The Price of Policy explores the hidden economic consequences of political decisions.
Each episode examines how incentives, institutions, and human behavior shape real-world outcomes.
Instead of debating intentions, the podcast looks at mechanisms — how policies actually work once they meet reality.
From welfare systems and education to taxation, trust, and state capacity, the series analyzes the forces that determine productivity and prosperity.
The goal is not outrage or ideology, but clarity.
Because policies rarely fail for the reasons politicians announce — they fail because incentives change behavior.
Politics loves promises. Economics keeps the receipts.
Each episode examines how incentives, institutions, and human behavior shape real-world outcomes.
Instead of debating intentions, the podcast looks at mechanisms — how policies actually work once they meet reality.
From welfare systems and education to taxation, trust, and state capacity, the series analyzes the forces that determine productivity and prosperity.
The goal is not outrage or ideology, but clarity.
Because policies rarely fail for the reasons politicians announce — they fail because incentives change behavior.
Politics loves promises. Economics keeps the receipts.
Education, Skills, and the Productivity Illusion
2026-05-07 40 min
Why doesn’t more education automatically lead to higher productivity? This episode argues that rising qualifications often function as signals in job competition rather than true drivers of value creation. We examine how credential inflation, misaligned incentives in education systems, and institutional structures can suppress productivity growth. Drawing on data and case studies, it shows why economies can stagnate despite higher levels of formal education. The uncomfortable conclusion: it’s not more education, but better incentives that determine economic progress.
More episodes
Inheritance, Capital, and the Quiet Destruction of Continuity
2026-03-26 43 min
Inheritance is often framed as a moral question about inequality — but economically it is also a mechanism that transfers businesses and productive capital a...
Growth, Wealth, and the Dangerous Romance with Envy
2026-03-12 43 min
Episode one explores why economic growth is often politically undervalued and socially misunderstood. It examines the tension between wealth creation and the...
Trailer
2026-03-06 2 min
The Price of Policy explores the hidden economic consequences of political decisions. Each episode examines how incentives, institutions, and trade-offs sha...