Capitalisn't

University of Chicago Podcast Network

We investigate how capitalism is—or more often isn’t—working in our world today.

Hosted by economist Luigi Zingales and business journalist Bethany McLean, our podcast explains why capitalism can go wrong and what we can do to fix it.

Send us your questions or comments by emailing capitalisntpod@gmail.com

Cover photo attributions: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/research/stigler/about/capitalisnt.

Play

Open in

25 episodes
fortnightly
Avg 50 min
English

Episodes 25

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

S2 · E173
Thursday · 52 min
Why Congress Protects Car Dealers More Than Elon Musk - ft. Eric Zwick
For every member of the Forbes 400, there are more than 4,000 private business owners worth at least $10 million. You probably have never heard of any of them.
S2 · E172
September 10 · 57 min
Can Capitalism Serve the Common Good? - ft. Mariana Mazzucato
The public often helps fund breakthroughs, while private companies claim all the profits. Economist Mariana Mazzucato thinks it’s time to renegotiate.
S2 · E171
August 27 · 1 hr
The One Thing That Could Decide If AI Takes Your Job - Ft. Luis Garicano
AI is coming for your job; AI isn't coming for your job. Economist Luis Garicano thinks both camps are asking the wrong question.
S2 · E170
August 13 · 53 min
Can Liberalism Survive This Kind of Capitalism? - ft. Daron Acemoglu
For most of the last century, liberal democracies offered a simple deal: the economy grows and, if you work hard, you get a fair shot at the rewards. According to 2024 Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu, that deal is broken.
S2 · E169
August 6 · 48 min
How Washington Privatized The Capital Market - ft. Renée Jones
Amazon went public three years after it was founded. SpaceX stayed private for 24 years. What changed and why does it matter?
S2 · E168
July 30 · 46 min
A Conservative's Attack On Neoliberalism - Ft. Chris Griswold
The GOP is often associated with free-market fundamentalism, deregulation, and tax cuts. But a new faction on the right is challenging that consensus.
S2 · E167
July 16 · 50 min
Was The Constitution An Anti-Democratic Coup? - ft. Michael Klarman
Were the foundations of American governance engineered to protect the wealthy? Harvard Law professor Michael Klarman argues that the US Constitution was actually a counter-revolutionary coup to constrain democracy rather than protect it.
S2 · E166
July 2 · 49 min
Our Personal Finance Mistakes Are The Industry's Profits - ft. John Campbell & Tarun Ramadorai
Is personal finance rigged against ordinary people? Economists argue the system rewards the wealthy and financially savvy at the expense of everyone else.
S2 · E165
June 18 · 51 min
Was Free Trade Ever Really Free? - ft. Fmr. Biden Trade Rep. Katherine Tai
Free trade was never actually free? That's the case Katherine Tai, Joe Biden's former U.S. Trade Representative, brings Bethany McLean and Luigi Zingales this week.
S2 · E164
June 4 · 46 min
Why Corporations Always Win At The Supreme Court - ft. Adam Winkler
Many people think corporate personhood is the problem behind many issues in law and politics. This guest argues it might actually be the answer.
S2 · E163
May 28 · 43 min
You Can't Buy Trust - ft. Wikipedia Co-Founder Jimmy Wales
How does a free, decentralized, volunteer-run encyclopedia produce something more trusted than nearly any for-profit institution?
S2 · E162
May 21 · 1 hr
Is Healthcare Making Capitalism Sick? - ft. Zack Cooper
Are stagnant wages the hidden price tag of a broken healthcare system? On this week's Capitalisn't, Yale health economist Zack Cooper argues that the U.S. healthcare market is failing because of structural flaws like employer-sponsored insurance, which hides true costs from consumers.
S2 · E161
May 7 · 55 min
How “Muskism” Is Changing American Capitalism - ft. Quinn Slobodian
Conventional wisdom suggests that Silicon Valley billionaires are libertarians trying to escape government oversight, but Quinn Slobodian argues they actually want to achieve state symbiosis by turning the government into a dependent client.
S2 · E160
April 23 · 1 hr 5 min
Is Capitalism Delivering For The Majority? - ft. Steve Kaplan
High GDP, low unemployment, and booming markets...so why does it feel like the system is broken for so many people?
S2 · E159
April 16 · 41 min
Is The College Promise Broken? - ft. Noam Scheiber
Instead of corporate management, many college grads are finding themselves in low-paying service roles. Is this widening gap between expectations and realities reshaping the modern American workforce?
S2 · E158
April 2 · 47 min
The Real Cause Of Wage Stagnation - ft. Arin Dube
Economist Arin Dube argues that modern labor markets are riddled with invisible frictions that give employers outsized power over your paycheck.
S2 · E157
March 26 · 31 min
Is Everyone Getting Adam Smith Wrong? - ft. Glory Liu
Most people associate Adam Smith with free markets and “the invisible hand”. But does this conventional narrative purposefully ignore Smith’s deep suspicions about monopolies and power? Georgetown assistant professor Glory Liu argues this narrow interpretation is actually a deliberate historical reconstruction.
S2 · E156
March 12 · 41 min
Why Human Progress Is Not Inevitable - ft. Carl Frey
In this episode, Oxford Professor Carl Frey joins the podcast to share the unsettling message of his new book, “How Progress Ends”. He argues that technological progress is far from inevitable and can easily reverse when entrenched institutions block new ideas from transforming society.
S2 · E155
March 5 · 50 min
The Hidden Economic Dangers Of Supreme Court Overreach - ft. Steve Vladeck
For decades, Americans viewed the Supreme Court as an impartial referee standing above the political fray. However, public trust in this vital institution has recently plummeted to historic lows. Many observers blame a surge in ideological rulings that align with the party of the President who appointed each justice. If the referee is suddenly wearing a team jersey, the fundamental systems of democracy and capitalism begin to break down.
S2 · E154
February 26 · 55 min
Adam Smith In The Age of The “Epstein Class” - ft. MP Jesse Norman
What would the "father of economics" think about today's crony capitalism, and what would he make of the so-called "Epstein class"?

Showing 1–20 of 25 episodes