The latest episode of my American Institute for Economic Research podcast, Econception, is with Emily Jashinsky of UnHerd on the economics of podcasts. She’s regularly on two podcasts and is an expert on how they’re made, distributed, and marketed. Podcasts played a major role in the lead-up to the election, with Trump and Vance going on Joe Rogan’s show and Harris and Walz not. We talk about how they started, how they work, and how they’re measured. We also talk about how they are basically completely unregulated — and ought to stay that way.

Next, I discuss semiconductors, specifically the recent announcement of success by TSMC in making certain chips in Arizona. That’s good news for TSMC, but does it have anything to do with the CHIPS Act? Not really. I explain why.

Then, I talk about China’s business-tax system, and how it compares to America’s. There are a few key areas where, despite competition from China supposedly being a top concern of economic policy-makers, America’s business-tax system is less competitive. These are long-standing problems with the U.S. tax system, but if competition with China is the thing that spurs lawmakers into action, so be it.

For the Paper of the Episode, I went with a classic that, quite frankly, I should have done a long time ago: “The Use of Knowledge in Society” by F. A. Hayek. Read it here.

And please subscribe and listen to Econception here.