Episode 524: The Ratchet Effect

Ant and James dissect the constant involvement of government in "emergencies," which seem to happen once a decade. For some reason.

0:00 Introduction and Episode Preview

0:50 The Ig Nobel Prize: Are Rich People More Selfish?

5:13 Rising Oil Prices and the Real Cost of Policy Decisions

7:20 Trump’s $5,000 Checks and the Inflation Problem

10:22 The Lindsay Clancy Trial and a Bizarre Jury Split

12:22 Foolishness of the Week: A Five-Year-Old, a Pond, and CPS

15:32 Foolishness of the Week: Punished for Stopping a Mass Shooter

18:17 The Affordability Crisis and Government Intervention

19:58 The Ratchet Effect: Why Government Power Never Shrinks

21:15 From the Great Depression to COVID: A Century of Expanding Government

24:14 The 2030s: Social Security and the Coming Wealth Tax

25:50 The 2040s: The Debt Crisis and a Digital Dollar

32:27 The 2050s: Population Decline and Universal Basic Income

34:11 How Temporary Government Powers Become Permanent

35:27 Socialism, the Berlin Wall, and North vs. South Korea

40:11 Social Security Insolvency and America’s Growing Debt

42:11 Property Taxes, Ownership, and the Erosion of Economic Freedom

47:01 How Young People Can Prepare for Social Security’s Future

50:21 Retirement Savings and the Coming AI Bubble

54:32 AI Regulation, Government Protection, and the Ratchet Effect