This week, Brian O’Roark joins the show again to help Matt & Jadrian discuss the economic concepts behind war and conflict. With the Russia-Ukraine war ongoing and the renewed conflict in the Middle East, the three of us decided it was time to talk about various concepts related to war and conflict. Most of the discussion focused on a concept known as the broken window fallacy, but we also ventured into conversations around rationing, inflation, GDP, and other ways that economists discuss war and conflict in their classes.
In this episode, we discuss:
The Broken Window Fallacy
GDP, recessions, and growth after World War II
Diplomatic relations with countries after conflict
And a whole lot more!
Catch up on some old episodes:
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Watch this episode on YouTube:
Some show notes:
Jadrian is in the office for this week’s episode, which means he’s going the non-alcoholic route. He opted for a Perrier that was shoved in the back of the office refrigerator. Brian took the holiday route and went with a whiskey sidecar. Even though JET SET was months ago, we still keep finding ways to bring it up on the show. This time, Matt cracked open a Madtree Summer Camp Hazy IPA from Cincinnati, which Brian drove back from Cincinnati for Matt since Matt flew to the conference.
We jump in by talking about the broken window fallacy. Frederic Bastiat describes the broken window fallacy in a book called "That Which is Seen and That Which is Not Seen". If you want a quick illustrated version of the parable, check out this piece from Learn Liberty:
We also spent some time talking about recessions and expansions, but it’s worth sharing the NBER’s chart to highlight those periods. The chart below shows the unemployment rate since 1948, with recessions shaded in gray. You can check the NBER’s estimated business cycle dates going back to 1857!
This week’s pop culture references:
Brian kicked us off with a scene from Blank Panther that he uses to teach economic growth and institutions. Brian also revealed that he has a new website: comicnomics.com.
Jadrian went with a WWII propaganda piece that talks about the merits of free markets and how entrepreneurship helps people achieve more. It’s often easy to talk about free markets, but it’s fun to think about it given the time period this piece was produced:
Brian also had an extra submission from Star Trek: The Original Series in an episode called “The Taste of Armageddon.” The Enterprise shows up on a planet that has been at war with another planet for 500 years and introduces some game theory to the people of the planet. Here’s a brief summary:
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