David Henderson on the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics

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This year’s Nobel Prize winners in economics are Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson, who wrote on the importance of inclusive institutions to economic growth. But what on earth are ‘inclusive institutions’ and how do they differ from exclusive ones?

Inclusive institutions are norms, either written or unwritten, about things like property rights, democracy, and the rule of law. But what other institutions are important to economic growth, if there are others?

Some of this year’s winners endorse a strong antitrust regime. How do you reconcile the importance of property rights to growth with a desire to limit and take down companies built upon those rights?

At the time this episode was recorded, everyone in economics was talking about the Nobel Prize, both this year’s winners and their research. But what other economists (and their work) should we be looking to? 

Today, I am excited to welcome David Henderson back to the podcast. Henderson is the Wall Street Journal’s go-to writer when it comes to the Nobel in economics and an Emeritus Professor of Economics at the Naval Postgraduate School and a research fellow with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. His substack is titled I Blog to Differ, so go check it out! He answers questions just like these in our interview, so tune in to hear the answers!!

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