Critics of capitalism argue that it promotes inequality, greed, and exploitation and harms the environment. Not so, argues Yaron Brook. Capitalism promotes virtue and human flourishing. Free markets ensure that relationships are consensual, and they respect the autonomy and dignity of the individual, while achieving far better outcomes for everyone – whether rich or poor – than any other economic system. Capitalism will also provide the best solutions to Climate change and other environmental problems.Yaron Brook is the Chairman of the board at Ayn Rand Institute and has a PhD at The University of Texas at Austin. Yaron Brook was born in Israel and is a declared Objectivist.The conversation will also touch on the situation in the Middle East and how Yaron Brook sees the situation in Israel from the perspective of an Israeli-American citizen. Recorded on the 24th of october 2023.

In this week’s episode our special guest is Tyler Cowen. Cowen is professor of economics at George Mason University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1987. He serves as the general director of the Mercatus Center, which is a research center focused on the market economy. Tyler Cowen is widely considered one of the most respected and influential economists over the past decades. He visits the podcast to discuss the moral argument for high economic growth and discusses the relationship between growth  and issues like general happiness, geopolitics in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the transition to a society with net zero carbon emissions. 

Jos de Blok is the founder and CEO of the Dutch organization Buurtzorg, which is an internationally known home care organization that is based on self-organization and self-determination. In response to frustration and dissatisfaction in organized Dutch home care, welfare entrepreneur Jos de Blok set out to simplify home care by focusing on processes and results rather than activities. The conversation centers on the Buurtzorg model; how the model came about and what components it entails, and why the model is the best solution for patients, nurses and carers in home care. Martin Ågerup talks to Jos de Blok about the spread and success of the model, and how the Danish care area can potentially be designed in the same way with an increased focus on self-determination, quality and satisfaction of both citizens and care staff Contact podcast host Martin Ågerup: [email protected] recording was made on 13 October 2021. Links:Buurtzorg websitehttps://www.buurtzorg.com/

In this episode Martin Ågerup talks with Mark Littlewood who is the Director General for the British free-market think-tank Institute of Economic Affairs. First, Littlewood explains that his view on Britain’s membership of the EU has changed over time from a supportive to an opposed stance. Accordingly, the EU has become a centralisation project and a regulatory racket. Moreover, the EU has not been successful at opening its market to non-EU members. Second, Littlewood argues that the EU has lost a classical liberal member due to Britain’s exit, but he also believes that Britain can function as free-market model which the EU could learn from. Finally, Littlewood advocates that the present international institutions are not capable of coping with the rise of China and its democratic deficits. Therefore, the current international institutions need to be reformed or new ones must be created among like-minded democracies.  Listen to the episode and obtain insights on a free-market perspective on Brexit. Links:Institute of Economic Affairs: https://iea.org.uk/Littlewood (2020) “Hard work is not the answer for ournew Britain, but smarter work can be”, The Telegraph: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hard-work-is-not-the-answer-for-our-new-britain-but-smarter-work-can-be-68ndst2jtSingham & Tylecote (2019) “Plan A+ Creating aprosperous post-Brexit UK”: https://iea.org.uk/publications/plan-a-creating-a-prosperous-post-brexit-uk/

This week’s guest is Roger Pielke Jr who is a Professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. He has held several fellowships, including at Oxford University’s Said Business School. In 2012 Roger Pielke, Jr. was awarded an honorary doctorate from Linköping University in Sweden and the Public Service Award of the Geological Society of America. In 2006, Roger received the Eduard Brückner Prize in Munich, Germany for outstanding achievement in interdisciplinary climate research.He’s written several books, including The Rightful Place of Science: Disasters & Climate Change, Hurricanes: Their Nature and Impacts on Society and The Climate Fix: What Scientists and Politicians Won't Tell You About Global Warming. Roger holds degrees in mathematics, public policy and political science, all from the University of Colorado. The conversation focusses on Professor Pielke’s work on climate change and extreme weather events. The occasion is COP27 and the debate about climate compensation. It too touches on issues like to what extent is anthropogenic climate change causing more extreme weather events, the development over time of the costs of extreme weather events and the link between wealth, resilience and impact of extreme weather. Towards the end the conversation turns to Pielkes work on sports economics, the Football World Campionship in Qatar and how to reform FIFA, the international football association. Contact info: [email protected]   Recorded on the 29 of November 2022.   Links: Roger Pielke Jr. on Substackhttps://substack.com/profile/4434187-roger-pielke-jrRoger Pielke Jr. Websitehttps://rogerpielkejr.com/Books authored by Roger Pielke Jr.https://rogerpielkejr.com/books/ Episode with BjørnLomborghttps://samfundstanker.captivate.fm/episode/bjrn-lomborg-om-klimaforandringer-og-klimapolitik Episode with Karl Iver Dahl-Madsenhttps://samfundstanker.captivate.fm/episode/karl-iver-dahl-madsen-er-der-graenser-for-vaekst-

Art Carden is professor of economics at Samford University's Brock School of Business and affiliated with a number of research Institutions including Senior Fellow at the American Institute of Economic Research. In 2020 Carden co-authored the book "Leave me alone and I'll make you rich" with Professor Deirdre McCloskey, a philosophy which is the starting point of this episodes discussion.Contact info: [email protected] on the 16th of august 2022.Links:Live lecture at CEPOS: https://youtu.be/tu6Ibfd_mn0'Samfundstanker Bonus' with Deirdre McCloskey and Tommy Ahlers: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-event-deirdre-mccloskey-og-tommy-ahlers-er-danmark/id1539149610?i=1000535249873EconRoots Talk - McCloskey: We should aim to be worldly philosophers: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/econroots-talk-mccloskey-we-should-aim-to-be-worldly/id1504895792?i=1000549738563 

This is a live edition, recorded in front of an audience at CEPOS, on the 27th of April, where Martin Ågerup discussed the EU's future with Dalibor Rohac, author of several books on the EU, most recently 'Governing the EU in an Age of Division'. Few international organizations are more closely associated with the idea of ​​creating peace and progress than the EU, but cohesion is challenged. On the one hand, an ever-closer union is being implemented, on the other hand, member states opt out of implementing what was decided. Is a new recipe needed for the collaboration? Dalibor Rohac is a Slovak and Senior Fellow in Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute in the USA. Contact podcast host: [email protected] on the 27th of April 2023. Link  ‘Governing the EU in an Age of Division’:https://www.aei.org/research-products/book/governing-the-eu-in-an-age-of-division/ Jesus Fernandez Villaverde's papers:https://econpapers.repec.org/RAS/pfe14.htmDalibor Rohacs papers and researchhttps://www.aei.org/profile/dalibor-rohac/