Category: Podcast

Institutional Cryptoeconomics with Mikayla Novak

Today’s guest is Mikayla Novak (Twitter, SSRN) of the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub at RMIT University. Her work focuses on some innovative new and potential uses for blockchain technology.

As we all know at this point, the first use of blockchain technology was to create decentralized digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. But a blockchain is a much more general technology than this: it is a decentralized ledger that is resistant to tampering by any one individual. As such, it is a technical innovation that can allow us to coordinate activities that a lack of trust may have prevented otherwise.

Mikayla discusses institutional cryptoeconomics, an emerging field of research centered on the ways blockchain technology can improve both private and public institutions.

Links

Mikayla’s Medium article on Crypto Fiscal Federalism discusses how blockchain could make the system of making government grants more transparent and efficient.

This article by Mikayla’s colleagues at RMIT gives a detailed and accessible introduction to institutional cryptoeconomics.

Download this episode.

Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.

The post Institutional Cryptoeconomics with Mikayla Novak appeared first on The Economics Detective.

The Revolt of the Public with Martin Gurri

Today’s guest is Martin Gurri (Twitter, blog), author of The Revolt of the Public. We discuss his book, which deals with the impact of information technology on political trends and populism.

In the words of economist and scholar Arnold Kling, “Martin Gurri saw it coming.” Technology has categorically reversed the information balance of power between the public and the elites who manage the great hierarchical institutions of the industrial age—government, political parties, the media. The Revolt of the Public tells the story of how insurgencies, enabled by digital devices and a vast information sphere, have mobilized millions of ordinary people around the world. Originally published in 2014, this updated edition of The Revolt of the Public includes an extensive analysis of Donald Trump’s improbable rise to the presidency and the electoral triumphs of “Brexit” and concludes with a speculative look forward, pondering whether the current elite class can bring about a reformation of the democratic process, and whether new organizing principles, adapted to a digital world, can arise out of the present political turbulence.

 

Download this episode.

Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.

The post The Revolt of the Public with Martin Gurri appeared first on The Economics Detective.

Rent Control and the Housing Debate with Ash Navabi

Today on the podcast, Ash Navabi returns to discuss his recent work on housing and rent control. Ash published an opinion piece entitled “Why low-income earners should actually welcome Ontario’s reversal on rent control.” In that article, Ash pushes back on the kneejerk reaction to the Ontario government’s reversal of its rent control policy on new units:

There’s no question that there are problems with affordability and livability in certain areas of Ontario, but implementing rigid rent control measures is not the way to fix them.

Economists agree: rent control reduces both the quantity and quality of housing available. In a 1988 survey of 443 Canadian economists, fully 95 per cent agreed (in full or with some provisos) with that statement. A more recent survey of 40 economists (including several Nobel laureates) yielded a similar result: only one respondent believed that rent control increased quantity and quality of the housing supply.

The reason there is near unanimity on this question is simple: there is ample theory and data in support of the answer. The theory is simple enough. A maximum price policy (which is what rent control is) has two contradictory effects — namely, it increases the quantity demanded for the good, while also decreasing the quantity supplied. In other words, it creates a shortage.

We discuss the policy change that prompted the article, and the backlash the article itself generated, as well as many things related to housing policy.

Download this episode.

Subscribe to Economics Detective Radio on iTunes, Android, or Stitcher.

The post Rent Control and the Housing Debate with Ash Navabi appeared first on The Economics Detective.