The Past Speaks

AS: One of my favourite journalists is Evan Davis. I love his reports on business and economic news. His degree was in economic history and that really shows up in the probing questions he asks his guests on the Today Programme.His radio show, the Bottom Line, is a must-listen to programme for anyone interested in business. (The recent episode on BitCoin was very good).

Anyway, I was very pleased to discover the Evan Davis has interviewed economic historian Deirdre McCloskey about her new book. Here is a description of the podcast:

She argues that poverty matters more than inequality. She describes how at the beginning of the 19th century most people who had ever lived had survived on $3 a day. Today, on average, people in Western Europe and North America live on over $100 a day. Although Professor McCloskey is an economic historian, she says we can’t explain this ‘Great Enrichment’ using economics alone. She also argues that capitalism is an inherently ethical system, and that it would be a mistake to prioritise equality over innovation. Prof McCloskey talks about the role of ideas and attitudes in creating modern prosperity and discusses what her study of history tells us about where our priorities should lie today.

You can listen to the interview here.

Every historian ought to listen to this.