Science for Sale, with David Michaels

Capitalisn't

University of Chicago Podcast Network

Stigler Center, Chicago Booth, Socialism, Antitrust, University Of Chicago Podcast Network, Growth, 087667, Policy, Monopoly, Professors, Distortion, Research, Competition, Capitalisnt, Inequality, Promarket, Politics, Policymaking, Special Interest, Economics, Efficiency, Regulations, Chicago, Business, Markets, University Of Chicago, Kate Waldock, Capitalism, Friction, Bethany Mclean, Government, Macroeconomics, News, Education, Waldock, Georgetown, Microeconomics, Luigi Zingales, Zingales, Finance, Ucpn

4.5 • 584 Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2023

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How does science become public policy? It's not always as straightforward as it might seem. In his book "The Triumph of Doubt: Dark Money and the Science of Deception," leading public health expert and former Clinton/Obama administration official David Michaels shows how corporate interests often "manufacture uncertainty" in order to protect their profits. Using wide-ranging case studies from Big Tobacco, Volkswagen, American football, and talcum-based baby powder, Michaels exposes the disinformation playbook deployed by corporate-funded science to sow "doubt, denial, delay, distraction, deflection, and defense." With him, Bethany and Luigi discuss how we can fight back against manipulated science and replace the triumph of doubt with the triumph of truth.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	We have to have systems where unconflicted experts examine the data because if you have a financial relationship with companies, whether it's football, whether it's a chemical, whether it's alcohol, I think there's a lot of evidence that you can't see what is obviously there and can be seen by people who are unconflicted.
0:21.1	I'm Bethany McLean.
0:22.7	Did you ever have a moment of doubt about capitalism
0:25.8	and whether greed's a good idea?
0:28.0	And I'm Luigi Zengalis.
0:29.3	We have socialism for the very rich,
0:32.1	rugged individualism for the poor.
0:34.9	And Mrs. Capital Isn't,
0:36.1	a podcast about what is working in capitalism.
0:38.8	First of all, tell me, is there some society you know that doesn't run on greed?
0:43.3	And most importantly, what isn't?
0:45.3	We ought to do better by the people that get left behind.
0:48.2	I don't think we shouldn't kill the capital system in the process.
0:51.8	Let's be clear.
0:52.7	We're not against capitalism.
0:53.7	If we focus mostly on what's not working, it's because we want to try to fix it.
0:58.0	One of our common interests is corporate governance, a fancy term that can be simply explained as
1:03.0	how to prevent companies from behaving badly.
1:06.0	This explains our obsession with scandals, fraud, and any major screw-ups.
1:11.8	We want to know what can we do to stop it or at least minimize them.
1:16.8	Capitalist is not a predetermined machine but a system of incentive that shape people's behavior.
1:22.2	Does capitalists fail because its incentive are too strong, not strong enough,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from University of Chicago Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of University of Chicago Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.