Michael Munger on Exchange, Exploitation and Euvoluntary Transactions

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4.7 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 20 June 2011

⏱️ 63 minutes

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Summary

Mike Munger of Duke University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the psychology, sociology, and economics of buying and selling. Why are different transactions that seemingly make both parties better off frowned on and often made illegal? In theory, all voluntary transactions should make both parties better off. But Munger argues that some transactions are more voluntary than others. Munger lists the attributes of a truly voluntary transaction, what he calls a euvoluntary transaction and argues that when transactions are not euvoluntary, they may be outlawed or seen as immoral. Related issues that are discussed include price gouging after a natural disaster, blackmail, sales of human organs, and the employment of low-wage workers.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Econ Talk, part of the Library of Economics and Liberty. I'm your host Russ Roberts
0:13.9	of George Mason University and Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Our website is econtalk.org
0:21.2	where you can subscribe, find other episodes, comment on this podcast, and find links to
0:26.5	other information related to today's conversation. Our email address is mail at econtalk.org. We'd
0:33.6	love to hear from you.
0:38.7	Today's June 13th, 2011, and my guest is Mike Munger of Duke University. Mike, welcome back to Econ Talk.
0:46.8	It's always great to be on Econ Talk, and I'm in Air Lung in Germany. What are you doing there?
0:52.6	Well, I came here to give some talks, and it happened. It's just a coincidence that at the same time, as one of the biggest beer festivals in Europe called
1:00.4	Bearcage Fire. What a shame, and you don't drink beer. Well, what are you going to do while the festival's going on?
1:05.2	I found a way to amuse myself, and I have actually been going as an anthropologist to drink, of course, but to observe the habits of the
1:14.8	natives and their typical habitat. In a more serious vein, but not much more serious, what is the nature of a beer festival there?
1:23.2	What does that mean exactly?
1:24.7	Well, in this case, there are six breweries, tellers that have stored beer up inside the barric, the mountain, which is why it's
1:35.9	Bearcage Fire, the opening of the mountain church. What they seem to mean by mountain church is the beer sellers.
1:42.7	It's spring, it's warm enough, and all of the beer that has been chilling is now ready to be served, and a lot of days, there's 100,000 people here.
1:54.2	They're sitting in big outdoor ovelians and tables, and singing really cheesy American songs.
2:02.7	Well, that sounds fun.
2:04.7	It's very fun.
2:05.7	And how is the... I'm sure you've sampled even they don't really like beer. Have you sampled any of it?
2:11.7	I've been extensive, very extensive field work, yes.
2:15.7	And I can say, more research is needed, and I think government funding.
2:21.7	Do they ship the good beer out, or is there some pretty good beer left behind?
	...

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