The global pandemic has raised a number of urgent questions about how we should live, how we should relate to each other, and how we should respond to a crisis, as individuals and in our public and private institutions.
Our guest today, Dr. Daniel Bennett, is an economist at Baylor University who studies the historical effects of infectious disease on society. We thought that now would be a great time to ask him about how infectious diseases change us and our institutions, and how we can maintain a flourishing and healthy society as we deal with this crisis.
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Show Notes:
Economic Freedom of the World Index
Further reading: The Parasite Stress Theory of Values
Further reading: The Behaviorial Immune System
Current research: Historical Disease Prevalence, Cultural Values, and Global Innovation
Occupational licensing: Ideas at Work episode with Robert McNamara
Paul Romer: How to Avoid an Economic Catastrophe (City Journal), Twitter, Will Our Economy Die from Coronavirus? (NY Times)
The Library of Economics and Liberty – Recent COVID-19 coverage
American Institute for Economic Research – Recent articles
About our guest:
Daniel Bennett is a Research Professor at the Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship & Free Enterprise at Baylor University. His research has been published in many journals and edited volumes, and he has written essays and policy analyses for think-tanks such as the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, the Fraser Institute, the Institute for Economic Affairs, and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. His opinion pieces have appeared in popular media outlets such as Forbes, The Hill, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, and The New York Times.