Oh Humans | 7 May 2026 | 0h 46m | Listen Later 
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Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Debin Ma discussing the making of the modern world from an eastern perspective: why China fell behind, why Japan modernised early, China’s recent transformation, and why East Asia has experienced so many economic miracles. Draws from his book The Cambridge Economic History of China.
On Humans | 16 April 2026 | 0h 54m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Kenneth Pomeranz about his 2000 book The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy. Argues Western Europe’s economic rise began late, specifically during the late 1700s. Contends Britain surpassed China not through inherent ingenuity but via geographical accidents like accessible coal and colonial ghost acres that provided vital resources. Divides human history into four phases – agriculture, Smithian growth, the fossil fuel revolution, and science-driven progress – while questioning if current ecological constraints and energy use will allow for future global convergence.
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc | 23 January 2026 | 0h 52m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Guido Tabellini about his book Two Paths to Prosperity: Culture and Institutions in Europe and China, 1000–2000, co-authored with Avner Greif and Joel Mokyr. Discusses the historical divergence in prosperity between Europe and China, exploring when and why it began, and whether it arose from cultural or institutional phenomena. Emphasizes the contrasting roles of corporations and clans in both regions, the impact of state capacity, and the lasting effects of these differences on modern economic and political landscapes. Touches on the historical process of cooperation across regions and its implications for modern development economics.
Grand Tamasha | 22 October 2025 | 1h 22m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian about their book A Sixth of Humanity: Independent India’s Development Odyssey. Explores the unique challenge of managing four concurrent transformations – state-building, economic growth, social change, and nation-building – all under a system of universal suffrage. Highlights how India’s precocious democracy both aided nationhood and hindered the rule of law, leading to a scarcity economy that stifled private enterprise. Examines the divergence in performance across Indian states, noting that while some regions achieved rapid growth, others suffered from deep institutional failures. Warns that the social trust and accommodation necessary for future progress are currently under threat, requiring a return to cooperative governance to address modern challenges like climate change and human capital development.
Conversations with Tyler | 18 February 2026 | 0h 53m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Joe Studwell about his book How Africa Works: Success and Failure on the World’s Last Developmental Frontier. Explores whether population density actually solves development, which African countries are likely to achieve stable growth, whether Africa has a manufacturing future, why state infrastructure projects decay while farmer-led irrigation thrives, what progress looks like in education and public health, whether charter cities or special economic zones can work, how permanent Africa’s colonial borders really are, what Japan and South Korea will do about depopulation, why industrial policy worked in East Asia but failed in India and Brazil, and what went wrong in Thailand.
See also the Works in Progress book review.
EconTalk | 8 December 2025 | 1h 04m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with William Easterly about his book Violent Saviors: The West’s Conquest of the Rest. Considers whether the promise of economic progress can ever justify conquest, coercion, and control over other people’s lives. Explores how colonial powers and later regimes like the Soviet Union claimed to increase people’s material well-being while stripping them of freedom, dignity, and any say in their own fate. Digs into the idea of agency – the ability of people to choose for themselves – through the lens of Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Kant, Frederick Douglass, and modern debates over foreign aid, autocrats, and technocratic “solutions” imposed from afar.
See also the Neoliberalism episode Foreign Aid and Growth with William Easterly about his earlier books The Elusive Quest for Growth, The Tyranny of Experts, and The White Man’s Burden.
The Transformation of Value with Cody Ellingham | 29 September 2025 | 1h 25m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Joe Studwell about his book How Africa Works: Success and Failure on the World’s Last Developmental Frontier. Reiterates the three pillars for successful economic transformation from his earlier book How Asia Works: prioritising agriculture, fostering manufacturing, and using controlled finance to direct capital. Explains that the critical difference in Africa is its low population density, which limited markets, infrastructure affordability, and necessitated “low-budget colonialism”. Reviews case studies of Botswana, Mauritius, Ethiopia and Rwanda. Concludes that the developmental policies needed in Africa largely mirror those that worked in East Asia and expresses optimism for Africa’s future growth.
See also the Works in Progress book review.
New Books in Economics | 30 August 2025 | 1h 13m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Yong-Shik Lee about his book Law and Development: Theory and Practice. Describes his General Theory of Law and Development, which explains the mechanisms by which law and institutions impact economics development, using examples mainly from South Korea.