Should You Be Optimistic About America's Future? Q&A with Russ Roberts

Summary: On Monday, April 23, Nick Gillespie taped a live podcast with Russ Roberts at <i>Reason</i>'s Washington, D.C., studio in front of a live audience. An economist who taught for years at George Mason University, Washington University, and elsewhere, Roberts is the John and Jean De Nault Research Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He is also the host of <i>EconTalk</i>, a popular, award-winning podcast that features hour-long conversations with academics, authors, and business leaders. Roberts is the author of three allegorical novels about capitalism, individualism, and classical liberalism. His most recent book is <i>How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life</i>. The wide-ranging conversation, which is followed by a rowdy audience question-and-answer segment, touches on the intellectual and ideological blind spots of professional economists, the social impact of opioid abuse and economic disruption, and the insights that literature provides beyond social science. Roberts lays out a vision of libertarianism that is uncharacteristically humble, deeply social in its focus, and guardedly optimistic about the future of America.