On the latest episode of Econception, my podcast with the American Institute for Economic Research, I talked to Thomas Savidge about state pension funds. We talked about what pensions are and how state and local governments fund them — or don’t. We do a little Illinois-bashing and Wisconsin-praising. And we talk about some successful reforms states have undergone and how other states can follow in their footsteps. As I wrote for the Morning Jolt last week, there is wide variability in pension-fund performance between states, which means there’s plenty to learn from successes and failures — and no good reason to bail out failures with federal dollars.
I also talk about why government subsidies for internet bills were a bad idea, and why it’s good that Congress has not renewed the program. This was a classic case of an “emergency” government program becoming an entrenched part of the welfare state. Internet-service providers captured a chunk of the subsidies and spent millions lobbying Congress to keep the money coming. Congress has so far refused, much to its credit.
Then I move to discuss tariffs and the Great Depression. Tariffs didn’t cause the Great Depression, but the Smoot–Hawley tariff law arguably made it worse and certainly did not help. It was also a disaster politically, as the last piece of major legislation Republicans passed before being shunted to the electoral wilderness for roughly the next two decades.
Tom picked one of the all-time greats as Paper of the Episode: “Towards a Theory of Property Rights” by Harold Demsetz.
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