EconTalk · Russ Roberts
Two Cheers for Libertarianism and Econ 101 (with Noah Smith)
June 9, 2025·1 hr 22 min·5 clips
Noah Smith admits he ignored libertarianism's hidden benefits and never expected America's recent political upheavals.
As heard by us
An economist's apology to libertarians turns into a careful, unresolved case for why sound policy reasoning so often loses in actual politics.
Noah Smith's return to EconTalk opens with a rare move: an economist admitting he got something wrong. The essay behind it -- "I Owe the Libertarians an Apology" -- sets up a tight comparison between Pete Wilson's Prop 87 and Clinton's welfare reform, asking why one detonated…
Why you'd press play
An economist's public apology to libertarians becomes a lesson in why the same policy logic can have opposite political fates.
Listen to the show on