Unjerked Podcast

• [0:00:15] Introductions and overview of the podcast and urban design series continuation.
• [0:00:30] Discussion of vehicle accident statistics, especially fatal intersection crashes from studies. (1)
• [0:01:31] Analysis of types of road collisions, side impacts, and their fatality rates.
• [0:02:21] Road category statistics for crash frequency (rural vs. urban, arterials, and collectors). (2)
• [0:03:07] Importance and risks of arte...

B McGraw and William Henderson talk about best practices in urban design. What are the best principles of good urban systems? How do we reduce externalities related to urban life? This is part 1 of 2 episodes.

First we talk about the difference between urban design and housing or transit policy. Then we go over different extern...

What are the different political positions which exist? What does it mean to be on the left vs right? Is the traditional political compass a good way to categorize politics? In this episode we continue discussing different facets of the political compass. THis includes what exactly social policy is, culture vs social policy, and envrionmental politics. We discuss the different a...

What are the different political positions which exist? What does it mean to be on the left vs right? Is the traditional political compass a good way to categorize politics?

We first discuss what it means to be on the left vs right, the looseness of political beliefs, and the difference between party and ideology over time. We...

• Summary

  William Henderson and B. McGraw discuss U.S. agriculture subsidies—what they are, how they work, and the tradeoffs they create. The conversation covers the history and structure of these subsidies, as well as political and economic consequences.

  Agriculture Policy

  We begin by examining the political du...

William Henderson and B. McGraw talk about agriculture policy. What kind of subsidies exist and why? This is part 1 of 2 episodes?

We first briefly discuss the different types of farming, to include a completely free-market farming, subsidized farming, and collectivized soviet-style farming. Then, we discuss the comparison of ...

William Henderson and B. McGraw talk about public transportation. What forms of transit make the most sense? This is part 2 of 2 episodes.

We first discuss gas taxes, both at the federal and state level, and how these are used to fund highway maintenance. We then discuss rail funding, which lacks a dedicated trust fund and is more volatile in availability. Then we talk about factors which increase rail transit use demand, to inc...

William Henderson and B. McGraw talk about public transportation. What forms of transit make the most sense? This is part 1 of 2 episodes.

We first discuss the international perspective on transit. The US has less public transit usage compared to other peer developed countries, although even those countries do not have full pu...

William Henderson and B. McGraw discuss welfare in the United States. What programs do we have? Is it beneficial for society on balance?

We first talk about an overview of the different types of programs. Most of the programs by dolla...

William Henderson and B. McGraw discuss welfare in the United States. What programs do we have? Is it beneficial for society on balance?

We first discuss the different types of systems which existed before government furnished aid. This includes religious charities, family networks, and more. Then we talk about the origins of ...

William Henderson and B. McGraw talk about taxes in the United States. Why do we have them? What are the different types of taxes? What are the best tax policies? This is part 2 of 2 episodes.

We discuss the tax rate of different income quintiles, both before and after transfer payments. We then discuss the net fiscal contribut...

William Henderson and B. McGraw talk about taxes in the United States. Why do we have them? What are the different types of taxes? What are the best tax policies? This is part 1 of 2 episodes.

First we talk about the reason why taxes exist and an international comparison of rates. Then, we talk about trends in federal rates ov...

William Henderson and B. McGraw talk about prisons in the United States. Why are so many people in prison? What are some resolutions to this?  This is Part 2 of 2 episodes.

We first start going over the various actual causes of the incarceration problem in the US. This mostly revolves around tough on crime legislation, to ...

William Henderson and B. McGraw talk about prisons in the United States. Why are so many people in prison? What are some resolutions to this?  This is Part 1 of 2 episodes.

We first discuss the imprisonment rate by country across the world. Unfortunately, the US is one of the highest in the world, superseded only by a han...

William Henderson and B. McGraw talk about healthcare costs in the United States. Why are there supply constraints? Do these cause issues?  This is Part 3 of 3 episodes.

We first discuss the constraint on the supply of doctors due to the bottleneck of residency slots funded by the government. Because of the unprofitabilit...

William Henderson and B. McGraw talk about healthcare costs in the United States. Why does it cost so much? Where exactly does the money go?  This is Part 2 of 3 episodes.

We first go over some online arguments and claims related to healthcare. These include claims that the health system is either too free market or not fr...

William Henderson and B. McGraw talk about healthcare costs in the United States. Why does it cost so much? Where exactly does the money go?  This is Part 1 of 3 episodes.

We first discuss the history of universal healthcare, starting in the late 1800s with Otto von Bismarck's reforms in Germany. Then we go over the con...

William Henderson and B. McGraw talk about whether we are worse off now than we were in the past. In what ways are we better off than we were 70 years ago or 140 years ago? In what ways are we worse off? Overall, are we as a society in a good or bad place right now?  This is Part 2 of 2 episodes.

Unlike the first episode,...