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The Politics Guys

Bryan Caplan is Pro-Market AND Pro-Business

The Politics Guys

Michael Baranowski

News, Politics

4.4783 Ratings

🗓️ 27 August 2025

⏱️ 76 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Mike welcomes back George Mason University economist Bryan Caplan to discuss Bryan’s latest collection, Pro-Market AND Pro-Business: Essays on Laissez-Faire. Topics Mike & Bryan discuss include: Mike’s skepticism of big business and Bryan’s response why Bryan thinks businesspeople earn every penny the pro-market case for noncompete clauses consumer harm and antitrust law positive and negative externalities Bryan’s ideal pro-market healthcare system opportunity costs and using paper plates Bryan Caplan on X The Politics Guys on Facebook | X Check out the excellent Sustainable Planet podcast. Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo, we’re @PoliticsGuys. The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Atheists, agnostics, long-haired widows, short-haired widows, vandal,

0:04.9

hooligans.

0:05.1

I love the government, hug the government, hug the government, hug the government, love, the government, hug the government.

0:12.0

Welcome to the politics, guys, a place for bipartisan, rational, and civil debate on American politics and policy.

0:18.7

I'm Northern Kentucky University political scientist Michael

0:21.4

Baranowski. My guest today is George Mason University economist Brian Kaplan. Brian's been on the show

0:27.5

a bunch of time over the years because he keeps on writing interesting stuff. When I think of

0:33.3

Brian, I think, you know, he's sometimes wrong, but he's never boring.

0:42.9

He's, in fact, I think probably my favorite provocateur, and I am thrilled to have him on the show once again to discuss his latest collection, pro-market and pro-business.

0:48.9

Essays on L'Aze Fair.

0:50.7

Brian, welcome back.

0:52.1

Thanks a lot to have you back, Michael.

0:54.7

So I wanted to start with the title.

0:56.9

There's a big hand between pro market and pro business.

1:00.8

And what that suggested to me, and I think intentionally, is that some people can be

1:07.0

pro market, but not pro business, which seems weird to me. So maybe you can explain that a little

1:13.0

bit. Yeah, well, actually, the reason I gave it that title is there are a lot of people say,

1:17.6

I'm a free market economist. I love markets, but do not mistake me for some stooge who actually

1:24.2

likes business. Some of it is just like businesses are corrupt and in bed with the

1:29.1

government, but a lot of it is just sort of like an idea of like, actually, I don't trust

1:35.0

business. I don't like them. I like markets because it just puts these incredible shackles on

1:41.0

them so that they really have no choice but to go and do a good job.

...

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