Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening, wherever you are. And welcome to the politics guys with your host, Jay Carson and Michael Baranowski.

Welcome to the politics guys. I'm Michael Baranowski, a political scientist at Northern Kentucky University.

Today in the show, I'll be talking to Russell Roberts. Roberts holds a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago and is currently a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

I first learned to Roberts through his most excellent podcast, Econ Talk, where he interviews

authors, economists, and business leaders.

He's been podcasting for over a decade, and during that time, he's recorded hundreds

of episodes with great guests like Milton Friedman, Nassim Teleb, and Christopher Hitchens.

In addition of this, Roberts has authored four books. His latest is

How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life, an unexpected guide to human nature and happiness.

Professor Roberts, welcome to the politics, guys. Great to be with you. So I'd like to start by

talking about your latest book, How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life. The title really intrigued me, but I'd like to begin by talking about your latest book, how Adam Smith can change your life. The title

really intrigued me, but I'd like to begin by asking you about the subtitle, which is an

unexpected guide to human nature and happiness. So why unexpected? Well, I think what most people

think of when they think of Adam Smith is economics. They might think of the invisible hand. If they know a little bit about him, they might know he wrote a book called

The Wealth of Nations, which sounds like it's about money, and it is somewhat about money. And I think

most people think economics is about money, and I don't think that's totally true. It's not about

money. Some of it is, but it's really about our choices.

Economics is about the fact that we can't do everything we want, that we face tradeoffs,

and that sometimes when we act together through markets and buyers and sellers trying to get the best deal,

prices emerge and our economic life is possible.

There's all kinds of interesting and fascinating things about economics that are more than just,

say, the stock market.

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