Shows / Words & Numbers
Words & Numbers
Words & Numbers is one of the highest-rated economics podcasts in the world. Each episode, Antony Davies and James R. Harrigan dig into economics, political science, and current events to explain what’s actually happening and why it matters.
Episodes
Words & NumbersEpisode 56: Tariffs Hurt Everyone, So Why Have Them?
Last week, President Trump announced his intention to place tariffs on steel and aluminum. Unfortunately for the president—and everyone else, should these…
Words & NumbersEpisode 55: Why Don't We Insure Guns Like We Insure Cars
After the horrific school shooting in Parkland, FL, on February 14th, the "debate" about gun control has reignited in the US. Pundits on both sides of the…
Words & NumbersEpisode 54: Is College Really for All?
In the last two and a half generations, the number of students who go on to attend college, as a percentage of the population, has tripled. In 1959, about 20…
Words & NumbersEpisode 53: Has Uber Become Part of the System It Fought Against?
Regulatory capture is a problem in this country. It happens pretty easily. Politicians can't be experts in everything, so they turn to actual experts for help…
Words & NumbersEpisode 52: Why Does Government Keep Expanding?
The fact that the United States' yearly deficit spending is set to soon top $1 trillion — an amount that is itself larger than most governments' entire…
Words & NumbersEpisode 51: America Relies on Immigrants
Immigration is, as happens fairly routinely, an important topic in the national conversation these days. It's generally well-accepted that the United States is…
Words & NumbersEpisode 50: Intentions Don't Matter — Outcomes Do
Socialism is, whether we like it or not, in the national dialogue. And there are numerous people who claim to be socialists who, nevertheless, have a hard time…
Words & NumbersEpisode 49: The Constitution Is Useless if We Don't Follow It
Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent the country into a tizzy not long ago when he declared that the federal government would start cracking down on state-legal…
Words & NumbersEpisode 48: When Do-Gooders Do Bad
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 47: Should We Abolish Government Regulation?
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 46: Actually, Things Are Kind of Amazing
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 45: What Can Colorado Teach Us About Legalizing Weed?
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 44: Americans' Generosity Can Help the Poor Better Than Government
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 43: The CBO Is Almost, but Not Quite, Useless
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 42: Is America a Police State?
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 41: The Super-Rich Don't Understand Taxation
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 40: How Fair is Fair Trade?
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 39: Is American Unity an Illusion
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 38: You Can't Vote Math Out of Office
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 37: Has the Gun Violence Crisis Been Overblown?
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 36: The Problem with Healthcare Is Government
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 35: Do As I Say, Not As I Do
State representatives who support anti-gun legislation arrested for running guns. Pro-life representatives encouraging their mistresses to get abortions…
Words & NumbersEpisode 34: Inequality Is Rising, but Poverty Is Falling
Recently released data from the Federal Reserve indicate an increase in income inequality and wealth inequality in the country. People often assume this means…
Words & NumbersEpisode 33: Does Amazon Really Need Corporate Welfare?
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 32: Venezuela: Let Them Eat… Rabbits?
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 31: Does the Debt Ceiling Mean Anything?
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 30: Must the Police Be Above the Law to Enforce It?
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 29: Do Americans Still Have Freedom of Speech
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…
Words & NumbersEpisode 28: Child Labor Was Wiped Out By Markets, Not Government
In 1938 the US government passed the Fair Labor Standards Act mandating a forty hour work week, establishing a minimum wage, and prohibiting child labor…
Words & NumbersEpisode 27: The Illusion of School Choice
In private schools, as in private enterprise in general, poor performance drives funding away by driving paying customers away. Yet in public schools, poor…
Words & NumbersEpisode 26: Has Tipping Gone Out of Control
In 1922, famed etiquette writer Emily Post advised her readers that 10% is the standard for tipping your waiter. Since then, “gratuity creep” has been so…
Words & NumbersEpisode 25: Is UBI Better Than Welfare
A viewer recently asked us what Words & Numbers thought of Universal Basic Income. Antony Davies likes the idea of it, provided it’s done well, but doesn’t…
Words & NumbersEpisode 24: Is Income Inequality Real?
Income inequality has been in the news more and more, and it doesn’t look good. It’s aggravating to see people making more money than you, and we’re told all…
Words & NumbersEpisode 23: The Illinois Budget is a Mess
This week on Words & Numbers, Antony Davies and James R. Harrigan tackle the disaster that is the Illinois state budget crisis. Pro-tip: Don't let it happen…
Words & NumbersEpisode 22: Do Airlines Charge Too Much?
This week on Words & Numbers, James R. Harrigan and Antony Davies tackle the issue of airline pricing. Why do they charge what they do? What do those prices…
Words & NumbersEpisode 21: Let Amazon Play Monopoly
Amazon’s offer to buy Whole Foods for $13.7 billion sounds pretty great to both parties, but it seems that isn’t good enough. The proposal has a lot of people…
Words & NumbersEpisode 20: Just Say No to the War on Drugs
Ted Cruz recently asserted that the United States military needs to be sent to Mexico to attack the drug cartels head-on. This is a bad idea. But so is the…
Words & NumbersEpisode 19: The Population Boom Could Save the World
In 1798, 95 percent of the world lived in poverty. Today, less than 10 percent do, in spite of the world’s population growing by 700 percent in that same time…
Words & NumbersEpisode 18: What You Should Know About Poverty in America
Poverty is a big deal – it affects about 41 million people in the United States every year – yet the federal government spends a huge amount of money to end…
Words & NumbersEpisode 17: Earning Profits is Your Social Responsibility
We tend to demonize people who make money – how dare they have more than us? But that negative reaction forgets the voluntary role we play in profit-making…
Words & NumbersEpisode 16: Is Your College Degree Worthless?
A lot of people assume that any degree increases your income over the course of your life, but it actually seriously depends on what major you choose and what…
Words & NumbersEpisode 15: Government Can't Stop Creative Destruction
Technology doesn’t just change things, it utterly destroys things. And that’s just fine. It happens so often that people barely even notice when it does. Think…
Words & NumbersEpisode 14: You Can't Trust Employment Statistics
There is no truly good way to measure unemployment, which makes it pretty easy for successive administrations to claim that unemployment is consistently…
Words & NumbersEpisode 13: The Minimum Wage Conspiracy
This week, James & Antony tackle minimum wage laws and present some hard facts that might surprise a lot of people. See below for links to all the data and…
Words & NumbersEpisode 12: In My Safe Space
This week on Words & Numbers James and Ant talk about the “safe spaces” movement on college campuses. Spoiler Alert: they don’t think campuses should be all…
Words & NumbersEpisode 11: Actually, Life is Pretty Awesome
This week, James and Antony take a brief departure from talking about the growing national debt, and our absurd tax system to discuss the numerous ways in…
Words & NumbersEpisode 10: Hypocritical Partisans Pass Political Power
This week, Antony and James are equal-opportunity offenders, discussing the way power not only changes hands from one party to another, but support for…
Words & NumbersEpisode 9: Even Economists Can’t Do Their Own Taxes
In honor of Tax Day, Antony Davies & James R. Harrigan talk about the absurdity of the US tax code. If your tax situation is more complicated or more…
Words & NumbersEpisode 8: Taxing Robots Does Not Compute
This week, Antony and James break down Bill Gates' recent suggestion that companies that use robots instead of human workers should pay employment taxes in…
Words & NumbersEpisode 7: The Arts Will Survive Without Your Taxes
This week, James & Antony experiment with a slightly longer format, and get into the issue of government funding for the arts. Learn more about your ad…
Words & NumbersEpisode 6: We're Becoming a Nation of Pets
This week, Antony & James take on the idea of "victimless crimes" and discuss the odd and growing trend of governments regulating some private activities such…
Words & NumbersEpisode 5: Blocked by a State's Wall of Taxes
This week, James & Antony discuss the case of Connecticut's budget shortfall. The state hopes to solve their financial problems by raiding the retirement…
Words & NumbersEpisode 4: Women Prosper When Markets Are Free
This week, in honor of International Women's Day, Antony & James discuss the strong correlation between economic freedom and gender equality found across the…
Words & NumbersEpisode 3: The Problem With Alternate Facts
In this week's episode, Antony & James talk about alternative facts and how false, partisan data skews important discussions about public policy. Learn more…
Words & NumbersEpisode 2: The CBO Can't Count
In this episode, Dr. Antony Davies, Professor of Economics of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and Dr. James R. Harrigan, Senior Research Fellow at Strata…
Words & NumbersEpisode 1: The Customer is Always Taxed
We're really excited to present the first episode of what will be an on-going podcast featuring Dr. Antony Davies, Professor of Economics of Duquesne…