Episode 2182: Andrew Leigh on how economics explains the world
Andrew Leigh is a minister in the Australian parliament with a doctorate in economics from Harvard. Unlike many academic economists, however, Leigh has the gift of simplifying economics for all of us. His new book, How Economics Explains the World, presents economics as the prism to understand the human story. From the dawn of agriculture to AI, Leigh tells the story of how ingenuity, greed, and desire for betterment have, to an astonishing degree, determined humanity’s past, present, and future.
Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasury and Employment, and Federal Member for Fenner in the Australian Parliament. Prior to being elected in 2010, Andrew was a professor of economics at the Australian National University. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard, having graduated from the University of Sydney with first class honours in Arts and Law. Andrew is a past recipient of the Economic Society of Australia's Young Economist Award and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. His books include Disconnected (2010), Battlers and Billionaires: The Story of Inequality in Australia (2013), The Economics of Just About Everything (2014), The Luck of Politics (2015), Choosing Openness: Why Global Engagement is Best for Australia (2017), Randomistas: How Radical Researchers Changed Our World (2018), Innovation + Equality: How to Create a Future That Is More Star Trek Than Terminator (with Joshua Gans) (2019), Reconnected: A Community Builder's Handbook (with Nick Terrell) (2020), What's the Worst That Could Happen? Existential Risk and Extreme Politics (2021) and Fair Game: Lessons From Sport for a Fairer Society & a Stronger Economy (2022). Andrew is a keen triathlete and marathon runner, and hosts a podcast called The Good Life: Andrew Leigh in Conversation, about living a happier, healthier and more ethical life. Andrew is the father of three sons - Sebastian, Theodore and Zachary, and lives with his wife Gweneth in Canberra.
Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.
Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe
Ahmed White: What the Early 20th Century War on Radical Workers Tells Us About the Struggle Between Labor and Capital in America Today
Allegra Goodman : What Happens When a Novelist "Overparents" Their Characters? How a Fictional Creation Can Fight Back Against Their Helicopter Author`
Aaron De Smet: Why, In Our Age of Permanent Volatility, We Need to Foster a Zen-Like "Deliberate Calm"
Daniel Akst: Why World War II's Greatest Generation Should Be Celebrated As Much For Its Heroic Pacifism As For Its Selfless Sacrifice in Battle
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni: Why All Writers, Especially Novelists, Are Political: Which Is Why Novels Can Change the World
Esther Woolfson: The Most Disturbing of All Human Sins? How We Live With Other Creatures
Chloe Sorvino: How the Multi-Trillion Dollar Industrial Meat Complex is Bad For Our Species and Our Planet
Michael Kimmelman: Why New York Should Be Savored on Foot Rather Than From an Automobile
David Marchick: What Do FDR, Trump, and Lincoln Have in Common? The Worst Transitions of Presidential Power in American History
Samantha Vérant: How to Live in France and Write Novels About Fine Food and Wine
Bob Blaisdell on When Chekhov Became Chekhov: How the Son of a Serf Became a Literary Genius
Lynne Twist: What Gandhi, Mandela, and Martin Luther King Can Teach Us About Living a Committed Life
Max Bazerman: Crypto, #MeToo, Theranos, and January 6: How We Enable the Unethical