Dwarkesh PodcastOct 19, 2020

Alex Tabarrok - Prizes, Prices, and Public Goods

Summary, books mentioned, transcript quotes, and timestamps for Alex Tabarrok - Prizes, Prices, and Public Goods on Dwarkesh Podcast.

Guest: Alex Tabarrok

Notable books mentioned: Inadequate Equilibria: Problems, Solutions, and the Failure of Market Efficiency by Eliezer Yudkowsky, The Wealth of Nations, Launching the Innovation Renaissance

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Mentioned at 1:00:15

Inadequate Equilibria: Problems, Solutions, and the Failure of Market Efficiency

Eliezer Yudkowsky

The host mentions Inadequate Equilibria while discussing designing market mechanisms and blockchain-based schemes to produce public goods as altern…

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Mentioned at 1:07:59

The Wealth of Nations

The host invokes The Wealth of Nations to compare their goal of teaching economics broadly with the historical reach of Adam Smith's work, noting S…

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Mentioned at 1:16:47

Launching the Innovation Renaissance

The host mentions their book to argue the U.S. should shift budget priorities from welfare and military toward an 'innovation state' as a response…

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Alex Tabarrok - Prizes, Prices, and Public Goods

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Episode summary, books & quotes

Alex Tabarrok - Prizes, Prices, and Public Goods mentions Inadequate Equilibria: Problems, Solutions, and the Failure of Market Efficiency by Eliezer Yudkowsky, The Wealth of Nations, and Launching the Innovation Renaissance with timestamps, quotes, and episode context.

Inadequate Equilibria: Problems, Solutions, and the Failure of Market Efficiency The Wealth of Nations Launching the Innovation Renaissance

Guest: Alex Tabarrok

Episode summary

Alex Tabarrok is a professor of economics at George Mason University and with Tyler Cowen a founder of the online education platform http://MRU.org. I ask Alex Tabarrok about the Grand Innovation Prize, the Baumol effect, and Dominant Assurance Contracts. Watch on YouTube , or listen on Spotify , Apple Podcasts , or any other podcast platform. Episode website here . Follow Alex on Twitter . Follow me on Twitter for updates on future episodes. Alex Tabarrok's and Tyler Cowen's excellent blog: https://marginalrevolution.com/ Thanks for reading The Lunar Society! Subscribe to find out about future episodes!

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Summary, books mentioned, transcript quotes, and timestamps for Alex Tabarrok - Prizes, Prices, and Public Goods on Dwarkesh Podcast.

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The conversation centers on competition with China.
A second recurring theme is market mechanisms for public goods.
Referenced books include Inadequate Equilibria: Problems, Solutions, and the Failure of Market Efficiency by Eliezer Yudkowsky and The Wealth of Nations.
The strongest audience signal points to Listeners interested in institutional design, coordination problems, and market-based solutions for public goods (policy wonks, economists, and crypto/build-tech designers) and people interested in foundational economics and learners the hosts hope to reach.

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Which books are mentioned in Alex Tabarrok - Prizes, Prices, and Public Goods?

Inadequate Equilibria: Problems, Solutions, and the Failure of Market Efficiency by Eliezer Yudkowsky, The Wealth of Nations, and Launching the Innovation Renaissance are the clearest linked books in this episode, each tied back to transcript timestamps and quote cards.

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competition with China(1)market mechanisms for public goods(1)teaching economics(1)

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Highly Recommended(3)

Audience signals

Listeners interested in institutional design, coordination problems, and market-based solutions for public goods (policy wonks, economists, and crypto/build-tech designers)people interested in foundational economics and learners the hosts hope to reachPolicymakers and readers interested in national innovation policy and technology-driven economic strategy

Books Mentioned

Inadequate Equilibria: Problems, Solutions, and the Failure of Market Efficiency

Eliezer Yudkowsky

Best for Listeners interested in institutional design, coordination problems, and market-based solutions for public goods (policy wonks, economists, and crypto/build-tech designers)Often cited around market mechanisms for public goods

“Line states 'elias rudowsky wrote a book called inadequate equilibria' mentioning the book and author directly.”

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Sentiment: Highly Recommended

Trigger: market mechanisms for public goods

For: Listeners interested in institutional design, coordination problems, and market-based solutions for public goods (policy wonks, economists, and crypto/build-tech designers)

Key quote: “elias rudowsky wrote a book called inadequate equilibria as i'm sure you know”

The host mentions Inadequate Equilibria while discussing designing market mechanisms and blockchain-based schemes to produce public goods as alternatives to government action. They reference the book to explain how asymmetries and coordination problems can be addressed and to ground optimism about institutional design solutions.

ASIN: N/A

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The Wealth of Nations

Best for people interested in foundational economics and learners the hosts hope to reachOften cited around teaching economics

“Speaker mentions copies sold and reads of "the wealth of nations" and comparing teaching reach to it.”

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Sentiment: Highly Recommended

Trigger: teaching economics

For: people interested in foundational economics and learners the hosts hope to reach

Key quote: “i don't know how many copies of the wealth of nations have sold and much less how many have been read”

The host invokes The Wealth of Nations to compare their goal of teaching economics broadly with the historical reach of Adam Smith's work, noting Smith still has lessons to offer. They use the book as a benchmark to measure how far their own educational efforts have come and to motivate further outreach.

ASIN: 1505577128

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Launching the Innovation Renaissance

Best for Policymakers and readers interested in national innovation policy and technology-driven economic strategyOften cited around competition with China

“Speaker says: "my book launching the innovation renaissance" referring to their book by title.”

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Sentiment: Highly Recommended

Trigger: competition with China

For: Policymakers and readers interested in national innovation policy and technology-driven economic strategy

Key quote: “one of the things that i've said you know my book launching the innovation renaissance is what we have today is a warfare welfare state”

The host mentions their book to argue the U.S. should shift budget priorities from welfare and military toward an 'innovation state' as a response to international competition. They use the space race and current advances by China as examples showing competition spurs major investment in research and development.

ASIN: B006C1HX24

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