Free To Choose

Conspicuous consumption, meet conspicuous production. Phil tells Lou why grocery stores make room for vegan products when roughly 1 in 100 Americans is vegan. The payoff isn’t in sales. It’s in the image of social responsibility. Come back for seconds with the full episode of Happy Hour Econ with @LouPerez and @PhilWMagness, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. happyhourecon.org/episodes/h…

How do you take the measure of a man who has shaped our thinking on politics and economics for over 50 years? By his influence, or by his words? Jason Riley, Larry Elder, and Steven Pinker on Thomas Sowell. Watch the full documentary, Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World. youtube.com/watch?v=WK4M9iJr…

Three nations. Five continents. One question: Why do some nations prosper while others struggle? Why Nations Prosper premieres this Sunday, November 1, on public television and YouTube. freetochoosenetwork.org/prog…

What can Star Wars teach us about accepting change? In this clip from a 2025 episode of Perspectives Matter, host Dennis McCuistion talks with Geeky Stoics creator Stephen Kent about why philosophy should give us practical rules for living, not word games. Kent explains how the Stoic idea that change is inevitable reached him not through Marcus Aurelius but through Anakin Skywalker’s mother in Star Wars: Episode I and Gandalf’s advice to Frodo in The Lord of the Rings. He argues that stories like these carry ancient wisdom to audiences who might never open a philosophy book. Watch the full interview here: youtube.com/watch?v=XS5m63zm…

Lou Perez just discovered Phil Magness’ kryptonite: cashews and mushrooms. Phil’s allergy takes veganism off the table, and it opens up a bigger conversation about why no two people order the same thing for dinner. What ends up on a plate is personal preference, and a free market makes room for all of it, from the ubiquitous hamburger to the most niche diet out there. Save a seat for the full episode of Happy Hour Econ with @LouPerez and @PhilWMagness, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. happyhourecon.org/episodes/h…

Milton Friedman argued that government licensure of physicians does more than set standards. When only government-licensed individuals can practice medicine, whoever controls that licensing procedure gains monopoly power. Reducing and eliminating that monopoly power was the reason he called for ending licensure altogether.

The 100 new steel jobs get counted. The jobs that disappear because steel got more expensive never do. Lou and Phil on the economic activity that tariffs quietly erase. Start a tab with this week's full episode of Happy Hour Econ with @LouPerez and @PhilWMagness, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. happyhourecon.org/episodes/a…

Think about the last time you bought a shirt. You probably didn’t inspect the stitching or test the fabric. You trusted the store, because the store has a strong incentive to sell good shirts. Milton Friedman uses this everyday example to make a point about medicine. People who go to the Mayo Clinic aren’t vetting each physician themselves. They trust the clinic, which has every reason to choose able, well-trained doctors. Friedman’s argument is that without licensure and its restrictions on entry, we would have seen much more of this kind of group practice, and a much more effective way of selecting for quality in medicine.

How can you tell a real conspiracy from a paranoid one? Skeptic magazine founding publisher Michael Shermer, author of Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational talks with Perspectives Matter host Dennis McCuistion about "paranoid and realistic" conspiracy theories. Shermer explains the difference between realistic conspiracy theories, which tend to be specific and targeted, and paranoid ones that imagine a small secret group running the world. He offers a simple test for telling them apart, and explains why most grand conspiracies eventually come to light. Watch the full interview here: youtube.com/watch?v=17jn_7iY…

Recorded in 2025, Julie Whelan, global head of occupier thought leadership at CBRE; Ben Wigert, Ph.D., director of research and strategy for workplace management at Gallup; and Andra Ghent, Ph.D., professor of finance at the University of Utah, join host Dr. Yoram Solomon to weigh the costs and benefits of bringing employees back to the office. The panel considers how remote and hybrid work affect productivity, mentorship, and fairness, why flexibility has become an expectation many workers won’t give up, and how managers and office spaces must adapt to make in-person work worth the commute. Listen now: blog.freetochoosenetwork.org…

America’s steel industry is the baby that never grew up. In 1789, a Pennsylvania congressman asked the very first Congress to shield his state’s young iron industry from British competition. Phil tells Lou how that one amendment kicked off American protectionism, and why a couple of centuries later, Washington is still protecting the same industry. Cheers to the full episode of Happy Hour Econ with @LouPerez and @PhilWMagness, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. happyhourecon.org/episodes/a…

"Thomas Sowell is that rarest of species, an honest intellectual." - Jason Riley From our 2021 documentary, Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World. youtube.com/watch?v=WK4M9iJr…

Chile’s democracy thrives on participation, with citizens who engage and representative institutions that answer to them. Henrik Ekelund explores why nations that give their people a voice achieve lasting prosperity. Today, Chile grows stronger by opening itself to global markets. Why Nations Prosper premieres November 1 on public television and YouTube. freetochoosenetwork.org/prog…

Why do smart people believe weird things? Perspectives Matter host Dennis McCuistion talks with Michael Shermer, founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and author of Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational. Shermer explains that most of our beliefs, from religion to politics, come from reasons that have little to do with weighing evidence, and that intelligent people are especially good at building arguments for them after the fact. He also points out that believing in conspiracies isn’t always irrational, since real ones like Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and Archduke Franz Ferdinand did happen. Watch the full interview here: youtube.com/watch?v=17jn_7iY…

Steel is back, baby! Except, as Phil points out, it never actually left. Lou and Phil talk about America’s appetite for steel, why the country has long imported more than it makes, and why the usual suspect in the political story isn’t the real one. Raise a glass to a new episode of Happy Hour Econ with @LouPerez and @PhilWMagness, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. happyhourecon.org/episodes/a…

What happens when the drivers of prosperity are followed or forgotten? Find out November 1. Watch Why Nations Prosper on public television and YouTube. freetochoosenetwork.org/prog…

Botswana chose good governance and rule of law. Its people got opportunity. Lebo of Chobe Game Lodge embodies that spirit: a belief that anyone with the will to think and work can create a better life. Discover her story and the forces behind national prosperity in Why Nations Prosper. Premiering November 1 on public television and YouTube. Watch the trailer: freetochoosenetwork.org/prog…

What is the proper role of government in medical care? Milton Friedman answered the same way he would for any other field. First, enforce laws against fraud and deception, so consumers are protected from being misled. Second, help people in dire distress. Some people, he noted, may face major medical bills in an emergency that they simply cannot bear. That is no different in principle from a family that loses its home to a flood or hurricane. His conclusion follows directly: “Insofar as the government has programs to assist people in dire distress, it ought to include people in dire medical distress.” A limited role, applied consistently.

What can an ordinary pencil teach us about the economy? From a recent Perspectives Matter interview, host Dennis McCuistion and Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) president Diogo Costa discuss the lessons of Leonard Read’s “I, Pencil” essay. Costa walks through the essay’s central argument: that no single person knows how to make a pencil, yet people around the world each contribute a piece, from the truck driver hauling cedar logs to the worker extracting rubber. He connects that idea to FEE’s Economic Marvels series, which traces the human cooperation behind products we often take for granted. Watch the full interview: youtube.com/watch?v=AZUvPNpu…

The student debt warnings are all over every social feed, and the borrowing keeps climbing anyway. @LouPerez and @PhilWMagness make the case that taking the government out of the middle would bring back the price signals that show students and colleges what a degree is really worth. Keep the tab open for the full episode of Happy Hour Econ with Lou and Phil, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. happyhourecon.org/episodes/m…