Alvin E. Roth (on moral economics)
4/22/20262 hr 15 min
Alvin E. Roth (Moral Economics, Who Gets What and Why) is a Nobel Prize-winning economist, Stanford professor, and author. Alvin joins Armchair Expert to discuss growing up in Queens with two schoolteacher parents, skipping a traditional high school path to attend college at 16, and how early academic exposure shaped his curiosity about markets and human behavior. Alvin and Dax talk about pioneering kidney exchange programs that have saved thousands of lives, the surprising ways incentives influence behavior in everyday systems, and how market design applies to everything from matching students to schools to allocating scarce resources. Alvin explains the difference between repugnance and disgust in economics, why some markets are morally contested yet necessary, and why solving complex social issues requires designing better systems rather than relying on good intentions alone.
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Clips
Showing 10 of 16Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDax Shepard· Host0:00
Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert, Experts on Expert. I'm Dan Shepherd, and I'm joined by Lily Padman.
Monica Padman· Host0:05
Hi.
Dax Shepard· Host0:05
Um, today we have Alvin E. Roth. Uh, he is a Nobel Prize-winning economist and a Stanford professor. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
Monica Padman· Host0:15
My goodness.
Dax Shepard· Host0:16
His previous book is Who Gets What and Why, and his new book is called, this is tasty- Yeah ... Moral Economics: From Prostitution to Organ Sales, What Controversial Transactions Reveal about How Markets Work.
Monica Padman· Host0:33
Really interesting.
Dax Shepard· Host0:34
Super, super interesting. We learn about the difference between repugnancy and disgust. He himself pioneered this kidney market that has saved tens of thousands of lives. Yeah, a really, really great topic. Uh, please enjoy Alvin E. Roth.
Speaker 20:54
He's an armchair expert. He's an armchair expert. He's an armchair expert. He's an armchair expert.
Dax Shepard· Host1:07
You're visiting, I presume, from the Stanford area, yeah?
Alvin E. Roth· Guest1:14
I am.
Dax Shepard· Host1:15
You're originally from Queens. Both parents were school teachers?
Alvin E. Roth· Guest1:19
Yes.
Dax Shepard· Host1:19
And what was their specialty? Were they just generalists?
Alvin E. Roth· Guest1:22
They taught in high school, and they taught a discipline that no longer exists. It was called secretarial studies, and they taught mostly young women