“Imagine how much harder physics would be if electrons had feelings!” ~ Richard Feynman

@soapbxprod

2 жыл бұрын

THANK YOU for this priceless wisdom.

@ellengran6814

2 жыл бұрын

Electrones are a part of what creates feelings.....and we have noe clue as to how. If we had, we could have created a robot able to laugh when told a new joke.

@general9064

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, that's why you need probability distribution to find their position, like a husband trying to know his wife's feelings

@kdubs9111

2 жыл бұрын

This quote deserves 10k likes

@terrastyle8581

2 жыл бұрын

Lex responding with, "I don't know that anything that involves human nature deserves this level of certainty" is likely the most astute way to approach economic theories. I'm sure he would enjoy a conversation with Dan Ariely.

as a Venezuela who lives in Argentina. whenever someone says that things about the hijacking of the Economic studies by the propagandist i deeply feel it... in my heart, my stomach and my pocket

@esser7678

2 жыл бұрын

@C. V. EClass how do you know?

@esser7678

2 жыл бұрын

@C. V. EClassyes, exactly. how do you know?

@tyronemidzi2457

2 жыл бұрын

Same from Zimbabwe.

@frankiparraguirre4353

2 жыл бұрын

Milei 2023

@cr3070

2 жыл бұрын

Oof doble wammi. Suerte ahi en argentina, tuve la suerte que mi padre se mudo de Buenos Aires a los eeuu

"We don't know what the hell we're doing on basically anything," as close to an absolute truth as you can get.

@xraceboyex

Жыл бұрын

I think it's dumb to say that letting arbitrary entities literally counterfeit money is anything but a crime, still. Seems pretty easy and straightforward to me

@boulevarda.aladetoyinbo4773

6 ай бұрын

We are basically a beautiful mess!

"There is no central planning without coercion." Best quote ever.

@AndrewPasq

Жыл бұрын

There is no cooperation without coercion. Grow up.

@juliantheapostate8295

Жыл бұрын

@@AndrewPasq What? Of course there is. I buy a pizza and eat, the shop sells a pizza and makes profit. What do you call that?

@JackCarsonite

Жыл бұрын

@@juliantheapostate8295 Commys can't understand free exchange 🤣 or people who willfully produce.

@Dave3Dman

Жыл бұрын

@@AndrewPasq LOL that is the dumbest thing I have heard/read in quite a while.

@chuckschillingvideos

Жыл бұрын

@@AndrewPasq Uncle Joe couldn't have said it better.

Charlie Munger once said “show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome.” Governments have every incentive to push Keynesian economics because it justifies their growth and desire for ever increasing control of the economy. All the money and research goes there accordingly.

@AANasseh

2 жыл бұрын

They can mismanage all they want and then print money to patch up the mistakes they made and in order to enhance their re-election. That’s the incentive in a nutshell.

@unknowninfinium4353

2 жыл бұрын

So what socialism?

@alfredjovanovic2106

2 жыл бұрын

Yh it’s the problem of self sustaining government agencies, rational agents will always find justification to continue their employment (since the skills aren’t very transferable), even if there is no demand for their role

@RK-um9tu

2 жыл бұрын

Yet another clown that has zero idea about economics. Where do you people come from? You do know that Adam Smith has an entire chapter on the need to regulate business and that he uses the "invisible hand" phrase once in his 800 page Wealth of Nations and used it as something to be avoided, correct? Of course you don't. Bet you feel pretty stupid right about now...lol

@RK-um9tu

2 жыл бұрын

@@alfredjovanovic2106 It is the problem of business needed to be bailed out by tax payer money, seeking rents from governments, and killng competitation. Bet you feel pretty stupid right about now...

The problem is modern economy has so much inertia and is so complex, you can get away with terrible policies and actually claim to be the saviour. The input and output are not connected directly. Output of the first order is also typically much different from that of the higher orders.

@adamliwinski2449

2 жыл бұрын

@@ericpeters0n can you be more precise with the question?

@verapamil07

2 жыл бұрын

Very good observation, it is the same in big R&D companies e.g. pharma. Very few people are actually crucial but you have hundreds of department that exists mostly due to regulatory pressure and their contribution is extremely hard to calculate.

@RaquelSantos-hj1mq

2 жыл бұрын

@@ericpeters0n "Trickle down economics" is a pejorative term used by dishonest people. It's not a real thing.

@RK-um9tu

2 жыл бұрын

The problem with modern economies is that is has ZERO empirical support. It is just religion with numbers.

@bryanmccoy6527

2 жыл бұрын

@@RaquelSantos-hj1mq it’s actually a very real thing lmao it’s just not the most voter friendly mode of raising the middle class

Lex Friedman is the most balanced interviewer in this genre. I can’t think of another who is more reserved with his own opinions, but still demands his guests “show their work.” It’s an impressive display of humility.

@simplegarak

Жыл бұрын

It reminds me a lot of John Stossel back in his heyday. He had that way of asking guests questions. I think Lex has definitely taken it a step up.

@Samsgarden

Жыл бұрын

Except that he makes me soporific

@chtomlin

Жыл бұрын

yes, but he is sooo wrong too often like here.

@simperingham

Жыл бұрын

It’s a shame he never really gets this guy to defend his position other than what boils down to something like “all government is bad because tax is theft”

@chtomlin

Жыл бұрын

@@simperingham the guy defended it quite well and illustrated how printing up money based on nothing and depending on inflation is the cause of the problems.

I went to Indiana University and both my macro and micro profs did a good job of presenting a couple different perspectives. They started with scarcity and didn't advocate for printing to solve problems and focused on human behavior.

@crusherven

Жыл бұрын

My micro economics professor was good (never took macro). But I'll always remember a gov't professor, while talking about the effects of hurricane sandy, said something like "but rebuilding will stimulate the economy." I can't stand that way of thinking

@daltonkfinney

Жыл бұрын

Did you have Peter Olson?

@merrittorius

Жыл бұрын

@Dalton Finney I can't remember. Micro was a Russian gentleman and macro was a guy who had curly hair and his attire hadn't changed since the early 2000s 😀

@StheSharknl

10 ай бұрын

@@crusherven This is an opportunity cost fallacy. One of the key arguments in favor of Austrian economics. Hazlit’s, economics in one lesson, has a chapter dedicated to this fallacy. It’s a silly argument, because we should all be plundering, rioting and warmongering if following that professor’s logic (also had some of those bozos myself)

@nkoehler337

4 ай бұрын

All of my economics professors did a good job of staying objective and presenting multiple opinions. My micro professor taught us the diamond and water paradox too lol

This is the first video I've seen of Lex and I have to say he, as opposed to most interviewers, actually has a lot of critical questions and digs deeper to try and catch him off balance, but in a relaxed and intrigued way.

@chuckschillingvideos

Жыл бұрын

The problem is he's an idiot who has no problems whatsoever with using the violent coercive power of the government to force individual choices. He's a sweetheart apart from that, I guess?

@friendlyone2706

Жыл бұрын

The amazing thing, his questions are right on, no matter the topic. You can "binge" him over a weekend and never hear the same topic twice.

@multicolourmadness2712

Жыл бұрын

@@friendlyone2706 yeah, obviously when he’s got someone in the computing field on his questions are precise and very good because that’s Lex’s own field of study. But even in this economics discussion, where Lex clearly is not totally familiar with the terms used, he still provides great questions. Unlike other podcasts where they might try and keep the conversation always flowing for easy listening, Lex isn’t afraid to ask people to repeat themselves, nor is he afraid to think for a while on a question. Combined with his genuine curiosity and intellect and he can have a decent discussion with anyone from any field.

@deuscoromat742

Жыл бұрын

If only he could actually pull guests.

@nickhanlon9331

Жыл бұрын

Yes, he's doing a great job of being friendly yet as probing as deeply as possible and exploring posssible problems or contradictions in what the interviewee is saying. A rare skill indeed.

My biggest problem with Keynesian economists is that they never advocate for their theories in good times. In good times interest rates are supposed to go up and the printing of money is supposed to stop. It never does.

@robbiep742

2 жыл бұрын

Austrian economists seem to overlook the power fake money has had to create real goods - this means people everywhere have been able to acquire physical assets, which will persist regardless of inflation's effects. Prior to fake money, people had a lot less access to goods and services. It's no coincidence that post-Keynes there has been an economic explosion. I say this as someone who thinks the Fed is destroying the country...

@imaslacker9

2 жыл бұрын

The economists do advocate for it during good times. Politicians are unwilling to put the brakes on a good economy.

@highlightrelz897

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah because people like their Social Security/Medicaid, and they also like their tax cuts

@kingkoi6542

2 жыл бұрын

Von Mises Austrian Economics all the way.

@kingkoi6542

2 жыл бұрын

"Inflation and Credit expansion, the preferred method of government open handedness, Do not add to the amount of resources available, they simply make some more prosperous, but only to the extent that they make others poorer" -Ludwig Von Mises "We can guarantee cash benefits as far out and at whatever size you like, but we cannot guarantee their purchasing power" -Alan Greenspan

Would have liked to have heard his perspective on Breton Woods and regulation of monopolies.

@vulgoalias4050

Жыл бұрын

Can't give you his exact reasoning, but the general austrian position is that Breton Woods was less bad than what we have now. but still a failed system. When it comes to monopolies, Austrians only recognize actual monopolies (a truly single entity control over a market) which only happens in stateful societies. The so called natural monopolies are usually just "dominant players". What we traditionally call monopolies are not really that bad as long as their competition is not prohibited by law. I'd recommend to check out the Austrian view on the history of Standard Oil. It's a really clear example of the reasoning.

Around 8:00 some very great points on what money is/represents

How amazing is this discussion!?! Having contrarian perspectives from people who are well versed in the dissenting opinion is probably the most valuable commodity that exists in the public square today. I sincerely hope that this type of dialogue continues and flourishes unencumbered. Lex, you are the best. I hope that I get to roll with you someday in Austin.

@kutark

2 жыл бұрын

It's actually sad that being an Austrian economist (or as he said, economist) is the dissenting opinion these days. Unfortunately we are in the middle of experiencing what happens when you play Keynesian games and continue to kick the proverbial can down the road. Eventually the piper needs to be paid...

@AANasseh

2 жыл бұрын

@@kutark That’s definitely an interesting perspective. But will the Fed ever run out of money to print? They’ll just continue to print. The most important leverage is the Greenback’s “privilege!” All’s at stake if a catastrophic foreign policy blunder destroys that privilege. I think the problem will come from outside rather than inside. Don’t you think?

@georgeholloway3981

2 жыл бұрын

But he isn't well-versed in the opposing theory, or at least he does not demonstrate that he is by way of steel-manning (or even dispassionately enunciating) the theory he opposes. Instead he begins from the tendentious premise that it is wrong and evilly-motivated.

@williamwhitehouse8214

2 жыл бұрын

@@AANasseh The end result of endless currency printing is closer than you think.

@tocreatee5736

2 жыл бұрын

a bitcoin guy saying nobel prize economist is wrong and he is right. sounds legit./

Glad to see people calling out central bank economic aggression.

@Llkc60

Жыл бұрын

@Brandon Lee lol. these people would go back to where the tribe chief decides who gets what from the loot.

@josehawking5293

Жыл бұрын

🤡

@kingkoi6542

Жыл бұрын

​@@Llkc60 I would take a tribe chief over a child loving politician lol

@Llkc60

Жыл бұрын

@@kingkoi6542 you might wanna do some reading on how tribals had taken wives and at what age. Anyway, I don't know who you refer to and I don't want a chief or a pedophile in power either

@kingkoi6542

Жыл бұрын

@@Llkc60 at least tribal chiefs gave a damn about their tribe...

There were a few obvious things that should have been included in this discussion… 1) what is money? 2) Austrians believe that savings, production and supply create economic growth, whereas, Keynesian’s believe consumption and demand create growth 3) more in depth with how governments respond in crisis using different real world examples (08’ , ZIRP era, Covid, etc)

@zavianwilson6070

Жыл бұрын

Watch the full podcast...

This is so right, when I think about buying anything, I think about what I need and what i want, not about whether my money will devalue by tomorrow, so it makes sense to invest it in buying myself ice cream today. Keynesian economics only promote speculative spending if anything.

@tyronewashington230

Жыл бұрын

Keynesian economics promotes spending because it devalues everything you have while raising prices. Spending and consumption is not growth, it's a government spending spree at everyone's expense.

@koho

Жыл бұрын

"I think about what I need and what i want, not about whether my money will devalue by tomorrow, so it makes sense to invest it in buying myself ice cream today." Well, you won't do as well as a Keynesian.

Second half of the segment was great. Good job Lex on making Mr. Ammous present his case instead of just his conclusion.

@TheCrouchingZebra

Жыл бұрын

Glad I read this. Went down to the comments 20 min in to see if everyone was going to discuss that this guy is all hyperbole, insults, and opinions. Now I'll wait until the end.

@nathan4678

Жыл бұрын

@@TheCrouchingZebra literally same lol

@mmg486

Жыл бұрын

@@TheCrouchingZebra Was it worth watching till the end? I cut bait around half way through.

@deuscoromat742

Жыл бұрын

@@mmg486 no this guy is a bad interview. Can't articulate a single point despite having taught before

@fietspompje259

Жыл бұрын

@@TheCrouchingZebra I mean the guy spends 20 minutes calling everybody that disagrees with him propagandists and frauds, and then fails to present the actual arguments Keynes made. And then Saifedean even fails to explain marginal utility and his own position. How can the last 20 minutes become better?

One of the best interviews Lex, could not turn it off.

Very, very interesting series. Case well presented. More like this, please.

I was so lucky to have profs who were not Keynsians when I was reading for my degree in economics.

@exoxy

Жыл бұрын

They are an endangered species now

It may be missed by some that when he says “inflation” he’s generally speaking not referring to price, but to money supply.

@sl-gx1hr

2 жыл бұрын

The definition of inflation has changed 3x in our lifetime alone.

@drdoob246

2 жыл бұрын

then he doesn't understand the definition of inflation

@randoroo2540

2 жыл бұрын

The many varying measures of inflation is the cause of so much confusion in economics. CPI, ppi, monetary inflation. I hope for a day when it has a uniform meaning.

@drdoob246

2 жыл бұрын

@@randoroo2540 Welcome to the messy world of data and measurement. No single measure will be perfect when you try and capture "the change in the general price level". But what IS clear is the definition or concept of inflation, that is general price changes.... NOT money supply as this guy claims. Money supply is well... money supply lol although that comes with it's own measurement issues.

@mrose4132

2 жыл бұрын

@@drdoob246 you don’t understand inflation. Inflating the money supply inflates prices, there’s just a delay between inflation of the money supply and price inflation. Price inflation doesn’t happen without money inflation.

Lex Fridman, please have on both a Keynesian and an Austrian economist at the same time on your show and have them debate. Preferably have Paul Krugman and Saifedean or some other Austrian economist

@jamesallen3955

Жыл бұрын

Krugman won't do it, Bob Murphy's been trying to debate Krugman for years... It would be a massacre.

@pretorious700

Жыл бұрын

LOFL, Krugman gets his ass handed to him every time.

@crusherven

Жыл бұрын

Russ Roberts has or had a podcast that was very good. He also gets really heated whenever he talks about Krugman

@tommyrq180

Жыл бұрын

@@crushervenEconTalk. Highly recommended.

@marcveillet2589

Жыл бұрын

Debates, particularly these on highly complex matters, tend to turn to an exchange of non-sequitur answers, flowery soundbites or scholarly nitpicking; that's not to say that we should not have debates, these can be useful as well, let's just make sure their scope is properly defined and the facilitator is well prepared and forceful enough to prevent participants to get away with nonsense (all without showing bias! i.e. a tough job). BTW, Lex Friedman does a fantastic job in the alternative format. He is a great Candide as he prompts his guest with _apparently_ naïve questions, fostering slow, calm responses and restating the guest's key point in a simple but explicit fashion. Lex' great abilities and preparedness in this format give no indication that he'd be successful as a debate moderator.

I agree with most subjects discussed. What i dont get it is how are public infraestructure going to work? One thing is free market policy for lucrative business. And security? Roads? And what if a nuclear plant isnt carefull and disposes its byproducts on the ocean?

@phillipvillani9061

24 күн бұрын

Bingo! Actually, how is a minimally funcional transit system in any urban environment meant to work

No serious debate can begin with my school of thought is the definitive: the first lesson in Economics is the existence of trade-offs and value judgements, in their totality, a set of value-judgements on what are acceptable tradeoffs (inflation vs growth) make up a school of thought.

Im not sure Ammous would agree with this, but my takeaway is that people make the mistake of believing that currency is wealth. It cannot and never will be.

@pietersteenkamp5241

29 күн бұрын

Currency is wealth in the most general sense because it's issued by sovereign states with millions of productive people who can produce goods and services and will exchange them for said currency. The USD is the reserve currency of the world not because of 'petrodollar' or the United states navy or even the massive nuclear arsenal but because there is about 350 million AMericans with massive mineral wealthy continent to themselves which no one can invade. Why should the government limit itself to a ridiculous gold standard when everyone knows the true wealth of a state is it's human, natural and industrial resources? Austrians are brain dead fools with a medieval conception of wealth and don't understand the first thing about why we are wealthy now and would not be nearly so using something as medieval as a gold standard. Gold standards are for people who don't trust each other and can't work together apparently still looking for the nationalism we now almost all have and will die for. This guy is a dumb as the rest of them.

@garethbarry3825

22 күн бұрын

Im pretty dumb, and was never trained in economics, but realising that real wealth is what is being traded on each side of the monetary transaction is one of the few 'ah ha' moments i have had in understanding economics.

@pietersteenkamp5241

21 күн бұрын

@@garethbarry3825 Currency is a promise and ultimately you got to be pretty paranoid fool to think all transactions can be settled be 'real wealth'. The entire point of fiat money is because we got a bit better at civilization and understood that the promise of the thing wasn't just as good as the real thing but better as more people could make more promises than any volume of gold would allow. All we really needed was better means to evaluate who we are interacting with and if you still don't know the banking license your local bank got gave them the right to create money for you ( not money they had from someone else) based on the fact that you signed that you would pay it back and their belief that you could. That is MUCH simpler than mining a scarce resources and explains not just a little of the boom times we have experienced the last century.

After all, Krugman predicted 9 of the last 5 recessions.

@sleazypolar

2 жыл бұрын

Austrians have predicted imminent hyper inflation for over 100 years .... annyyyyy day now.

@Leinard.theSage

2 жыл бұрын

@@sleazypolar You didn't get the joke. (Lol!). Read his submission again.

@ohdude6643

Жыл бұрын

I predicted that comment, and the followed up comments.

@cuatro336

Жыл бұрын

@@sleazypolar our dollar has lost 99% of the purchase power it had 100 years ago. That's hyperinflation, just over a century. The economic example of a boiled frog.

@sleazypolar

Жыл бұрын

@@cuatro336 So what?

Excellent point on certainty

The root cause is people not thinking even 1 step ahead, to how individuals might respond to a change (eg, in law, or pricing). Not thinking ahead is a way of implicitly treating a dynamic system (both society and individuals) as if they were static and unable to adapt.

@Dan16673

Ай бұрын

Disagree. They (gov) do not care

Great exchange. Regarding Saifedean's assertion that you can't experiment with economics, aren't we able to observe the results of various policies around the world, specifically with regard to centralized versus market-based policies? USSR, Venezuela, Cuba, etc. etc. Would also be good to look at broken markets, for example US Health Care, to seek a clinical explanation of how we got to 2x expenditure for a generally inferior product. I'd like to know why a fairly unregulated/unsubsidized market like Lasic surgery ( a "luxury" delivers a great value, while other medical service defined as a human right (all other health care) is completely out of control.

@albionicamerican8806

2 жыл бұрын

Haiti is even poorer than Cuba, but no one blames Haiti's bad economy on communists.

@DoctorMandible

2 жыл бұрын

I think his point is that these aren't proper scientific experiments because there are too many uncontrolled (and unaccountable) variables. It's another way of saying "economics isn't a hard science".

@colinyoung3685

2 жыл бұрын

I interpreted him to mean exploring the counterfactuals is impossible as reality can only play out once.

@Theviewerdude

2 жыл бұрын

You can observe but you cannot establish causation in the same manner you can for a controlled laboratory experiment.

@davidradtke160

2 жыл бұрын

@@Theviewerdude only partially true. A lab controlled experiment is only the best or highest form of data. It’s not always better, it can have a bad design etc.

Never thought I’d see an Austrian Economist be given such a big platform. Haven’t listened yet, but I’d like to thank you in advance, Lex. Maybe interview some Libertarians. Thomas Massie, Ron Paul, Etc

@WanderingExistence

2 жыл бұрын

Austrian economics has added a lot of value to economic thinking, but calling it, the end all be all of economics, like this guest did; Is dangerously shortsighted and dogmatic. Thorstein Veblen was not an Austrian economist, but does that mean the concept of Veblen goods is not an economic fact of human society? Richard Thaler is not an Austrian economist should we toss out behavioral economics too? Economics is a really interesting subject, sad how it's dominated by all these dogmatist

@colewarner4954

2 жыл бұрын

God some bad news regarding Ron Paul......

@1Deep43VA

2 жыл бұрын

@@colewarner4954 … okay. Fill me in

@Mstrofpup

2 жыл бұрын

@@WanderingExistence In a world plagued by MMT nonsense, I'll take it.

@TeamBehrens

2 жыл бұрын

@@WanderingExistence Thank you. Humans are not rational. Austrian economics overlook that.

Great discussion

As a Business School professor (but with a BA in economics!) - i found this conversation to be quite enjoyable. Thank you, Les!

@uppitymantis7578

Жыл бұрын

The only example he gave against Keynesian economics was stagflation which makes no sense. Since economies moved to floating exchange rates in the 80s and 90s this is no longer a problem.

@bensupit8991

Жыл бұрын

@@uppitymantis7578 What did floating exchange rates have to do with this example?

@uppitymantis7578

Жыл бұрын

@@bensupit8991 Floating exchange rates were brought in to end the stagflation following the Nixon Shock. This ended the Bretton Woods system and advanced economies haven't seen stagflation since. Central banks now have the ability to target inflation, whereas previously this was impossible when mandated to control foreign exchange. This is called the 'trilemma of international finance'.

I already know Krugman is wrong. I just enjoy hearing people explain it.

@Pteromandias

Жыл бұрын

Krugman contradicts his own textbook.

@ChaseGausepohl

Жыл бұрын

I agree but this guy sucked, just a bunch of conclusions and complaints

@gregoryclark2221

Жыл бұрын

is milton friedman also wrong then too? lol...

@nubnukka

Жыл бұрын

@@gregoryclark2221 yes

@rlkinnard

Жыл бұрын

So, inflation went up? Go check the WSJ and look it up; watch and learn.

Absolutely EXCELLENT episode!

At ~37:00, Lex asks essentially 'is there any circumstance that government control is justified?'. Wouldn't the answer be 'Yes, to enforce contracts,' which is the judicial branch being available for those who may be a victim of fraud because the other party didn't uphold their end of the contract?

@albozkilla

2 ай бұрын

yes, I think his question originally was about control in the economy. I think Government protection from external force and of individual of rights is implied as necessary.

Thank you, many times over. This explanation of why the Austrian School is a good choice cleared my indecisive mind. I already had put my trust in Javierf Milei as President of Argentina. Now I am very glad I did. I just hope he can pull it off in that darling country of "mine".

I loved this conversation

Lex clips 48 minutes Wtf??

Krugman has been consistently wrong on so much, it’s actually quite impressive.

@rlkinnard

9 ай бұрын

So you are saying that when the fed raised interest rates, the economy did not slow and inflation did not come down. You are drinking the Austrian cool aid.

@mariusceterchi5269

9 ай бұрын

​@@rlkinnardif you notice a sign of good direction when they reveresed coyrse on their policies, imagine what would have happened if they would have left the interest rates to be dictated by the market and never have messeed with them in the first place. 🤔 I would encurage you to read Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson to understand a bit the part of the economy we never see because it's not left alone to happen as it should.

@rlkinnard

9 ай бұрын

@@mariusceterchi5269 The Fed produces the quantity of money in conjunction with the banks; the market produces the interest rates. Something has to produce the quantity of money. China is allowing excessive savings which produces the economy of thrift. Watch and see that Hazlitt is wrong as this can happen. Sometimes an economy can go off the rails for a long time, and Xi seems to have a Austrian bias.

@rlkinnard

9 ай бұрын

@@mariusceterchi5269 Oh, by stimulating the economy the US economy produced 14 million jobs under biden. How many jobs would have been produced without stimulus? And how do you know that?

@matthewarant377

8 ай бұрын

​@@rlkinnardYeah you really suffer from a major lack of understanding in economics. The government cannot "create jobs". Any money spent on the government comes from the taxpayers pocket. Loans are just pushing the taxes to a later date. Printing more money results in inflation which is the worst taxation of them all. The government cannot "create" jobs. They can only move them from the profitable private sector to the unprofitable government sector. You have not stopped to think how many jobs would have been created had the average American not suffered the brutal and vicious effects of inflation. As the previous comments said, you need to read "Economics In One Lesson". If you have read it, read it again.

Great guest. Very interesting point of view. I don't agree on all the points he makes but I do in others.

Lex really enjoyed this conversation and your question regarding asymmetric information. Full disclosure I don’t know much about Austrian economics, but I’d be interested to learn about how the free market solves for asymmetric information in the pharmaceutical industry. As someone who agree with you, that bad-faith actors could benefit from asymmetric information, how would you think the free market would resolve issues like the opioid crisis (as a large scale example) or a drug approval process that ensures safety. Seems like it’s ripe for corruption like the repealing of the Glass-Steagall Act

@fractilian

2 жыл бұрын

You're absolutely right, it IS ripe for corruption. Asking a profit driven system to solve cultural, social, or environmental problems is a fool's errand. When profit is the sole motivation, true remedies will not be found.

@sleazypolar

2 жыл бұрын

"The free market" doesn't exist. It is the economics version of the flat frictionless plane you use in physics to isolate and calculate forces individually, before you go on to learn dynamics.

@samwroblewski748

Жыл бұрын

Bad actors are found out rather quickly in free markets and punished accordingly. Great case study happening now: watch how quickly Liver King's positive profit trend quickly halts and he's suddenly underwater on all his business ventures

@andrewzimmerman6059

Жыл бұрын

Odd thought about this: changing the laws around patents could really help. If you limit pharmaceutical patents to 3 or 4 years after FDA approval with no extension (rather than 7 years and a 7 year extension) could really help reduce the cost of pharmaceuticals. As to whether or not the FDA will do it’s due diligence in making sure the drug won’t kill people is a different problem though…

@waterbloom1213

Жыл бұрын

Things like Pharma, Petrochemicals and pollution is why I don't believe in anarchocapitalism despite favoring Austrian economists most of the time. Negative externalities are a thing. If you don't punish companies in certain sectors alleging "voluntary exchanges between suppliers and consumers" you end up with situations like those of oxycodone, thalidomide, forever chemicals of DuPont, etc. Intervention is needed for industries where suppliers have much knowledge about the risks their products have on consumers yet refuse to disclose or acknowledge them. Yeah over time markets can adapt on their own and expel bad products or actors, but you cannot rectify certain kinds of damage.

It's surprising how a (former?) university professor has failed to maintain the discipline of using objective non-emotive speech to strong-man opposing arguments to the extent that this speaker has.

@fractilian

2 жыл бұрын

Very true.

@lucask3

2 жыл бұрын

Saifedean is extremely attached to his points of view. And, no matter how “true” they might be, if you’re attached to them, you’ll always be wrong.

@xraceboyex

Жыл бұрын

It's hard not to get emotional about the largest fraud scheme in human history. Still, I agree

@mileshall9235

Жыл бұрын

@@lucask3 Do you see what you just did?

@zacharysalazar7000

Жыл бұрын

Context of cultural differences is an important note here. It’s okay to comment on weight in the Philippines; in fact it’s not at all taboo. Fat shaming is common. Not saying it is right but making a point that perhaps trash talk is integral in the speakers culture.

I can agree with the first part of the argument about economics is not science. By now I believe most people are aware of it. However, the second part of the argument that government is bad/violent and private power (corporations) is good is ludicrous and frankly extremely aggressive. I agree we need more options including government, corporations and other entities (non existent yet) to shape and compete in the market.

@robertrelota8623

Ай бұрын

The thing is that the goivernment are given monopoly over certaint thing or in other words we don't get to choose. If you get rid of all the laws and take away the privileges of the gouvernment the gouvernment almost becomse a company minus the private part.

There can be a demand-side crisis and there can be a supply-side crisis. In the 70ies, there was an oil crisis. Oil got much more scarce, this caused the prices of everything to increase, because you need energy for every good (even if it's only to transport it). So the cake got smaller, however trade unions wouldn't want to accept a smaller piece of the pie (in absolute terms, not in relative terms). So they went on strike and made the pie even smaller. Of course, it is wrong to print more money in such a situation, because you would end up with an accelerating inflation in this case. But the causes are quite different if you have a demand crisis instead of a supply crisis (like a lower supply of oil).

Great guest!!

"where is the data Bro?" Love this discussion, thanks guys!

Great conversation

This is so true and eye opening! When I went to college back in the mid 1980's, I took my obligatory courses in microeconomics and macroeconomics. Back in those days, I knew absolutely nothing about economic theory of any kind. I was (along with my younger brother) the first in my immediate and extended family to go to college/university. Everything that I was taught in these courses was pure Keynesianism. I just accepted it because I didn't know any better. I figured that my professors were the experts, so I just accepted what they said as dogma and truth. I asked my parents what this was and they couldn't tell me. They didn't know who John Maynard Keynes was. Around this time (1988), some guys in my dorm were watching Ronald Reagan's State of the Union address. At one point, Reagan was speaking out about the fallacies of Keynesian economics. Some of my dorm mates who were economics and business majors were going off on how their favorite economics professors were going to be upset with what Reagan was saying. I still didn't quite understand what the big deal about what Keynesianism was. Keynes was mentioned by some of my professors. Keynes and his ideas were just accepted as "The Gospel" that every professor believed. I would later start reading some Liberterian political articles and books. This is where I first encountered Austrian School Economics. This is where I first learned about the true nature of the Federal Reserve Bank and how inflationary it is. Plus, I learned about the gold standard. As a young undergraduate back in the 80's, I just assumed that these things were common place. When I studied these things on my own, I came to the conclusion that most college and university students are being sold a bill of goods when just being taught economics from the Keynesian perspective. This video is worth watching.

Michel Knowles`s brother is a real phenomena.

wow your questions for saifedean were on point af i would have asked the same ones! perfect 👌

@infopocalypse5006

2 жыл бұрын

to his credit he answers them. Keynes was a joke.

@fortusvictus8297

2 жыл бұрын

@@infopocalypse5006 *is Keynesian economics is very much the current model in use. Its not neve close, we are a society running on the Keynsian model.

@infopocalypse5006

2 жыл бұрын

@@fortusvictus8297 I know it is. It's great for politicians to bypass democracy and for the elite to widen the gap between them and the poor. Not a good model for the rest of us though.

The other common complaint against completely free-markets is that so-called 'negative externalities' such as environmental impact is not adequately priced into the supply.

In Argentina we've been suffering the consequences of keynesian policies for years (one of the highest inflations in the world)

@brentsrx7

8 ай бұрын

Socialism doesn't work. Keynes enables socialist policies.

@toletoles

7 ай бұрын

I don't think asking for more than 50 billion dollars to the IMF is very keynesian thing to do when your country has a serious issue with foreing currency savings. Owing USD to the IMF is super inflationary, is not due to spending...

@darkcnotion

7 ай бұрын

@@toletoles Inflation was well over 20% from 2010 until 2017, that is, before the loan and with proclaimed fans of Keynes as ministers.

@KevHalen

4 ай бұрын

@@toletoles Keynes is considered the intellectual founding father of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank

@toletoles

4 ай бұрын

​@@KevHalen Considered by whom?

The market can't support multiple power plants in one area; when the private power plant fails, the market can't correct fast enough. It's in very few people's interest to hitch essential utilities up to the vagaries of capital markets.

@Theviewerdude

2 жыл бұрын

Nonsense. There are tons of industries where if a major provider fails, it's not so fast that a competitor can fill the gap in supply to meet demand. Yet the world continues turning. Food distribution is one that's right in our faces...

@drno87

2 жыл бұрын

@@Theviewerdude That's very industry-dependent. Contrast with the shortage in computer chips. The more technological capabilities and initial capital investment you need, the longer it will take for newcomer to set up shop. The market mechanism is much better with things that can be set up quickly and much worse if you need to plan 10 years in advance (say, building a nuclear power plant).

@ghostexits

2 жыл бұрын

@@Theviewerdude there’s hundreds if not thousands of avenues of foods distribution. It’s not comparable.

@RK-um9tu

2 жыл бұрын

@@Theviewerdude Yet another idiot posting nonsense. He is talking about utilities. As for food distrution, why do where has a supply chain crisis? Because of industries end up being controled by 3 or 4 companies. You are welcome for the free education...

Quote from the great Mark Twain: "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so!"

@kingkoi6542

2 жыл бұрын

Another one: "We have the best government money can buy" (;

24:10 , I would ask, is it possible that using the level of aggregate spending in an economy as a lever to control unemployment and inflation can work, but govs/fed/bank have failed to properly utilize their rates? If the current US gov pulls off a soft landing, would that be reflective of Keynesian success? I guess even in that case they are still correcting their own mistake with previous over spending/printing...

You forgot to mention the AS curve that can also shift due to positive or negative shocks. Consequently in the AS-AD model stagflation is possible after a negative supply shock.

@feliksvrtovecmozina798

4 ай бұрын

Inclusive in Keynesian economics ...

2 points which I thought was missed. 1. Keynesian economists claims to follow data. Yet they ignore Japan. Which practically disproves their entire thesis. All Keynesian economics did for Japan was to drag out their market correction, which is more than 20 years long now. 2. Austrian economists fail to recognize that Defence against foreign aggressive armies cannot possibly be left to market forces. Running a standing army (and foreign relations in general) is a scale that cannot be supplied by the market, because definitionally, once you run the army, you command forces of violence that the Austrian school rejects on a fundamental level. There is a need for government, just not the Keynesian kind.

@crappymeal

2 жыл бұрын

if all countries are in the same free market economy then nobody would have a standing army?

@VoluntaryPlanet

2 жыл бұрын

Robert Murphy addressed the ability of a free market to supply militaristic defense, kzread.info/dash/bejne/iJuktsp_m73TksY.html

@lesterchua2677

2 жыл бұрын

@@crappymeal The first to recognize that will win the world. So no, your utopian world will never happen in reality.

@crappymeal

2 жыл бұрын

@@lesterchua2677 what utopian world? i don't understand or subscribe to either worldview

@SpartakMs83

2 жыл бұрын

1: Agree. 2: Disagree. A society does not need a large standing army. Look at Ukraine and their fight against Russia, the vast majority of Ukraine's military power comes from civilian militias. Now think about how much more effective they would be if Ukraine were not the 2nd most corrupt country on earth. 3: To your point about government, I do agree that it is a necessity, but kept at a minimum level as envisioned in the American founding. That level of government didn't involve a standing army and its spending was just a few % of GDP.

Literally every economist analyzes marginal costs regardless of specialty. There is no disagreement on this.

@BobWidlefish

2 жыл бұрын

Yes. Menger is everyone’s predecessor in economics. Except the Marxists.

@olegigoverich7684

2 жыл бұрын

He never argued that economists didn’t follow it. He said that it was the roots of Austrian economics.

@alQarafi

2 жыл бұрын

@@olegigoverich7684 Even alien economists use Marginal costs in their analysis. It’s at the root of economics regardless of specialty. There is really no ideological issue here.

@olegigoverich7684

2 жыл бұрын

@@alQarafi I agree I’m just saying that he was explaining the roots of the Austrian school.

@alQarafi

2 жыл бұрын

@@olegigoverich7684 Did Mises have marginal cost analysis in his work? If he explained some of the research done by various Austrian Economists that would be pretty interesting.

One of your very best guests.

According to Keynesian Economics, government is supposed to run surpluses in good times. Government never seems to do that. Money is trust made tangible. You take money in return for your efforts, trusting that you can trade it in the future for something you need or want. Inflation betrays that trust by eroding the value of the money you already have.

Instead of wasting so much time saying 'obviously wrong', 'nonesensical', and using colorful language, the guest could have spent more time actually giving arguments. 'Obviously' is a word people tend to use when they don't have a good argument, and as far as I'm concerned, one learns in college not to use this word when trying to give reasons for/against something. Also, he says: "If the barber increased prices, then there is an opportunity for a new one". That assumes continuity...and in the same way, it seems like he can't even account for monopolies. A monopoly forming doesn't mean it's a good stable solution (or maybe he gives a bad argument where he assumes adjusting times are infinitely fast...).

@Theviewerdude

2 жыл бұрын

You clearly didn't understand what he was saying when he was speaking about the barber. It's not really a monopoly if it's just that they're the only provider in that 10 mile radius. And the market may not necessarily need more providers. If that one provider does a shit job or tries to price gouge, it provides an opportunity for a new competitor to open up shop, or people will just drive to the next town over.

@argeurasia

2 жыл бұрын

@@Theviewerdude I understood it: it's the same old argument with 'spherical cow' assumptions. And I was talking about monopolies more in general, like one private company that controls the whole market. 'It's not necessarily bad' lol. Well, it probably is. So what's the solution? He assumes continuity and fast adjusting times, which don't represent reality. Yeah, theoretical physicists do first-principles stuff, but models can be far from quantitative solutions. I've never heard a libertarian go beyond the first step of 'paying taxes is coercion'. One single principle is too simplistic and unlikely to give you a good model to organize society.

Really enjoyed this podcast. High quality discussion. I can't say that I necessarily agree however. You have laid out the case to be weary of central government planning, but what of the power of corporations. How can you fully give the reigns of power over to those who are not elected nor have a duty to the populace? Are we not currently awash in examples of how companies eliminate their competitors, squash innovation, and become monopolistic? It's not a free market. It's a market dominated by a few players that have a stranglehold over the entire supply chain. These multinational conglomerates may be efficient in production of goods that are desired by the consumer and grant returns to investors, but treat employees poorly without repercussions, eliminate any skilled labor positions of less powerful firms, replace those jobs only with unskilled positions, prevent any inventions that would open the company up to future losses, and deprive the public of those inventions. Without any centralized protections won't companies simply take full advantage of their power, abuse their employees, and deprive the market of better future solutions?

@stopper90004

Жыл бұрын

No, because eventually, a competitor with a better technology, better customer service (and the small size/bureaucracy that allows rapid adaptation to consumer wishes), will move faster and with better service to undermine the "rent seeking" monopolists and replace them. Corrupt monopolies only manage to cement a hold on a market if laws/regulations are passed to protect them artificially. It is politicians with guns and jails who can ensure corrupt corporations are given lucrative contracts and "protected" markets through lobbying and bribery of the politicians.

@MarketFund2k

Жыл бұрын

@@stopper90004 Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I see that gov corruption via lobbiests as a significant problem in the current climate. I feel like this has been discussed at length, however. Attempting to pry powers from the ruling class is hard bargain. I'm more interested in the thought experiment where independent corporations exercise their power with huge war chests which they can use to squash or acquire any nascent competition.... which is an epidemic today. Coercive force is not the only force levied when the authorities turn a blind eye to antitrust legislation. We don't just need an entity to be "not corrupt" we also need it to protect the populace from the dangers of a nationstate ruled by oligarchy.

@xraceboyex

Жыл бұрын

What's your point? We're talking about the government not being allowed to literally counterfeit money - not whether or not the govt should exist. This is about inflation, not the existence of govt.

@robinhoode3875

Жыл бұрын

Multinational conglomerates and monopolies are created, protected, and maintained by governments in the first place. Ex: Coca Cola is the only company allowed by the DEA to import coca leaves. That’s a legal advantage they have over competitors.

I may be confused here, but at 23:00 he seems to argue that Keynesian economics doesn’t model stagflation…which it can. Again, maybe I’m misunderstanding but this seems incorrect.

@dessertfirstgateau

27 күн бұрын

He generally has no idea about what Keynes actually thought

@charlesw852

19 күн бұрын

You are perfectly correct. There is undoubtedly plenty to be criticised about Keynesian Economics, but this chap doesn’t understand it in the first place. Worth noting that he doesn’t actually have an Economics degree.

@investorbettor505

12 күн бұрын

Keynesian’s are terrified of stagflation. They think intervention is needed before, during, and after stagflation. Austrians, on the other hand, see stagflation as a time of cleansing out the weaker and negligent actors in the economy. Keynesian economics does not allow for this cleansing. It simply puts a band aid on the wound and kicks the can down the road via inflationary policies

Austrian and Libertarian topics, so refreshing. I need to see the full episode

at 27, the best definition of what is Economics i have heard.

@erikbrown77

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed!

@nitePhyyre

2 жыл бұрын

Your first time hearing about economics at 27?

And yet this genius economist recommended Bitcoin right before the crash. hahaha

@diamondbracelette

Жыл бұрын

Interested in his ideas but his Absolute and unquestioning belief in Bitcoin is a huge red flag. Even before the crash

Still economies that were stuck for some reasons (other than inflation maybe) , were helped by some inflation, it changed psychology. It is a useful tool if little used.

OMG... Lex and Michael Malice are neighbors in Austin? Fantastic! Can you imagine this scenario... Lex walks over to Michael's house at 2am and asks: "Could I borrow a cup of diamonds?" Michael replies: "Diamonds? Wouldn't you prefer a nice cup of water?" VIVA MISES!

An almost hour long clip only lex can do that

Would like to have a second interview aimed at dealing with current issues. Solutions to minimize (if needed) the correction in housing prices and it's impact on the entire financial system. Restructuring the tax system to correct the concentration of wealth in the 1%. - not because I begrudge their wealth but virtually none of the economic growth over the last last 3 decades has reached street level. Couple this with wall street buying residential properties and actively working against individuals trying to buy a home has pushed housing prices out of sight. I also question a gold standard and would think that securing the purchasing power of a currency against a periodically adjusted basket of industrial materials. I.e. the 10, 30 or 50 most economically important materials.

I prefer markets over other ways of allocating resources. I trust markets over the government. The market for economists places keynesian economists at top rated universities like Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, etc but austrian economists at much lower rated universities. Also the ideas of keynesian economists are regularly published in the top journals, AEA, PJE, QJE, etc. yet austrians don’t publish in these journals. Do austrians trust these markets or do they think markets are biased? and if so, what is their prescription for biased markets?

this guy nails it perfectly. im Venezuelan and ive seen in person all the keynesian economical principals fail in action while ive seen all austrian school economists anticipate all the stuff that has been going on.

@adamsymthe5389

2 жыл бұрын

but Venezuela policy isn't based on keynesian principles?

@YourBestFriendforToday

2 жыл бұрын

@@adamsymthe5389 Keynes and Socialism are not disconnected. Both very much want high taxes, deficit spending, government spending is required to drop the unemployment rate. But if you put these on a spectrum, Keynes and Socialism are sharing some pieces of the venn diagram. I will assume that is what the original comment is meant to portray.

@adamsymthe5389

2 жыл бұрын

@@YourBestFriendforToday "Both very much want high taxes" Keyensians don't WANT higher taxes (esp. during economic downturns(!!)) but do sometimes call for higher taxes, espcially to slow inflation (Ammous's assertion that Keynsians basically WANT inflation is utterly stupid, btw) "deficit" Keyensians don't WANT deficit spending as some sort of philosophical goal, but they do believe that it's OK for a government to run a deficit, esp. to stimulate the economy during a downturn "government spending to drop the employement rate" Assuming you meant "raise the employment rate", well, yeah. That sounds right. The big thing though is that Keynesians call for government intervention in the economy while Socialists call for government control of the economy.

@adamsymthe5389

2 жыл бұрын

@@YourBestFriendforToday Important point though is that if he's talking about Chavez/Maduro era Venezuala then he NOT talking about an economy being run according 'keynesian economical principals' , and is mistaken if he thinks it is.

@YourBestFriendforToday

2 жыл бұрын

@@adamsymthe5389 We’ll have to disagree on the higher taxes part. While they might not ‘ want’ them, all that I’ve seen have 0 issues pushing for increases. Deficit spending, we should just call it how governments run in the western world. It’s part of the DNA now.

Any model you create uses past data entries. If you create a model and try to use it to calculate things that are outside of the range of your data set, you are extrapolating not interpolating. The model cannot be relied upon because it is outside the models range. Past data contains no future data. Forecasting with models is very difficult because of this

@rlkinnard

Жыл бұрын

But not impossible, and that is why Newton is Newton

@neofusionstylx

Жыл бұрын

That’s like saying it’s impossible to forecast, which isn’t true. There are certain things that are impossible to forecast such as how the economy responded to the pandemic, but we can forecast normal business and economic cycles.

@rlkinnard

Жыл бұрын

@@neofusionstylx i know that it is hard to believe but most economists have forecast that inflation is coming down with the fed raising interest rates. Only Austrians doubt it. Let's get some popcorn and watch.

@neofusionstylx

Жыл бұрын

@@rlkinnard I studied economics at the University of Chicago, so I lean more fiscally conservative , but these Austrian economists seem like economic 101 students. As in, a lot of what they say makes sense, and alot is accurate, but A huge difference between Chicago and Austrian schools is Chicago uses empirical data and math. Austrians have these set of “logical” arguments that seem to make sense on paper, but they don’t back their assumptions with empirical data. So at the end of the day, we don’t know if their foundations are correct or not, and this guy being anti-data kinda shows what’s wrong with the Austrian school. How do you know your assumptions are correct if you don’t rigorously test it? We’ve seen that a lot of Austrian economics was just wrong the past 15 years. The fed has been doing QE for the past 15 years and inflation has been kept under control until 2021. So something gave, and it’s not just the printer, but a combination of supply shocks coupled with increased consumption demand.

@rlkinnard

Жыл бұрын

@@neofusionstylx Austrians claim that you cannot predict, and yet, I am sure that price inflation was going to start going down 6 months ago when I first posted here, and it will continue going down as the Fed is continuing to tighten the money supply. I am sure that both fresh water and salt water economists would agree with that.

The ban on gold ownership was for exceeding 5 troy ounces, or approx. 155 grams. That’s plenty enough for jewelry and couldn’t have been the reason for the popularity of diamonds.

I am nervous around certainty! Lex Friedman

Keynesian economics may be the devil and Austrian may be economic messiah, but this guest didn't convince me of it. For all his talk of propaganda and hucksters he sounded an awful lot like a huckster chucking propaganda. "Let me tell you why the other side is bad, dumb, idiots and hucksters and how my side is the only smart, reasonable choice and will save everything" is textbook propaganda tone. Lex danced around this but I wish he would've just called him on it. His ideas may be good but he spent most of his time just slinging insults at people which is pretty much the antithesis of a reasonable argument. It's basically dog whistling to a base that already agrees with you and does nothing to convince others.

@CommanderRiker0

2 жыл бұрын

Listen again. Keynesian's claimed for decades stagflation was impossible and could never happen yet it did. This is a CENTRAL PREMISE TO THE ENTIRE THEORY.

@thomaspetersen-kp2ff

Ай бұрын

Well, stagflation in the seventies was easy to understand: The problem was simply the rising oil prices, that made everything more expensive AND caused unemployment, therefore inflation and rising unemployment at the same time. This just shows the problems will all these theoretical approaches to economy: The don't take the real world in account. At least from my point of view Keynes and The New Deal, that was the debut of carrying out these economic ideas in real life, acknowledged that the world is not perfect, and wanted to use economy to improve things. Even if the measures taken sometimes didn't work so well, I don't think you can blame Keynes for every bad thing that has happened since. With the financial deregulations and Reganomics and Thatcher from the '80s and onwards the favorite economists of the establishment was in fact Friedman and Hayek, the latter was, you've guessed it, from the Austrian School. And we still suffer the consequences. I have this feeling with the Austrian Economics, that if you say to them: "The world is not perfect, what will you do?", they will answer: "The world should be perfect." So there's absolutely nothing you can use Austrian Economics for in this imperfect world, where power, both economic, political and military distorts the market. Perhaps their preferred measures against inflation could be useful, but I'm not sure if this requires Austrian School measures or just common sense. Federico Hernando Cardoso managed to stop inflation in Brazil in the 90es, and I don't believe he saw he's actions as particularly coming from the Austrian School. It seems Milei is doing more or less the same in Argentina right now: Not the shock therapy he claims himself, but a good chunk of down writing the currency, followed by slow adjustment to narrow the gap between the official peso value and the market price. It worked for FDC and his Plano Real, but he was lucky the markets didn't speculate too much against the Real. Brazil did still have a big industry and was by far Latin America's biggest economy, so maybe Brazil was considered "too big to fail", by the finance markets. We will have to see, if Milei can carry this through. It could be very tough, because Argentina is somewhat a dwarf, when it comes to industrial power.

@qgil1079

28 күн бұрын

PERFECT! Like I said, I respect Austrian Economics ideas, but Austrian Economics bros are incredibly uninformed, biased and arrogante. The same they critizice, but in reverse

@liberty193

20 күн бұрын

⁠@@thomaspetersen-kp2ffyou should read more Austrian economics because they address what you brought up and your assumptions may be wrong.

@davidkaiser3105

12 күн бұрын

⁠@@thomaspetersen-kp2ffThere's a lot of misconceptions in what you wrote. We live in a Keynesian world today. Reagan and Thatcher had little affect in changing the river's course. Austrian economics is very much in line with common sense and the world as it would be generally free of widescale distortions caused by governments. We lived in such a world, broadly speaking, up until WW1 and the creation of the Federal Reserve System. Also, Javier Milei is very much in line with Austrian Economics.

Very spot on about the university education on economics.

@segwaysegments

Жыл бұрын

From someone who has a master's in Economics. This is false. You start off your journey with Austrian and free market economics. That's the basis every theory tries to prove or disprove. In fact most of the top schools Harvard, Princeton etc teach mostly Austrian economics.

@phillipemery572

Жыл бұрын

@@segwaysegments I'll concur with you (BA in Econ). I don't know what universities this bozo has attended or taught at, but his characterization of the teaching is laughably wrong. Yes, if you take only 200-level courses, you get fed the basics. But that's not the end of the story. It's like saying public schools feed kids a wrong version of history because the 2nd graders act out the first Thanksgiving.

@BlancoBennetto

Жыл бұрын

@@segwaysegments well said… 💯

@josefernandovillanuevahida8620

Жыл бұрын

Basic microeconomic courses are very pro market and neoclassical based. Most intermediate and advanced level courses are more "moderate" but still neoclassical based. The macroeconomics courses content depends on where you study.

@robinhoode3875

Жыл бұрын

@@phillipemery572 PhD from Columbia University, where he also taught.

Part of the issue is a lot of what he wrote relies on these neoclassical notions of mechanisms equilibrating themselves which completely contradicts the idea that the economy needs government intervention to prevent issues.

You should Get a post Keynesian like Randall Wray, dean baker or Steve keen to debate an Austrian economist on your show

@Guizambaldi

4 ай бұрын

As a mainstream economist, I would not expose myself to such radioactive material.

Lex starts to actually answer his own questions. He says Econ can’t possibly validate so many different variables. That’s exactly why Keynes is wrong. Because Keynes needs a central planner and a central planner takes away the individuals freedom to make choices that are best for themselves.

Been seeing alot of economist of Lex Podcast in the past year and would love to have Peter Schiff on, Peter's way of analogies and explaining the problems with government spending and the flaws of the FED is something that's very relative today

Austrian economics is a school of economic thought that emphasizes the role of the individual in decision-making and the importance of the market process in coordinating economic activity. It is known for its focus on the limitations of economic knowledge and the role of entrepreneurship. Keynesian economics is a school of economic thought that emphasizes the role of government intervention in the economy, particularly in times of economic downturn. It is known for its advocacy of government spending and monetary policy as tools to stabilize the economy and promote growth. Both Austrian and Keynesian economics have their own strengths and weaknesses, and different economists have different opinions on which approach is more effective.

Collective knowledge is powerful

paying my tribute to fashion I thought at first that segregation, poverty, lack of education were to be blamed. But moving up the social ladder I found that the same ratio was prevalent among the white-collar employees and among the students. More impressive still were the results among the professors. Whether I considered a large university or a small college, a famous institution or an obscure one, I found that the same fraction σ of the professors are stupid. So bewildered was I by the results, that I made a special point to extend my research to a specially selected group, to a real élite, the Nobel laureates. The result confirmed Nature’s supreme powers: σ fraction of the Nobel laureates are stupid.

@boborappa

Жыл бұрын

You seem to have decent intelligence, in some aspects of intelligence, but youth seems to make you think it's more important than it is. Most Nobel laureates have an IQ below 130; not surprising.

@hitandruncommentor

Жыл бұрын

Especially once they step outside of their speciality. This is not call them morons, but the majority of their knowledge and thinking lanes are devoted to that speciality and just don't have the tools beyond that.

@josehawking5293

Жыл бұрын

🤡

I would love to hear him talk about Thomas Sowell.

@rlkinnard

2 жыл бұрын

I would love to hear from an anti austrian such as Milton Friedman.

@musicisfree91

2 жыл бұрын

I would love to see Lex talk to Thomas Sowell.

@RK-um9tu

2 жыл бұрын

Why? Thomas Sowell is not an economist. He is not associated with any economics department, He can't do quantitative ecnomic studies, He does not publish in peer-reviewed economic journals (or any journals), Nor does not debate leading economists. He can't even read economic journals and does even know statistics. Having a law degree does not make you a lawyer.

@tastytesty

2 жыл бұрын

@@RK-um9tu It's because they are talking about Austrian Economics, and Sowell's book 'Basic Economics' resonates the Austrian Economics's spirit.

@kingkoi6542

2 жыл бұрын

No! Thomas Sowell, Freidman and the Chicago School of Economics is socialism disguised as capitalism. Sowell has interesting socialogical ideas but him and Friedman are just more gatekeepers when it comes to economics.

I think it's simpler than "the government creates inflation due to a lack of fiscal discipline". The government creates inflation because the fractional reserve banking system requires increasing debt.

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship." This is the core of Keynesian economics.

Either Ammous is way younger than I expected; I'm much older than I realized; or I want his face-cream. Content, beyond excellent. Thank you.

@josehawking5293

Жыл бұрын

🤡👙

The thing Austrian economics people fail to address is that there were periods when both things were tried in parallel and countries doing Keynesian economics usually outperformed countries doing Austrian Economics. One example was 2008 crisis in EU and famous "PIGS" countries which were hit pretty bad by austerity policies forced on them by Germany through common currency and common central bank. Countries with separate fiat currencies which did Keynesian things (like Poland for example) fared much better. This being economy there's a lot of confounding factors, but they really should address this pattern. It's why Keynesian thinking is the default not some conspiracy.

@Lightningkuriboh

Жыл бұрын

Yup

@dylanthomas12321

20 күн бұрын

I'm disappointed in Lex not knowing enough about economics to carry on a sensible conversation. Stagflation came because of the oil embargo. In the 80s Reagan (the Fed) raised interest rates and broke inflation. Regan bought into supply side, cut taxes too much and ran huge deficits. A more sensible policy would've been to keep taxes high enough or spending low enough to balance the budget. Lex seems unaware of tax and spending policies, the role of deficits (when they're good or bad), and so he's ill equipped to converse with his arrogant mud slinging libertarian guest

@lareau6

16 күн бұрын

That is a good point, but in those exemple they were prevented from devaluing by the foreign owner of the dept witch has to be diffenrent from devaluing a depth you owe to yourself, like everyone else.

So what about manufactured scarcity how does economics deal with it or is that down to governments to deal with the likes of monopolies or speculation

The problem with Keynesian Economics is that it does not F-ing work as a model to predict or influence actual economies. “Stimulus” for consumer spending is fundamentally flawed and only results in more poor economic decisions / bad investments. Real monetary policy must stabilize the Unit of Measure of Economic Value = The Dollar to keep commodity prices stable since they are not swinging in price rapidly via supply/demand. Gold is way to sensitive and intertwined and scarce to be used as the basis for valuing The Dollar anymore, and attempting that would destroy the market for Gold. There would be chaos and failures in Engineering if the Meter or Second fluctuated in value, and the Dollar is no different. The chaos in our global economy (Boom/Bust) will stabilize if the Fed stabilizes The Dollar against an Index of Commodities.

For anyone genuinly interested in truly understanding what caused the Great Depression, I feel obligated to fact-check Saifedean' claims around 16:00. Britian left the gold standard during WW1 but reinstated it in 1925. Britian then left the gold standard in 1931 after Keynes argued for a fiat currency in front of the Macmillan committee (a group of economists from academia, the Bank of England, and the treasury who tried to combat the Great Depression). To say that Britian "lied to its population for 20 years" about being on the gold standard completely contradicts the historical record. Most modern economists agree that British authorities exacerbated the depression by trying to reinstating the gold standard at the pre-war sterling-dollar parity of $4.86 to the pound. From this point of view it seems like a large part of the British unemployment problem of the 1920s was policy-induced, i.e., partially caused by the gold standard, not inflation (like I assume he would argue).

@HidingFromFate

2 жыл бұрын

Good post. Saifedean's got some good perspectives, but only up to a point. He's a little too sure of himself for my tastes.

@pawehajdecki9245

2 жыл бұрын

There is quite a lot of wholes in his argument. 1. Keynsian theories are more complex. F.e. You can have budget deficit in case of emergency but you need to cover it later on when the times are good. Lot of people like to ommit second part in their arguments. 2. FED cannot just print money as they please. Every single "printed" dollar ends up on their balance sheet. Currently 9Trylion USD printed. They plan to burn those at a rate 95 Billion a month. Printing money is not a one way ticket. Smart monetary policy with fiat is as good as gold or better as it has more flexibility. 3. Inflation argument is (for 2 % inflation goal) that good decay over time, and services cannot get stored, therefore money earned (thier value) for producing a car, or cutting hair should not last forever. Argument by Elon BTW from Lex conversation

@3omar3aysha

2 жыл бұрын

He didn't mention Britain specifically, he said "govts", so you're "fact" checking something that wasn't a fact because it wasn't said, therefore why should we read anything else you wrote if you don't even know what "fact" means?

@3omar3aysha

2 жыл бұрын

@@HidingFromFate Yes, the Keynsians and govts are totally humble in how they present their arguments lol

@australianpatriot

2 жыл бұрын

@@HidingFromFate Saifedean is wrong about free-market manipulation too, yes you can voluntarily indulge or not indulge in something like coca-cola but how about a road? And how about water supply?

I still remember when Krugman said the internet was a fad that would fade away

@koho

Жыл бұрын

Maybe, but he's been right about nearly everything else. (And that statement is taken out of context.)

@leonardojordao3762

10 ай бұрын

⁠He is one of the top five academic idiots on the planet.

maybe he is not right. but for sure he is strait and funny. and he explains his arguments simple. so...nice. subcribed.

I once told my sister some econ, and I used the word "wealth" generically. She interrupted, "I don't care about wealthy people...". Class dismissed. You should itch Ferraris, etc. and choose smthng like poor people value, such as butter or TVs. Thanks S. Ammous for an excellent exposition.

On Humility: “The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design. To the naive mind that can conceive of order only as the product of deliberate arrangement, it may seem absurd that in complex conditions order, and adaptation to the unknown, can be achieved more effectively by decentralizing decisions and that a division of authority will actually extend the possibility of overall order. Yet that decentralization actually leads to more information being taken into account.” - F.A. Hayek (Austrian Economist), The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism (and Keynesianism too!).

@RK-um9tu

2 жыл бұрын

That is a bunch of nonsense. Just words with ZERO empirical evidence. decentralization does not lead to more infromaiton being taen into account. First, when something is decentralized it makes it harder and takes longer to get information. Second, how do you know the informations is any good if it comes from different sources and those source contridict themselves. Third, what makes you think you even get the information in the first place? People what what they want to share in a decentralized system. Why don't you try reading basic organizational theory instead the writings of so nut job. Bet you feel pretty silly right about now...

@poptraxx418

Жыл бұрын

@@RK-um9tu what you are saying is nonsense having a more decentralized economy is more efficient if one fails the effects are not wide spread you statist are the ones who put us in this mess

The best interview ever! Saifedean Ammous, thanks 👍

Man such a challenging topic to chew on. 45:42 Lex Fridman "How do we prevent the worst of human nature from coming out, in a free market?" 45:49 Saifedean Ammous "By not giving the worst of human nature, a monopoly on violence in the institute of Government"

If we repeal the US income tax, what effect would all of that extra consumption have on the US, (world), economy?

The power plant example is interesting... I am not allowed to go off the grid even if I generate enough solar power and use batteries to store and use the energy. My local power company forces me to cycle the electricity I produce to them and they give it back to me at a reduce rate... absolute BS.

@rlkinnard

2 жыл бұрын

Why cannot you just stop buying from your power company?

@Jake_Hamlin

2 жыл бұрын

Our government in New Zealand doesnt let people within government water supply collect rain water for human use without getting consents/permits. Pretty much paying them money for nothing and giving them an opportunity to police your water use. Power is similar, they dont allow subdivisions without a grid connection. Most of this is under local government but the police will enforce it.

@kingkoi6542

2 жыл бұрын

They want you as a debt slave.

@SrCoxas

2 жыл бұрын

That's because your surplus of energy generates a cost for the power company. Store yourself the energy or pay for it by receiving less credits