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Alex Tabarrok, perhaps the world’s sole Canadian libertarian, joins The Remnant today for the first time. Inflation is on the rise, the vaccine rollout is stalling, and illiberalism is resurgent. In other words, there are plenty of demanding issues for Americans to be concerned about. Thankfully, Tabarrok has a range of considered policy solutions for Jonah to explore. How can we revitalize democracy? Would open borders work? And should we abandon advanced civilization now before the machines destroy us all?
Show Notes:
-Jonah on the wackiness of vaccine paranoia
-The Mayor Quimby of anti-vaxxers
-Jonah on the importance of character
-Ezra Klein on the good old days
-“Born American, but in the Wrong Place”
Sometimes Jonah ends episodes by saying “I know people want me to push back on ____.” Suggesting that listeners want sharp arguments when guests believe something listeners disagree with strongly. Now, I do want him to force guests to defend or at least fully explain their ideas. Guests shouldn’t be allowed to just say s**t, as it were. But I rather prefer conversations where the guest explains what they think rather than conversations where host and guest argue about who is right. Pushback is only interesting (to me) if it forces somebody to make their argument more clearly. Goldberg doesn’t tend to have on crackpots or people making heinous arguments in favor of human suffering so I’ve never wished he belabored an argument.
The Baumol effect makes a lot of sense. As people become more productive, wages go up across the board - even in areas that have not seen production increases - because skilled labor is more valuable. If I want a string quartet, I must outbid highly productive sectors for skilled labor. However, like Jonah, I'm suspicious of single-cause explanations. So, yes, the prices for have gone up for services both in sectors with little government intervention (haircuts and car repairs) and in those with high government intervention (higher ed and medical care), but have they risen to the same degree? My guess is that the service industries in which government has intervened most have seen the steepest price increases.