Episode 267 - Billionaire Boogeymen with Brian Dunning
Squaring the Strange · Celestia Ward
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Show Notes
First, Ben and Celestia go over the latest CDC website shenanigans, an unfortunate update on a Human Barbie, some voodoo accusations in the world of soccer, the true cost of a Thanksgiving dinner, and a djinn committing crimes in Pakistan. Then Brian Dunning joins us for a discussion on billionaires and why we all seem to hate them. Should we? Would the world be better off without them? Brian brings some economic research on the "two types of billionaires," and we also examine some tropes and memes -- folklore, that is -- about how billionaires hoard resources. Do they? Can they? Is money imaginary? It's a complicated topic, and we're not approaching it as economists, but we agree on a few things that might surprise you.