Rationally Speaking #51 - Joseph Heath on Economics Without Illusions

Rationally Speaking Podcast

New York City Skeptics

Society & Culture, Skepticism, Science, Philosophy

4.6 • 787 Ratings

🗓️ 1 January 2012

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Guest Joseph Heath, author of “Economics Without Illusions: Debunking the Myths of Modern Capitalism,” joins us as we turn our skeptical eyes toward the treacherous dual terrain of economics and politics. We discuss the ways in which, with his book, he attempts to raise our economic literacy and empower us with new ideas. In it, he draws on everyday examples to skewer the six favorite economic fallacies of the right, followed by impaling the six favorite fallacies of the left. Heath leaves no sacred cows untipped as he breaks down complex arguments and shows how the world really works.

Joseph Heath is the Director of the Centre for Ethics and Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. In addition to his academic publications, he is the author of other popular books, among them, "The Rebel Sell : Why the Culture Can't Be Jammed" and "Efficient Society: Why Canada is as Close to Utopia as It Gets"

Transcript

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0:00.0	Rationally speaking is a presentation of New York City skeptics dedicated to promoting critical thinking, skeptical inquiry, and science education.
0:22.6	For more information, please visit us at NYCCEPtics.org.
0:35.3	Welcome to Rationally Speaking, the podcast where we explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense.
0:40.8	I'm your host, Massimo Piliucci, and with me, as always, is my co-host, Julia Galev.
0:45.6	Julia, what are we going to talk about today?
0:47.6	Massimo, we have a special guest coming in via Skype from Toronto.
0:51.7	I'm pleased to welcome Professor Joseph Heath.
0:55.2	He's a professor in the Department of Philosophy and also the School of Public Policy and Governance at the University
0:59.0	of Toronto, and he's the director of the Center for Ethics at the University of Toronto.
1:04.1	Joseph Heath has published several academic books and many papers and also some great popular
1:10.0	books, including The Rebel Cell,
1:12.5	co-authored with Andrew Potter, The Efficient Society, and most recently in the book that we're
1:16.7	going to focus on today, Filthy Lugar, Economics for People Who Hate Capitalism.
1:22.1	Now, that's the Canadian title of the book. The title, as it was repackaged for Americans,
1:27.3	is economics without illusions, debunking the myths of modern book, the title as it was repackaged for Americans is economics without
1:28.4	illusions, debunking the myths of modern capitalism, which is a somewhat different slant, Joe,
1:33.1	than the Canadian title.
1:35.4	I know, you can think Random House for that.
1:37.8	Actually, you can thank Random House and Borders for that.
1:42.2	Huh. Do you know what the logic? I'm just curious. What was the logic behind
1:46.0	re-packing that?
1:48.0	They were happy to go with Filthy Luker, but the subtitle,
	...

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