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Before you give the government new powers, try the Munger Test: cross out “government” and insert the name of the politician you trust least. Then see if you still like the idea. In his 52nd EconTalk appearance, Mike Munger talks with host Russ Roberts about public choice, politics without romance, and why treating government like a loving family (or your family like a business), ends badly. Along the way, they talk about why Edmund Burke’s famous defense of legislators voting their conscience cost him his seat in Parliament, how a group lunch explains politics, and why voters rationally know so little.
Resources
Kids Prefer Cheese, Michael Munger’s Blog
The Answer is Transaction Costs, Michael Munger’s Podcast
Michael Munger on X
Michael Munger’s Collection of Essays for Liberalism.org
Michael Munger’s EconTalk Episodes
Michael Munger on Obedience to the Unenforceable
Patrick Deneen on Why Liberalism Failed
Select Bibliography on Edmund Burke on EconLib
James Buchanan on EconLib
“An Economic Theory of Clubs” by James M. Buchanan in Economica
Richard Epstein on Classical Liberalism, Libertarianism, and Lochner
Peter Berkowitz on Locke, Liberty, and Liberalism
Misinformation and the Three Languages of Politics with Arnold Kling
“Behavioral symmetry” by Cameron Tilley, Geoffrey Brennan, and Michael Munger in Elgar Encyclopedia of Public Choice
Incentives Are for Losers with Adam Mastroianni
“Edmund Burke, Speech to the Electors of Bristol” in The Founder’s Constitution
Ben Sasse on Faith, Family, and Facing Death
Thomas Sowell on Economic Facts and Fallacies
A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles by Thomas Sowell
Russ Roberts is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. In 2006, he founded the award-winning weekly podcast EconTalk, which has featured guests including Milton Friedman, Martha Nussbaum, Christopher Hitchens, Agnes Callard, Bill James, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Amor Towles, and Emily Oster. All 875+ episodes remain available free of charge at EconTalk.org and reach an audience of more than 125,000 listeners in 200 countries.
Mike Munger is a professor of political science, economics, and public policy and director of the PPE Certificate Program. His primary research focus is on the functioning of markets, regulation, and government institutions. He has taught at Dartmouth College, the University of Texas, and the University of North Carolina, as well as worked as a staff economist at the Federal Trade Commission during the Reagan Administration. His recent books include Choosing in Groups (2015, Cambridge U Press) and Tomorrow 3.0 (2018, Cambridge U Press), and The Sharing Economy (2021, Institute of Economic Affairs).