Hey podcast listeners, a few episodes ago we asked for your help.

We asked you to go to Frekenomics.com, hit the donate button, and send us some money

so that we could keep making this public radio podcast and keep distributing it for free.

And guess what? We are still here, which means that you came through big time, huge time.

So thanks a million. Well, thanks a little less than a million, but thanks a lot.

Hi, I'm Dan Klein. I'm a professor of economics at George Mason University.

I got into economics very much from a policy or if you like political point of view.

I got interested in free market economics in high school, which made you very popular as a kid

or no. Didn't make me popular with girls. It made me popular with some friends that I still have in

cherish. Now, Dan, the reason that we are talking today really is because of an essay you wrote

called Reenconomics that I would like you since we're not going to sit here and read it to listeners.

I'd like you to describe. Okay, if you try to imagine never having seen skating, never having

been to a roller rink, maybe back in time before it was invented. And you heard someone propose

the idea like a friend came up and proposed, I have a great idea for a business. I'm going to build

this huge arena with a hard wooden floor and around the perimeter, a naked iron handrail,

and invite people of all ages and all abilities to come down and strap wheels on your feet,

and skate around and try to enjoy themselves. We're not going to make sure they qualify in

their abilities. We're not going to put helmets on them or shoulder pads, and we're not going to

give them really any instruction. Now, you might think that'd be pure chaos, wouldn't you? Sure.

That's what you might think. You'd expect it to result in catastrophe and collision,

how are 100 people making their moment by moment decisions going to make their own pattern of

skating such that all 100 patterns do not collide and intersect. It's a very complex problem,

...