102. What’s So Bad About Nepotism?

No Stupid Questions

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Society & Culture

4.6 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2022

⏱️ 38 minutes

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Summary

How does the profitability of family firms stack up against the rest? Has nepotism become more taboo over time? And why are 90 percent of adoptees in Japan not children but adults?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Wait, what?
0:03.2	Wait, what exactly? That's the proper response.
0:05.6	I'm Antelod Duckworth.
0:07.9	I'm Stephen Dubner.
0:09.0	And you're listening to no stupid questions.
0:12.4	Today on the show, what's so bad about nepotism?
0:16.2	You think I want to put on my college resume?
0:18.8	Did I work for my father?
0:20.5	Hey, hey, praise you.
0:27.6	Stephen, we have an email from someone named John.
0:30.8	And it starts off with, hi, exclamation point.
0:35.2	Are you high?
0:36.0	No, I'm just trying to get your attention over here.
0:39.8	Attention granted.
0:41.2	Hi, I was recently thinking about how widespread nepotism is in the modern world.
0:46.8	And I started wondering whether or not there's actually some data
0:50.3	to suggest that it is bad. We talk a lot about how unfair it is that people who are less
0:55.5	qualified get certain positions, but perhaps the trust and ease of communication that comes
1:01.6	with someone being a family member or a friend is also important. When I try to imagine myself
1:07.6	in a position of power, I also see myself hiring my friends precisely because of that.
1:14.4	Stephen, nepotism is one of those words that I think I know what it means, but if not 100%
1:20.0	sure. Here's a literally a dictionary definition. This is from the OED. Nepotism,
	...

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