How did bad come to mean good? Why is Shakespeare so hard to understand? Is there anything good about "like" and "you know?" Author and professor John McWhorter of Columbia University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the unplanned ways that English speakers create English, an example of emergent order. Topics discussed include how words get short (but not too short), the demand for vividness in language, and why Shakespeare is so hard to understand.

The Hoover Institution is gathering students and recent graduates at Stanford University this month for a week-long program featuring high-profile speakers and experts with the goal of "[teaching] students how to think critically about public policy formulation. In this interview two Hoover Institution fellows, Scott Atlas and Joshua Rauh, discuss the importance of investing in policy education for young people, especially in the era of heightened partisanship, rising populism, and social media. 

Russ Roberts is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution with a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago. He's also an author, podcaster, novelist and poet, who uses multiple platforms and formats to communicate the ideas of liberty and the insights of economic thinking. 

In "Anti-Paper Prophet: Comments on The Curse of Cash." Jeff Hummel has written an excellent response to Ken Rogoff's response to Hummel's review of his book The Curse of Cash. The whole thing is well worth reading. Here are the parts I found most striking.