Last week health economist Merrill Matthews of the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), based in Dallas, read my Hoover article on price controls and, on that basis, interviewed me for about half an hour.
Here’s the interview.
A few highlights:
7:28: Prices aren’t arbitrary.
9:13: Can corporations charge whatever they want?
10:48: What about monopolies?
12:20: Lina Khan seems unaware of this.
16:20: The X factor during WWII.
17:10: Milton Friedman’s observation on Congressmen’s self-interest during World War II.
17:50: Is there a case for price controls during all-out war. My answer and my (possibly imperfect) memory of Keynes’s view during WWII.
19:40: Demsetz’s findings on ads for rent-controlled apartments in Chicago during WWII.
21:45: Effects of minimum wage. Why unions pushed for minimum wages in late 1930s. Hint: To price out black people.
24:00: I highlight Richard McKenzie’s work and Jacob Vigdor’s work on Seattle minimum wage age.
25:40: Is a tariff a type of price control? HINT: No.
26:30: The famous case of favoritism during price controls by a famous Texas congressman.
27:45: LBJ’s phone line.
28:15: If price controls are not a good option, what should we do instead?
READER COMMENTS
John R. Samborski
Jan 24 2022 at 7:50pm
Mr. Henderson,
Can you eventually provide a transcript of your interview? Thanks.
Mr. Samborski
David Henderson
Jan 24 2022 at 10:52pm
Sorry, no.
Mark Brady
Jan 25 2022 at 12:49am
David briefly discussed the term of protection for pharmaceutical patents. The full story is quite complex, but it is well explained here:
https://www.upcounsel.com/how-long-does-a-drug-patent-last
Comments are closed.