Uncommon Knowledge by topic: Economics, Finance and Business
Thomas Sowell discusses his newest book, Intellectuals and Race
This week on Uncommon Knowledge, Hoover fellow and author Thomas Sowell discusses his newest book, Intellectuals and Race, which argues that the impact of intellectuals' ideas and crusades on the larger society, both past and present, is the ultimate concern. (38:27)
“The intellectuals have told them [African Americans] that the world is unjust, that other people are keeping them down, that the fact that they don't have what other people have, is somebody else's fault.”
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush offers his outlook on immigration
This week on Uncommon Knowledge, former Florida governor Jeb Bush offers his outlook on immigration into the United States and discusses the policies he believes would improve the issue. (47:16)
“I think we've [the Republican Party] become too reactionary. We have not been as positive, offering concrete proposals that are based on this principle that the future is incredibly bright. If we believed it, we would be advocating across-the-board principles and policies that would advance that notion.”
John Taylor discusses the economy on Uncommon Knowledge
This week on Uncommon Knowledge, world-renowned economist and Hoover senior fellow John B. Taylor discusses the US economy: how we got here and what policies we should adopt going forward.
“Quite frankly I think if we don't change the policy we will have this two percent growth, and it is very disappointing. It's hardly enough to have incomes rise over time. The notion of progress and the notion of people being able to move from the lower-income distributions to a higher will go away.” (34:33)
Wisconsin governor Scott Walker
This week on Uncommon Knowledge, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker discusses a wide range of issues facing his state, the nation, and the future of the GOP. (32:53)
“What we've tried to do is take a step back and instead of getting engrossed in the nuances and acronyms here in our nation's capital is instead try to focus on what does this mean to real people? What does this mean to our state? What does this mean to us long term? My goal is to move people from government dependence . . . and find a way to transition them into the private sector.”
James Buckley discusses the challenges we face after the 2012 election
This week on Uncommon Knowledge, author and former Senator James Buckley discusses the transformation of the federal government and the challenges we face after the 2012 election. (28:30)
“It is going to be an extraordinary challenge for [future generations] but there are certain realities that are going to be faced. If the debt goes off on the trajectory it is currently on, in terms of devastating, destroying the economic basis of the country my grandchildren are going to face problems that I never dreamed of and you never dreamed of. Nevertheless insofar as they pay any attention of any advice I might give them it would be you have responsibilities not only to yourself and your family but to the public.”
Jonah Goldberg and John O’Sullivan on Uncommon Knowledge
This week on Uncommon Knowledge, AEI scholar and National Review Online founding editor Jonah Goldberg and National Review’s editor-at-large John O’Sullivan on the election and the GOP’s future. (45:10)
Uncommon Knowledge with George Gilder
This week on Uncommon Knowledge, George Gilder, author of Wealth and Poverty, the book that became a best seller during the first year of the Reagan years and a guide to the Reagan administration itself, is now—just in time perhaps for the Romney years—available in a new edition. Gilder describes how Reagan’s near trillion-dollar bulge in defense spending transformed the global balance of power in favor of capitalism.
Thomas Sowell discusses his essay “‘Trickle Down Theory’ and ‘Tax Cuts for the Rich.’”
This week on Uncommon Knowledge, Hoover fellow and author Thomas Sowell discusses his essay “‘Trickle Down Theory’ and ‘Tax Cuts for the Rich.’” (39:52)
“Now anyone who studied history knows that for the first 150 years of this country the federal government did not intervene when the economy turned down. And all that time the downturns all corrected themselves; one of the most classic examples was under Warren G. Harding when, during his first year in office, he found the unemployment rate at 11.7 percent. He did absolutely nothing; he did not spend more government money, he cut back on spending. The Federal Reserve had the interest rates up at 6 or 7 percent, not down at 1 percent, where they are now. The next year unemployment was at 6.7 percent; the year after that it was 2.4 percent. So the economy has recuperative powers. I mean employers have an incentive to hire people. Workers have an incentive to get jobs. Lenders have incentives to lend.”
Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak discusses his upbringing, career, Hollywood, and politics
This week on Uncommon Knowledge, Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak discusses his modest upbringing in Chicago, joining Armed Forces Radio in Vietnam, working in small markets before finally landing in Hollywood, and politics.
“What is changing I think is, other than the money, which can help a campaign, people are tuning out celebrity endorsements. Everyone has an opinion, especially now in this Internet age where everyone is blogging. You do not have to be a celebrity to talk to the world.” (48:53)
Vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan presents some of his ideas for fixing government in his September 2011 interview on Uncommon Knowledge
In a wide-ranging 2011 interview, US member of Congress and Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan of Wisconsin discusses the need to repeal and replace President Obama’s health care law, his ideas for fixing Medicare and Medicaid, and new concepts to reduce the debt and fix the federal budget.