In this episode of Words & Numbers, James and Ant announce their new partnership with CiVL and reflect on the state of modern life. Using Jurassic World and a Nobel Prize winner’s comments as a springboard, they unpack the economics of innovation, incentives, and monopolies. They take on popular claims that life has gotten worse—breaking down the real costs of housing, cars, and higher education over time—and challenge the doom-and-gloom narrative with hard data and perspective. The debut of the new “So What?” segment offers concrete takeaways: count your blessings, question the media’s distortions, and don’t believe everything “everybody knows.”Words and Numbers is a CiVL Original Podcast. Join CiVL for member-exclusive access to our show, bonus content, and live Q&As. https://civl.com/ Get 50% off your annual subscription with code: WORDSANDNUMBERS Get Your Copy of Cooperation and Coercion Now!http://www.cooperationandcoercion.comSee More Ant and James!http://www.wordsandnumbers.orgShow Your Support for Words & Numbers at Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/wordsandnumbersQuick Hitshttps://www.jurassicworld.comhttps://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2025-07-04/charles-rice-nobel-prize-winner-in-medicine-its-a-crime-that-a-drug-exists-that-could-cure-everyone-yet-not-everybody-has-access-to-it.htmlhttps://www.thetimes.com/world/latin-america/article/gringo-go-home-why-mexico-is-turning-against-us-immigrants-cmq2qsv2jFoolishness of the Weekhttps://www.yahoo.com/news/fema-removed-dozens-camp-mystic-111716138.htmlWords & Numbers Backstagehttps://youtu.be/i73H047bID8?si=zUTcXrBYDolwTVglhttps://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUShttps://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881500Qhttps://www.bankrate.com/real-estate/average-home-size/#spacehttps://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUUR0000SETA01More James at Smoke & Storieshttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjILow4-ZJpBV-NnmSusZJ_vCuzKUJ4IgMore Ant on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/antonydaviesLet Us Know What You Thinkmailto:[email protected]Antony Davies on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/antonydaviesJames R. Harrigan on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan#AntonyDavies #JamesRHarrigan #WordsAndNumbers #economics #government #politics #policy #libertarian #classicalliberal #podcast #educationalLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices