EconTalk

Vivian Lee talks about her book The Long Fix with host Russ Roberts. Lee argues that we can transform U.S. health care, though it may take a while. She argues that the current fee-for-service system incentivizes doctors to provide services rather than keep patients healthy and that these are not the same thing. Topics include innovations in Medicare and technology that might change treatment incentives as well as the weird world of healthcare pricing.

Agnes Callard talks with host Russ Roberts about the state and power of philosophy and the search for wisdom and truth. This is a wide-ranging conversation related to how we learn, how to behave ethically, and the role of religion and philosophy in encouraging good behavior.

Diane Ravitch talks about her book, Slaying Goliath, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Ravitch argues that the charter school movement is a failure and that it drains needed money from public schools.

Rebecca Henderson talks about her book Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire with host Russ Roberts. She argues that the focus on shareholder value threatens to destroy capitalism from within. She also argues that business leaders need to manage their companies differently in order to create a more humane and stable capitalism.

Journalist and author Sarah Carr talks about her book Hope Against Hope with host Russ Roberts. Carr looked at three schools in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and chronicled their successes, failures, and the challenges facing educational reform in the poorest parts of America.

Martin Gurri talks about his book The Revolt of the Public with host Russ Roberts. He argues that a digital tsunami--increased information provided by the web--has destabilized authority and institutions. The amorphous nature of recent populist protest movements around the world and where we might be headed politically and culturally are discussed.

Robert Pondiscio talks about his book How the Other Half Learns with host Russ Roberts. He shares his experience of being embedded in a Success Academy Charter School in NYC for a year--lessons about teaching, education policy, and student achievement.

Paul Romer, Nobel Laureate, discusses the coronavirus pandemic with host Russ Roberts. He argues that the status quo of shutdown and fear of infection is unsustainable. Returning to normal requires an inexpensive, quick, and relatively painless test. The challenge is in relaxing certain regulations and then creating a supply chain of production and availability. Romer then explains how such a test could ease a return to something like normalcy for many sectors of the economy...

Branko Milanovic talks about his book, Capitalism, Alone with host Russ Roberts. They discuss inequality, the challenge of corruption in the Chinese system, and Milanovic's claim that the sharing economy increasingly affects the texture of daily life in American capitalism.

L.A. Paul talks about her book Transformative Experience with host Russ Roberts. She explores the uncertainties surrounding the transformative experiences that we choose and that happen to us without choosing. How should we think about the morality and personal impact of these kinds of experiences, especially when some decisions are very hard or impossible to reverse? Examples include becoming a vampire, having children, religion, and other life experiences and choices.