466. She’s From the Government, and She’s Here to Help

Freakonomics Radio

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4.6 • 32K Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2021

⏱️ 45 minutes

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Summary

Cecilia Rouse, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, is as cold-blooded as any economist. But she admits that her profession would do well to focus on policy that actually helps people. Rouse explains why President Biden wants to spend trillions of dollars to reshape the economy, and why — as the first Black chair of the C.E.A. — she has a good idea of what needs fixing.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, Steven Dubner.
0:07.3	Before we get to today's episode of Freakonomics Radio, a quick word about last week's episode.
0:13.2	We put out a pilot for a new podcast on the Freakonomics of Medicine.
0:17.8	The host is Bapu Jenna, an MD and PhD economist at Harvard.
0:23.1	We asked if you thought this would be a show worth adding to the Freakonomics Radio
0:27.1	network and your response was overwhelmingly yes.
0:32.0	So later in the summer, expect to hear that show on a regular basis.
0:36.9	We will also come up with a proper name by then and let you know how to follow this new show.
0:41.9	Personally, I am very excited about this.
0:44.8	I'm also grateful to you for your feedback and your enthusiasm.
0:49.8	And now today's episode of Freakonomics Radio.
0:57.4	Do you ever find yourself thinking hard about the relationship between pure economics and
1:02.2	economic policy?
1:04.1	Our guest on the show today has done that thinking.
1:07.2	I'm somebody who believes in markets.
1:09.3	I believe in incentives and I believe in prices.
1:13.4	But I also believe that most of our markets are not perfect markets and that they're imperfections
1:18.7	and that there's a really important role for government.
1:23.6	In late April, President Joe Biden addressed a joint session of Congress.
1:29.9	Madam Speaker, the President of the United States.
1:36.6	This wasn't technically a state of the union speech.
1:39.2	It's not called that in a president's first year, but technicalities aside, how goes
	...

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