• Previous Smith Questionnaires can be watched on YouTube here.
• Learn more about the works of Adam Smith from Adam Smith Works here.
• Sarah and Janet reflect on their experience with the #WealthofTweets here.

Anton Howes — What Powered Innovation In Britain?

Alex Aragona speaks with Anton Howes about when the sparks of innovation started in Britain, and what fanned the flames moving forward.

References from The Curious Task Episode 97 with Anton Howes

• You can read more about the Age of Invention at the substack where Anton Howes writes about his ideas here. You can also find his working paper titled The Spread of Improvement here.
• Deirdre McCloskey details her arguments about ethics and commerce in her series which begins with Bourgeois Virtues, available for purchase from Amazon here.
• The European Guilds by Sheilagh Ogilvie is available for purchase through Princeton Press here.

Bill Easterly — What Is The Tyranny of Experts?

Bill Easterly tours some of the concepts from his book The Tyranny of Experts, and explores why technocrats imposing their own form of economic development on cultures and peoples can produce more harm than good.

References from The Curious Task Episode 96 with Bill Easterly

• You can purchase a copy of The Tyranny of the Experts by Bill Easterly here. 
• The End of Poverty by Jeff Sachs can be found on Amazon here.
• The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek can be purchased here.

Dennis Rasmussen — Did America Fail?

Alex Aragona speaks with Dennis Rasmussen about his findings on how the American Founding Fathers truly felt about the experiment they designed and built as time went on.

References from The Curious Task Episode 95 with Dennis Rasmussen

• Dennis Rasmussen previously joined The Curious Task to speak about his book The Infidel and the Professor, and you can listen to that episode here.
• The book discussed on this episode of The Curious Task is Fears of the Setting Sun by Dennis Rasmussen, which can be purchased from Amazon here.
• The rising sun armchair can be seen digitally here.
• More information on the Federalists can be found here, and the Anti-Federalists here.
• The soundtrack to Hamilton can be listened to here.

Graeme Thompson — What Is Canadian Liberalism?

Alex Aragona speaks with Graeme Thompson about the classical liberal tradition in Canada, and what the evolution of that tradition has looked like.

References from The Curious Task Episode 94 with Graeme Thompson

• A collection of the speeches of Wilfred Laurier can be found in an edited edition by Arthur Milnes, available from Amazon here.
• Macdonald Laurier and the Election of 1891 by Christopher Pennington can be found from Penguin House here.
• Graeme Thompson’s piece “Whatever Happened to Laurier” can be found in the National Post here.
• Graeme mentions positive and negative liberty by Isaiah Berlin, which is discussed on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy here.
• The works of Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, and J.S. Mill can be read for free through the Online Library of Liberty.

 

Jacob Levy — How Should Liberals Think of Social Injustice?

Jacob Levy gives a tour of his thoughts on the conversations surrounding social justice, and how liberals might consider the topic from the perspective of social "injustice".

References from The Curious Task Episode 93 with Jacob Levy

• You can listen to Jacob Levy’s other appearances on The Curious Task here and here.
• Rationalism, Pluralism, and Freedom by Jacob T. Levy can be purchased from Amazon here.
• You can purchase Free Market Fairness by John Tomasi from Amazon here.
• You can read more concepts of spontaneous and emergent order found in Hayek here.
• Judith Shklar lays out her argument about injustice in her book The Faces of Injustice (which can be purchased here).

Sandy Ikeda — What Would Jane Jacobs Do?

In honour of her birthday, Sandy Ikeda explores the ideas of Jane Jacobs and reflects on how her thinking on urban centres is still relevant today.

References from The Curious Task Episode 92 with Sandy Ikeda

• You can listen to Sandy Ikeda discuss “Why Can’t a City Be a Work of Art?” on The Curious Task here.
• A copy of Jane Jacob’s Death and Life of Great American Cities can be purchased from Amazon here. Some of her other works include The Economy of Cities (available here) and Systems of Survival (available here).
• For those who want to learn more about Austrian economics, our friends at the Frasier Institute have released an introduction to the subject here.
• You can read more about the thoughts Sandy Ikeda has on Urban Design and Social Complexity here.

Terence Kealey — Should Government Fund Science?

Terence Kealey speaks about the history of state involvement in funding science and technology, and why it may not be as good or innovative of an idea as it may seem.

References from The Curious Task Episode 91 with Terence Kealey

• You can purchase a copy of Sex Science and Profits by Terence Kealey on Amazon here.
• The story of Katalin Karikó is explored in detail in this article.
• Terence Kealey has a chapter in Visions of Liberty, available for purchase here.

Nick Cowen — Should We Regulate Online Sex Work?

Alex Aragona speaks with Nick Cowen as he explores the current state of sex work regulation, and what approaches regulators could (and should) take when considering the increasing online landscape for these services.

References from The Curious Task Episode 90 with Nick Cowen

• Nick Cowen is the author of Neoliberal Social Justice. You can read the first chapter of his book here.
• Nick Cowen’s article Sex Work and Online Platforms: What Should Regulation Do? can be downloaded and read here. Within the article, the section which specifically explores the various models of sex work regulation begins on page 5.
• Markets without Limits by Peter Jaworski and Jason Brennan can be found here.
• Michael Munger speaks more about transaction costs in the economy with our friends at Econtalk here.
• An explanation of the key debates currently about sex work can be found by following this link.

Alex Salter — Did Central Banks Get COVID-19 Right?

Alex Salter dives into Federal Reserve policies during the pandemic, what it got right and wrong, and what the lasting impacts will be.

References from The Curious Task Episode 89 with Alex Salter

• Alex Salter is the co-author of Money and the Rule of Law along with Peter Boettke and Daniel Smith. His book can be purchased from Amazon here.
• To read more about the Federal Reserve’s actions during the financial crisis from Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Donald Kohn, see here.
• Alex Salter’s most recent commentary on the Federal Reserve at AIER can be found here and here.
• Alex Salter discusses the Federal Reserves response to COVID-19 here.
• For more information about the accountability and transparency of the federal reserve, see the report from Scott Sumner at the Mercatus Center found here.

Dan Griswold & Sabine El-Chidiac — What Should Immigration Policy Look Like After The Pandemic?

Dan and Sabine discuss their newest policy brief with the Mercatus Center, and what changes they'd like to see to Canadian and American immigration policy as it relates to movement between the two countries.

References from The Curious Task Episode 88 with Dan Griswold & Sabine El-Chidiac

• The policy brief co-authored by Daniel Griswold and Sabine El-Chidiac titled “Deepen Us-Canada Ties with a Post-COVID-19 Agreement for the Free Movement of People can be found here.
• Dan Griswold’s book Mad About Trade: Why Main Street America Should Embrace Globalization can be purchased on Amazon here. 
• For more information on Canadian Immigrants in the United States, see this information from the Migration Policy Institute here.
• Dan Griswold explains his stance on Employment-Based Immigration Policies found in Australia and Canada in an interview with the Washington Journal here. 
• Find Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration and Political Freedom by Ilya Somin available for purchase here. Ilya Somin also appeared on the Curious Task to speak about voting with your feet here.

Bas van der Vossen — Who Owns Your Labour?

Alex Aragona explores standard readings of Lockean property rights theories with Bas van der Vossen, and then explore Bas' idea on what might be missing from these traditional understandings and interpretations. 

References from The Curious Task Episode 87 with Bas van der Vossen

• Bas van der Vossen explores the historical entitlement theory, including some of the points he included in his presentation about Robert Nozick’s version during the podcast, at this link.
• You can read John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government online at this link. Chapter 5, On Property, forms the basis of much of this week’s discussion,
• This article titled, John Locke: Some Problems in Locke’s Theory of Private Property, on libertarianism.org features Nozick’s famous tomato juice analogy that objects Locke’s principle of labour mixing, and is also an extension of the discussion brought up by Bas during this episode.  
• Here is an excerpt by Bas van der Vosen on Hume’s idea of property rights as convention.
• You can access Bas van der Vossen’s work on the “Enough and As Good” Lockean proviso here. 
• Here is a paper by Hillsdale College on the appropriative water rights doctrine in the Western United States that Bas briefly mentions during the podcast. 
• Bas mentions the water shortages that California faces from waterway droughts. An article that details the “Tahoe to tap” option can be accessed at this link.

Matt Warner — What's Wrong With Foreign Aid?

Alex Aragona speaks with Matt Warner as he explores the dilemma that outsiders face when trying to do good for others, and why local knowledge is so important. 

References from Episode 86 with Matt Warner

• Matt Warner is the author of, Poverty and Freedom: Case Studies on Global Economic Freedom, which can be purchased from Amazon Canada here.
  
• Eric Beinhocker’s book, The Origin of Wealth, was mentioned by Matt because it makes a Hayekian case for use of knowledge in society and that there is more than one type of knowledge in an array of complex adaptive systems. This book can also be purchased on Amazon Canada at this link.
  
• Matt mentions Jeffrey Sachs’ crop yield project in Uganda during the podcast. You can read some of Sachs’ work for the Africa Growth Initiative here. 
  
• Francis Fukuyama’s book, The End of History, can be purchased from Amazon Canada at this link.
  
• Stephen Holmes co-authored the book, The Light That Failed, with Ivan Krastev, which is also available for purchase on Amazon Canada here. 
  
• Why Nations Fail is another book cited by Matt during the podcast. It was co-authored by James Robinson and is available on Amazon Canada here.
  
• You can read Mohamed Bouazizi’s story and how it ignited the Arab Spring here.
  
• Mauricio Miller’s book, The Alternative, is listed on Amazon Canada at this link.
  
• Amartya Sen’s book, Development as Freedom, can be found on Amazon Canada here. 
  
• You can explore Jeremy Shapiro’s work on development economics on his website.
  
• Samantha Power’s memoir, The Education of an Idealist, is available for purchase on Amazon Canada at this link.
  
• Daron Acemoglu and James Robinsson’s book, The Narrow Corridor, was also mentioned by Matt during the podcast and can be purchased here.
• You can read Freedom House’s report on the state of democracy around the world in 2021 here.

Paul Robinson — Is Russia a Threat to Democracy?

Alex Aragona speaks with Paul Robinson about whether Russia is trying to meddle with Western democracy, and if he thinks the recommended solutions might be worse than the alleged threat.

References from Episode 85 with Paul Robinson

• You can listen to Paul Robinson speak about military intervention on The Curious Task
• Paul Robinson regularly writes on his blog Irrussianality, which you can read online He is also the author and editor of several books, which can be found here.
• Alex references an essay on disinformation which was published on the CRTC website, which can be read
• Paul Robinson talks specifically about disinformation on his blog in the post “Watching the Disinformation Watchers” which can be read
• Alex suggests you read the unpublished introduction to Animal Farm by George Orwell, which can be found

Scott Scheall — What Is The Fundamental Problem of Political Life?

Alex Aragona speaks with Scott Scheall as he explores how the knowledge problem and other epistemological considerations must be considered before political incentives.

References from Episode 84 with Scott Scheall

• Scott Scheall is the author of the book, F. A. Hayek and the Epistemology of Politics: The Curious Task of Economics, which can be purchased from Routledge at this link.
  
• You can read The Green New Deal resolution presented during the 1st session of the 116th Congress here.
  
• David Hume’s essay, Of the Independency of Parliament, where he talks about political writers as a maxim and how every man ought to be a knave, is available for reading at this link.
  
• Scott references James Buchanan’s idea of “politics without romance” in public choice theory where the assumption of knowledge is a starting point from his co-authored book, The Calculus of Consent. This book can be accessed here.
  
• You can read more about Milton Friedman’s work on command economies here.can
  
• Scott cites F. A. Hayek’s book, The Use of Knowledge in Society, to the argument that gathering data is not a problem for central planning, but that the particular circumstances of time and place are what determine success. This book can be accessed here.
  
• You can read F. A. Hayek’s work, Cosmos and Taxis, here.
  You can read Scott’s op-ed with Parker Crutchfield, There Are No Experts On That for Which We Really Need Experts, published on the American Institute for Economic Research at this link.