The Curious Task

Jonathan Blanks - What Is Systemic Racism?

Sabine speaks with Jonathan Blanks about why and how systemic racism exists in society, and what can potentially be done to curb it in various aspects of institutional life. 

Episode Notes:

- The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity: https://freopp.org/

- An article by Jonathan on defining systemic racism: https://freopp.org/what-systemic-racism-is-and-isnt-1213c1c972ff

- Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America (2015) by Jill Leovy https://a.co/d/8f9JGqB 

- 13th trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6IXQbXPO3I 

Kevin Erdmann - Why Are We Afraid Of Building Homes?

Alex speaks with Kevin Erdmann about how zoning, the 2008 economic crisis, and the desire to live away from "those people" is effecting the state of housing today. 

Episode Notes:

Kevin's page at the Mercatus Centre:

https://www.mercatus.org/scholars/kevin-erdmann

The Erdmann Housing Tracker:

https://kevinerdmann.substack.com/ 

Kevin on X:

https://x.com/KAErdmann?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor 

Kevin's book "Shut Out: How a Housing Shortage Caused the Great Recession and Crippled our Economy" on Amazon Canada: 

https://a.co/d/gIh82Og 

Dominic Parker - Do Environmental Agencies Actually Help The Environment?

Alex speaks with Dominic Parker about his 2024 paper with Dean Lueck entitled "The Economic Origins And Extent Of America's First Environmental Agencies"

Episode Notes:

Dominic's paper: https://aae.wisc.edu/dparker/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/11/Lueck-and-Parker-Agencies-November-2024.pdf 

Some history on the conservation movement from 1850-1920 via the American Library of Congress:

https://www.loc.gov/item/00529694/ 

 

 

 

Ryan Bourne - Is There A War On Prices?

Alex speaks with Ryan Bourne as he explores the misconceptions around inflation and the dangers of price controls, emphasizing how prices act as signals to coordinate economic activity and promote growth. Ryan explains the adverse effects of government intervention in setting prices, such as shortages, quality declines, black markets, and inefficient resource allocation.

Episode Notes:

- Ryan’s book that serves as the basis for most of the discussion:
https://a.co/d/6B4n1Uf 

- Summary of Friedman, Monetarist School and the K-percent rule https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monetarism.asp#:~:text=In%20his%20book%2C%20%22A%20Monetary,a%20fixed%20percentage%20per%20year

- Explanation of greedflation: https://cssh.northeastern.edu/what-is-greedflation-and-is-it-driving-higher-prices/ 

- Kahneman and Thaler's research: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1806070  

- Clemens on minimum wage 

https://econweb.ucsd.edu/~j1clemens/pdfs/ClemensMinWageCatoPolicyAnalysis867.pdf 

Kent Roach - Does Canada Have A Wrongful Conviction Problem?

Alex speaks with Donner prize nominee Kent Roach about a topic that many Canadians may overlook when thinking about issues that are recurring at home: wrongful convictions and its victims. 

Episode Notes:

- Kent's award-winning book "Wrongfully Convicted: Guilty Pleas, Imagined Crimes, and What Canada Must Do to Safeguard Justice" https://a.co/d/d9mB5cN

- Canadian Registry of Wrongful Convictions: https://www.wrongfulconvictions.ca/ 

- The Innocence Project at Cardozo: https://innocenceproject.org/about/ 

- Blackstone's ratio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstone%27s_ratio 

- Charles Smith (pathologist) background: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/dr-charles-smith-the-man-behind-the-public-inquiry-1.864004 

- R v Gladue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Gladue 

- Richard Catchaway case: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/richard-catcheway-wrongful-conviction-1.4681737 

- The Morin case on CRWC https://www.wrongfulconvictions.ca/cases/guy-paul-morin 

- The Goudge report on pediatric forensic pathology: https://wayback.archive-it.org/16312/20211207211516/https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/inquiries/goudge/index.html 

- The David Milgaard case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Milgaard 

Ethan Nadelmann - Has Drug Decriminalization Failed?

Matt speaks with Ethan Nadelmann about drug decriminalization, legalization, and the slow end to the drug war in Canada and the United States, and how successes and failures in both countries compare to those abroad.

Episode Notes:

The Drug Policy Alliance website: https://drugpolicy.org/

Some history on Portugal's Drug Harm Reduction Programs: https://americanaddictioncenters.org/blog/portugals-harm-reduction-policies 

Philip Owen's obituary highlighting some of his successes in Vancouver as mayor: https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2021/10/02/dtes-philip-owens-four-pillars// 

Larry Cambell's call for opioid legalization: https://globalnews.ca/news/3260074/make-prescription-opioids-legal-says-senator-and-former-mayor-larry-campbell/ 

"Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness" on Amazon Canada: https://a.co/d/36Y1M4L 

Peltzman's original article studying drug availability: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1830639 

Ed Preble's "Taking Care Of Business":

https://doi.org/10.3109/10826086909061998

 

Craig Biddle - What Is Objectivism?

Matt speaks with Craig Biddle about objectivism and the legacy of Ayn Rand, and how it all ties to classical liberalism, the American ideal, and post-modernism. 

Episode Notes:

Craig's work for the Objective Standard:

https://theobjectivestandard.com/author/cbiddle/ 

Craig on X:

https://twitter.com/CraigBiddle 

Free Ayn Rand books courtesy of the Ayn Rand Institute, including almost all of those referenced throughout this episode:

https://aynrand.org/students/free-books/ 

Craig's talk "Choosing a Philosophy for Loving Life":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzhwsK6dyuE 

Bryce Tingle - How Are Regulations Damaging Markets?

Alex speaks with Bryce Tingle about corporations, how these unique legal entities are governed, how changes we have made to corporate governance has discouraged companies from joining Canada’s public markets, and how the decline in our public market is hurting Canadians. 



Episode Notes:

1. Bryce’s article “Returning Markets To The Centre Of Corporate Law”

https://jcl.law.uiowa.edu/sites/jcl.law.uiowa.edu/files/2023-09/Tingle_Final.pdf 

2. Bryce’s profile at UofCalgary

https://profiles.ucalgary.ca/bryce-tingle 

3. Jensen and Meckley’s “The Theory Of The Firm”

https://www.sfu.ca/~wainwrig/Econ400/jensen-meckling.pdf 

4. Introduction to Douglass North’s theory of Institutions:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40803-016-0028-8 

5. Summary of Montesquieu’s “Doux Commerce”

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

6. Mill on Trade As a Social Act:

https://www.utilitarianism.com/ol/five.html 

7. The Voltaire quote referenced regarding the London Stock Exchange:

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7351337-go-into-the-london-stock-exchange-a-more-respectable 

Eric Merkley - What Motivates NIMBYs?

Matt speaks with Eric Merkley about NIMBYism, the surprising touchpoints for unity between left and right on the subject of housing, and how uncovering the true motivations of NIMBYs has altered Eric's view of the housing crisis. 

Episode Notes:

"Housing for Me, but not for Thee", Eric's paper serving as the basis for most of this conversation:

https://osf.io/preprints/7vmt3 

Eric on X:

https://twitter.com/EricMerkley 

Eric's article on the subject on Policy Options:

https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/march-2024/nimby-housing-opinion/ 

Some background on Premier Ford's backtracking on housing policy: https://www.robinsappleby.com/post/bridge-beat/conservative-housing-policy-backtrack.-a-setback-to-home-builders-and-new-home-owners-alike 

Ben Klutsey - How Do We Rebuild Trust?

Sabine speaks with Ben Klutsey about political polarization, commonalities between the United States and Canada, and his documentary on the subject entitled "Undivide Us" 

Episode Notes:

The documentary's website with more information, a trailer and the option to request a screening: https://undivideusmovie.com/ 

Kevin Vallier's "Trust in a Polarized Age": 

https://a.co/d/gDm6pjz 

John Inazu's "Learning To Disagree":

https://a.co/d/1OmKckQ 

Kevin Vallier on the Curious Task:

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-isuwy-d16f34 

 

 

Rachael LaRose - What Happened To Our Relationships During The Pandemic?

Alex speaks with Rachael LaRose about the hidden costs of the pandemic, especially as they effected our commercial relationships, loose ties with individuals that once provided much value to our lives, and orthodox communities who rallied to prioritize faith in the face of fear.

Episode Notes:

- Rachael's webpage with past publications, etc.: https://www.rachaelbehr.com/ 

- "The Strength of Weak Ties" Mark S. Granovetter https://www.jstor.org/stable/2776392 

- A summary of Ostrom's work on the governance of the commons: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2012/06/17/elinor-ostroms-work-on-governing-the-commons-an-appreciation/

- Rachael's coverage of the Orthodox Jewish community's healthcare action during the pandemic: https://www.econlib.org/library/columns/y2024/larosehealthcare.html  

Sam Bowman - Why Can't We Have Nice Things?

Matt speaks with Sam Bowman about the global housing crisis and why, in English-speaking countries in particular, a growing consensus across the political divide is pointing to problems with central planning, NIMBYism and a supply limit as the causes. 

Episode Notes:

• Sam Bowman’s on substack: https://substack.com/@sambowman 
• Sam on "Vetocracy": https://www.sambowman.co/p/democracy-is-the-solution-to-vetocracy 
• Sam’s “Housing Theory of Everything” article: https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-housing-theory-of-everything/ 
• Works in Progress website: https://worksinprogress.co/ 
• Michael Giberson on Manser Olson's theory of concentrated costs and dispersed benefits: https://knowledgeproblem.com/2010/10/17/concentrated-benefits-and-dispersed-costs/ 
• Comparison of UK vs. US GDP per capita: https://countryeconomy.com/countries/compare/usa/uk 

 

Akshaya Kamalnath - Does Corporate Diversity Work?

Alex speaks with Akshaya Kamalnath about her work on Corporate Diversity, the social pressures and cultural trends that corporations are facing, as well as the jurisdictional realities of handling diversity, amongst other issues.

Episode Notes:

Akshaya's page at ANU: https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/kamalnath-a 

Akshaya's blog:

corporatelawacademic.wordpress.com

"Legal and Market Initiatives to Increase Diversity in Corporations—A Cross-Jurisdictional Analysis" by Akshaya Kamalnath

https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sulr/vol46/iss1/5/ 

Deirdre McCloskey - Why Does Liberalism Work?

In May 2022, Alex spoke with Deirdre McCloskey in a wide-ranging conversation that addresses the economic, philosophical, and political reasons why liberalism just works. We're reposting that important conversation today on The Curious Task. 

References

1. “Why Liberalism Works: How True Liberal Values Produce a Freer, More Equal, Prosperous World for All” by Dierdre Nansen McCloskey 

Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Why-Liberalism-Works-Liberal-Prosperous/dp/0300235089 

2. “The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce” by Dierdre Nansen McCloskey

Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Bourgeois-Virtues-Ethics-Age-Commerce/dp/0226556646 

3. “Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain Modern World” by Dierdre Nansen McCloskey

Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Bourgeois-Dignity-Economics-Explain-Modern/dp/0226556743 

4. “Bourgeois Equality: How Ideas, Not Capital or Institutions, Enriched the World”

Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Bourgeois-Equality-Capital-Institutions-Enriched/dp/022633399X 

5. “Dierdre N. McCloskey presents the lecture ‘The Impossibility of Policy’ hosted by the Erasmus Forum” by the Cato Institute

Link: https://www.cato.org/multimedia/media-highlights-tv/deirdre-n-mccloskey-presents-lecture-impossibility-policy-hosted 

6. “1984” by George Orwell

Link: https://www.amazon.ca/1984-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934 

7. “Forever Flowing” by Vasily Grossman

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/88459.Forever_Flowing

Alex Nowrasteh - What's Wrong With Nationalism?

Alex speaks with Alex Nowrasteh about nationalism as more of an innate tendency towards ethnic tribalism than anything resembling patriotism, and how this tendency may never disappear, but is worth resisting nonetheless. 

Episode Notes:

Alex's page at the Cato Insitute:

https://www.cato.org/people/alex-nowrasteh 

Alex on X: 

https://twitter.com/alexnowrasteh?lang=en 

Alex's book "Wretched Refuse?: The Political Economy of Immigration and Institutions": 

https://a.co/d/2JePWpU 

Oyebade Oyerinde - Has Federalism Hurt Nigeria?

Alex speaks with Oyebade Oyerinde about the state of federalism in Nigeria, and how western ideas of democracy, liberalism and centralization of powers have influenced the current state of politics in the African nation. 

Episode Notes:

"Polycentric Interstate Federalism Among The Yoruba Of Nigeria: Lessons For Growing An International Federal Order" by Oyebade Kunle Oyerinde https://cosmosandtaxis.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/kunleoyerinde_ct_vol10_iss11_12.pdf

"Polycentric and Centralized Federalism in Africa" (Chapter 3) by Oyebade Kunle Oyerinde https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666902716/Issues-of-Governance-Security-and-Development-in-Contemporary-Africa

"Does Polycentric Order Make Sense?" by Oyebade Kunle Oyerinde https://isonomiaquarterly.com/archive/volume-2-issue-1/disorder-in-west-africa-does-polycentric-order-make-sense/

"Beyond Markets and States: Polycentric Governance of Complex Economic Systems" By Elinor Ostrom https://web.pdx.edu/~nwallace/EHP/OstromPolyGov.pdf 

Jason Kuznicki - What Does Technology Have To Do With Gender?

Sabine speaks with Jason Kuznicki about the present, past, and future influence of technology on gender and why he questions the uproar made about a choice made by individuals in the market about their own self-expression and identity.

Episode Notes:

Jason's article "Gender as Essence and as Economic Choice" http://tinyurl.com/2p9byb5d 

The Cosmos + Taxis issue on gender: http://tinyurl.com/2p9byb5d 

Jason's newsletter "Pacification": http://tinyurl.com/yeycjzj 

Marian Tupy - Are We Better Off Than Before?

Alex speaks with Marian Tupy about the notion that human progress has increased quality of life worldwide for centuries, making today the greatest time to be alive in the history of human life (in spite of what you may have heard elsewhere).

Episode Notes:

- Marian's book "Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet" on Amazon Canada: https://a.co/d/boeFBP3 

- Marian's profile and bio on the FEE website: https://fee.org/people/marian-l-tupy/ 

- An article breaking down the Malthusian thinking in the Avengers movie referenced by Marian https://carnegiemnh.org/defeating-thanos-and-his-malthusian-mission-of-population-control/ 

- A Youtube video giving some history and context for the Simon - Ehrlich bet: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw2mn40BVo0 

 

Aeon Skoble - How Is Limiting Access to Information Harmful?

Sabine speaks with Aeon Skoble about the harms of limiting access to information, including book bans and why a better understanding of ideas we disagree with often strengthens rather than weakens our arguments in support of the ideas we endorse.

Episode Notes:

- “Free Speech and the Function of a University” Aeon J. Skoble https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2081&context=br_rev 
- A brief history of Hume’s works being banned: https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/2023-10-25-donway-hume-great-work-on-religion-banned 
- A handy breakdown from the University of Notre Dame on J.S. Mill’s case for disagreement and free speech in “On Liberty”: https://philife.nd.edu/j-s-mills-on-liberty-seek-disagreement/ 
- Jacob Mchangama’s book “Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media” https://a.co/d/8lcEV6a  

 

Eric Schliesser - Is Post-Liberalism Already Here?

Alex speaks with Eric Schliesser about the growing declarations of the end of liberalism and what this means for the socio-political future in general.

Episode Notes:

1. Eric Schliesser’s page at the University of Amsterdam https://www.uva.nl/en/profile/s/c/e.s.schliesser/e.s.schliesser.html#Publications 
2. Kevin Vallier’s episode of this podcast discussing religious anti-liberalism: https://thecurioustask.podbean.com/e/197-kevin-vallier-what-are-the-new-religious-threats-to-liberalism/ 
3. Adrian Vermeulen’s publications https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/adrian-vermeule/ 
4. Tom Pink’s page at King’s College London: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/thomas-pink 
5. Yoram Hazony’s book on conservatism: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/thomas-pink 
6. Jacob Levy on borders and liberalism: https://www.niskanencenter.org/law-and-border/