Juliette Sellgren’s Podcast Interview on the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics
Juliette Sellgren, a senior economics major at the University of Virginia, hosts a podcast called “The Great Antidote.” Recently, she interviewed me about the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics: Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson. As the author of the annual Wall Street Journal op/ed on the winners’ contributions to economic thinking, I was contacted by Juliette to discuss the laureates’ achievements. The op/ed, titled “A Nobel Prize in Economics for the ‘Inclusive’ Free Market,” was published on October 14, 2024, on the Wall Street Journal website.
Juliette’s insightful questions and understanding of economics shone through during the interview, highlighting her knowledge and curiosity in the field.
The podcast episode can be found here.
Key Points Discussed in the Interview:
- 1:21: Reflecting on advice for my younger self.
- 3:02: Juliette’s observation on the bimodal distribution of students seeking help.
- 5:55: The significance of this year’s Nobel Prize topic.
- 7:15: My process of researching and writing the op/ed within 7 hours.
- 9:15: My preference for Doug Irwin and Jagdish Bhagwati as prize recipients.
- 11:58: Summarizing the work of the laureates and questioning the importance of democracy in their views.
- 15:22: Critiquing Acemoglu’s stance on industrial policy.
- 16:20: Highlighting Acemoglu’s misunderstanding of Hayek’s information problem and political incentives.
- 18:30: Discussing Acemoglu and Robinson’s misconceptions about the robber barons.
- 22:09: Exploring the Nobel committee’s decision-making process.
- 25:34: Ranking the prize in relation to past economists and potential recipients.
- 28:54: Acknowledging Assar Lindbeck’s role in promoting free-market economists for the prize.
- 31:21: Advising against career decisions solely based on winning a Nobel Prize.
- 33:25: Recalling Paul Samuelson’s belief in Ludwig von Mises for the prize.
- 39:12: Anecdote about Claudia Goldin’s Ph.D. dissertation.
- 41:15: Emphasizing the importance of discussing significant issues and Thomas Sowell’s work.
- 44:29: Sharing personal improvement goals.
Additional Notes:
- My review of Why Nations Fail can be found in Regulation, Spring 2013.
- For Liberty Fund, I reviewed a book on Assar Lindbeck’s influence on the Nobel Prize in “The Nobel Factor: What Does the Prize Reward?” on Econlib, April 5, 2021.
- An article on the so-called robber barons is available on Econlib as “The Robber Barons: Neither Robbers nor Barons,” March 4, 2013.
