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PODCAST

Words & Numbers

Words & Numbers touches on issues of Economics, Political Science, Current Events and Policy. Each Wednesday we"ll be sharing a new Words & Numbers podcast featuring Antony Davies Ph.D and James Harrigan Ph.D talking about the economics and political science of current events.

education news commentary

All Episodes

29:11

Episode 48: When Do-Gooders Do Bad

Words & Numbers ·

2018/01/10

Despite its passage some time ago, recent attention has been brought to the impending implementation of a Washington, D.C., regulation that will require all professional childcare workers to have a college degree. This has raised a great hue and cry as it will ban a number of existing childcare workers from their chosen profession as well as having the effect of dramatically increasing the cost of childcare in the District — which is, incidentally, already incredibly high when compared to the rest

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27:39

Episode 47: Should We Abolish Government Regulation?

Words & Numbers ·

2018/01/03

What do you do on any given day that is not somehow regulated by government in some way? There really isn't much. In point of fact, there are well over one hundred thousand pages of federal regulations alone, to say nothing of state and local regulations. We have government-mandated guidelines for everything from space exploration to how your dog can behave in a city park. While many people concede that there is an acceptable minimum level of government regulation, and others maintain that there is

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28:14

Episode 46: Actually, Things Are Kind of Amazing

Words & Numbers ·

2017/12/27

It seems, these days, that you can't turn on the TV or log on to social media without someone griping about how awful things are. They complain about everything, from taxes to avocados to bills to cell signal strength. But the truth of things is a lot rosier than popular media would lead you to believe. Global illiteracy rates are below 14 percent. Global rates of extreme poverty are below 10 percent. Despite there being more people currently alive on the planet than ever before, there are also more

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23:33

Episode 45: What Can Colorado Teach Us About...

Words & Numbers ·

2017/12/20

There has been quite the groundswell in recent years in the efforts to legalize marijuana. In fact, a majority of US states have at least some sort of access to legal weed, despite its still being criminalized at the federal level. But the state of Colorado led the nation when it legalized marijuana for all purposes, even recreational ones, in January of 2014. The anti-marijuana advocates warned that such an action would lead to increased drug use — especially among teens — higher crimes rates, and

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28:18

Episode 44: Americans' Generosity Can Help the Poor...

Words & Numbers ·

2017/12/13

Christmas is right around the corner, and people everywhere are in the holiday spirit. In addition to giving gifts to loved ones, Americans are also giving to their preferred charities. Indeed, about a third of all charitable donations occur during the month of December. And Americans are, in general, incredibly generous. Recent estimates have the total dollar amount of charitable giving, both cash and labor, at about $600 billion. That's more than almost all other countries take in via taxation

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24:22

Episode 43: The CBO Is Almost, but Not Quite, Useless

Words & Numbers ·

2017/12/06

Economist Paul Krugman is well-known for his pro-Democrat stances. Recently, he's claimed that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said that if the Individual Mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, is repealed, 22 million Americans will "lose" their health insurance. What he doesn't say is that the vast majority of those 22 million people are simply opting out. They are _choosing_ not to have health insurance. But here's the problem with CBO forecasts: they're

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26:02

Episode 42: Is America a Police State?

Words & Numbers ·

2017/11/29

Recently, in a small town Pennsylvania, an insurance agent for Nationwide Insurance noticed a certain plant growing in a garden on the property he was inspecting. This insurance agent identified the plant as marijuana and notified the police about this nefarious behavior. An elderly couple lived at that property, and while the husband was out at the time, the wife was dragged from her home, in her underwear, while police proceeded to ransack the home for four hours. They found nothing illegal. And

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25:24

Episode 41: The Super-Rich Don't Understand Taxation

Words & Numbers ·

2017/11/22

It never seems to fail that whenever any kind of change to the tax code is proposed in Washington, billionaires and millionaires come clambering out of the woodwork to tell Congress not to cut their taxes. This current round of tax reform is no exception. Recently, more than 400 of the super-rich signed a letter asking exactly that, claiming that both the national debt and wealth inequality are at all-time highs. But are these claims true? Is taxation the only way to financially support the

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20:21

Episode 40: How Fair is Fair Trade?

Words & Numbers ·

2017/11/15

The World Fair Trade Organization has declared this week to be World Fair Trade Week. "Fair trade" is quite the buzzword in commerce these days and is generally associated agricultural products. Chief among those is coffee. The popularity of fair trade coffee is undeniable. But what even is "fair trade" and what does it entail? How "fair" is it? Or is it just a marketing gimmick? James Harrigan and Antony Davies get into the nitty-gritty of this and more in this week's episode of Words and

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24:12

Episode 39: Is American Unity an Illusion

Words & Numbers ·

2017/11/08

If the government of France was to suddenly and magically cease to exist, France itself would definitely still go on. If the government of the United States was to suddenly and magically cease to exist, would the United States itself still go on? The answer isn't entirely clear. In a recent interview, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas stated that he doesn't know what binds us, Americans, together anymore. The subject of American unity is a touchy one. With so much political divisiveness in our

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26:35

Episode 38: You Can't Vote Math Out of Office

Words & Numbers ·

2017/11/01

This year, Deficit Day - that is, the day the federal government runs out of money for the year and starts spending money it doesn't have - fell on October 24. This is about average for the last 30 or so years. And yet, somehow, this year's deficit spending is on track to be the largest it's ever been. How does that work? And what's the difference between mandatory and discretionary spending? Is the rate of expansion of government spending sustainable? James Harrigan and Antony Davies discuss this

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24:39

Episode 37: Has the Gun Violence Crisis Been Overblown?

Words & Numbers ·

2017/10/25

It’s important to approach the subject of guns and gun control with a cool and rational mind. It’s easy to make snap judgments in the heat of the moment that feel good but might not have any bearing on reality. Now that we’ve gained a little distance from the horrific shooting in Las Vegas, what do the data say about gun deaths and gun violence in America? Is it really as bad as it seems? James Harrigan and Antony Davies break down the statistics for us in this week’s episode of Words and

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29:16

Episode 36: The Problem with Healthcare Is Government

Words & Numbers ·

2017/10/18

Healthcare is a hot topic right now after a couple of failed attempts to repeal Obamacare and an executive order that rolled back some of the restrictions on selling insurance. There’s no doubt that health care and health insurance are both expensive and getting more expensive all the time. But how did it get this way? And how can we fix it? Antony Davies and James Harrigan discuss the how and the why of the cost of healthcare in this week’s episode of Words and Numbers.

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22:24

Episode 35: Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Words & Numbers ·

2017/10/11

State representatives who support anti-gun legislation arrested for running guns. Pro-life representatives encouraging their mistresses to get abortions. Anti-gay senators outed for propositioning other men. The list of people in power getting caught up in their own hypocrisy is long, but they’re not the only ones. We the people are guilty of it as well. The evidence is overwhelming. The bad behavior we were so vocal about before suddenly becomes okay as soon as our preferred party is in power. Why

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21:53

Episode 34: Inequality Is Rising, but Poverty Is Falling

Words & Numbers ·

2017/10/04

Recently released data from the Federal Reserve indicate an increase in income inequality and wealth inequality in the country. People often assume this means that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. In the US, it generally means that both the rich and poor are getting richer, but the rich are getting richer faster. Moreover, “the rich” is not a static group of people. People climb into and fall out of that category all the time. Indeed, as Machiavelli pointed out long ago,

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24:53

Episode 33: Does Amazon Really Need Corporate Welfare?

Words & Numbers ·

2017/09/27

Amazon made online comparison shopping easy for all. Now it’s Amazon’s turn to comparison shop: for a city to host its new corporate headquarters. It’s looking for which major metropolis will offer the sweetest deal. Unfortunately, the welcome package will most likely be paid for by the city’s taxpayers. Amazon claims it’s worth it in the long run, given how much tax revenue the corporate titan would bring to town. But economists James Harrigan and Antony Davies give this argument a one-star

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21:50

Episode 32: Venezuela: Let Them Eat… Rabbits?

Words & Numbers ·

2017/09/20

Once upon a time, an out-of-touch queen heard of her subjects’ lack of bread and supposedly responded, “Let them eat cake.” Hunger has become so bad in Venezuela that its own out-of-touch ruler has proclaimed, in essence, “let them eat rabbits.” This is how far Venezuela has fallen. And yet, only a few years ago, many (including the American left) were heralding the rise of “Bolivarian socialism” as the wave of the future and the hope for the people. How can a nation plummet so deeply into squalor

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21:49

Episode 31: Does the Debt Ceiling Mean Anything?

Words & Numbers ·

2017/09/13

Does the debt ceiling even mean anything? It’s like a credit limit on your credit card, but one which the borrower (the US government) gets to set for itself. Moreover, it’s most likely that the government has been borrowing way above the ceiling but simply doesn’t make it official until after the debt ceiling is raised: as it always is. Economists Antony Davies and James Harrigan discuss what this means for the taxpayer and for the economy.

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21:19

Episode 30: Must the Police Be Above the Law to...

Words & Numbers ·

2017/09/06

Nurse Alex Wubbels refused to let police draw blood from an unconscious crash victim and ended up arrested. The ensuing national controversy has brought police conduct back into the spotlight, raising several questions. Is it necessary to be above the law to enforce it? Does the policy of granting “qualified immunity” to officers incentivize irresponsibility? Would police ranks have far fewer “bad apples” if officers were required to carry malpractice insurance? Antony and James address all this and

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15:29

Episode 29: Do Americans Still Have Freedom of Speech

Words & Numbers ·

2017/08/30

These days, everybody is nervous about what you can say in public without getting slammed by retribution. But is that a free-speech problem, or does it only become one when the police start showing up? Do we live in a truly tolerant society if voicing an opinion, even if it doesn’t land you in jail, ends up ending your career? Antony and James explore these intricate issues on this weeks episode.

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