How Charles Darwin Can Help Reduce Inequality with Robert Frank

For the EVOLution of Business

[3:00] Pioneering the field of behavioral economics - when individual rationality leads to collective irrationality

[8:45] How the cognitive biases of "irrational" behavior make sense when viewed through the lens of evolutionary psychology

[12:00] "Darwin's Wedge" between the best interests of individuals and groups - How Charles Darwin's concept of "relative fitness" adds nuance to Adam Smith's invisible hand

[19:00] Why regulation can sometimes be in everyone's best interest

[24:00] Requiring bike helmets only for kids, even though adults are subject to the same cognitive biases

[28:00] Why the private sector might have more waste than the public sector

[31:45] How a progressive consumption tax could reduce inequality and generate funds for needed investments, without making the rich any worse off

[35:45] "The Mother of All Cognitive Illusions" - Why reducing income across the board won't impact anyone's relative bidding power

[39:00] Why we underestimate the importance of luck and how appreciating luck makes us more generous

[46:30] How the stories we tell and the types of jobs we celebrate lead us to a misallocation of talent

[50:30] The benefits of network effects and when that power goes too far

[53:00} Not to tax is not an option, "the only interesting questions are what to tax and how much to tax"

[57:00] Creating pride in efficient government at the Ithaca DMV

[1:00:00] Appreciating our luck and privileges makes us more grateful and more likely to give back

[1:06:00] Mariana Mazzucato and appreciating the role of the government in our collective success
https://marianamazzucato.com/entrepreneurial-state/

Check out Robert Frank's books "The Darwin Economy" and "Success & Luck" discussed during this episode and stay tuned for Part 2 on his just-released book "Under The Influence"