Russ Roberts has an interesting series of podcast interviews of economists, most of who are much more distinguished than I. Today Russ Roberts posts his interview with me, mostly on medicine, but also on a few other topics.
The point I make more clearly there than I have before is the importance of not trying to immediately offer ad hoc explanations for every puzzling observation you see. Instead, collect many puzzles, spread them out on the table before you, and look for a few simple assumptions than can explain many diverse puzzles at once. This is the key discipline of armchair social science.
Boris, more info is at the links from here.
Hi Robin,It was very interesting to listening to the podcast. I really liked your argument that people do not want to be responsible for their health, because they do not like to think about their own death. Also your argument about showing that you care about your fellow men seems interesting, it reminds me the Hayek's "fatal conceit". I also find very shocking that healtcare has no influence on health at all... Is there any source where I could find out more about this particiular research?Thanks for the answer.With Regards,Boris Fandak