Freakonomics Radio

• Is the U.S. Really Less Corrupt Than China? (Update)

  In this episode we first published in 2021, the political scientist Yuen Yuen Ang argues that different forms of government create different styles of corruption — and that the U.S. and China have more in common than we’d like to admit. SOURCES:Yuen Yuen Ang, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University. RESOURCES:"China’s Anti-Graft Show Is Educational, With Unintended Lessons," by Li Yuan (The New York Times, 2022).China’s Gilded Age: The Paradox of Economic Boom and Vast Corruption, by Yuen Yuen Ang (2020)."A Fair Assessment of China’s IP Protection," by Shang-Jin Wei and Xinding Yu (Project Syndicate, 2019).The Bankers' New Clothes: What's Wrong with Banking and What to Do about It, by Anat Admati (2013)."A Fistful of Dollars: Lobbying and the Financial Crisis," by Deniz Igan, Prachi Mishra, and Thierry Tressel (2011). EXTRAS:"China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers." by Freakonomics Radio (2025).American Culture series by Freakonomics Radio (2021). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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• 647. China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers.

  In his new book “Breakneck,” Dan Wang argues that the U.S. has a lot to learn from China. He also says that “no two peoples are more alike.” We have questions. SOURCES:Dan Wang, research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, author of Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future. RESOURCES:Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future, by Dan Wang (2025).The Anaconda in the Chandelier: Writings on China, by Perry Link (2025)."Is the U.S. Ready for the Next War?" by Dexter Filkins (The New Yorker, 2025)."How smartphones made Shenzhen China’s innovation capital," by Dan Wang (2016).How China Escaped the Poverty Trap, by Yuen Yuen Ang (2016).The Art of Not Being Governed, by Jame Scott (2009). EXTRAS:"The Engineering State and the Lawyerly Society: Dan Wang on his new book 'Breakneck,'" by the Sinica Podcast (2025)."Is the U.S. Really Less Corrupt Than China?" by Freakonomics Radio (2021). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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• Is the World Ready for a Guaranteed Basic Income? (Update)

  A lot of jobs in the modern economy don’t pay a living wage, and some of those jobs may be wiped out by new technologies. So what’s to be done? We revisit an episode from 2016 for a potential solution. SOURCES:Erik Brynjolfsson, professor of economics at Stanford University.Evelyn Forget, professor of economics and community health sciences at the University of Manitoba.Sam Altman, C.E.O. of OpenAI.Robert Gordon, professor emeritus of economics at Northwestern University.Greger Larson, professor of archeology at the University of Oxford. RESOURCES:"Here's what a Sam Altman-backed basic income experiment found," by Megan Cerullo (CBS News, 2024).Utopia for Realists, by Rutger Bregman. The Correspondent (2016).The Second Machine Age, by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee (2014)."The Town With No Poverty: Using Health Administration Data To Revisit Outcomes of a Canadian Guaranteed Annual Income Field Experiment," by Evelyn Forget (Canadian Public Policy, 2011)."The Negative Income Tax and the Evolution of U.S. Welfare Policy," by Robert Moffitt (Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2003).Capitalism and Freedom, by Milton Freidman (2002)."Lesson from the Income Maintenance Experiments," (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and The Brookings Institution, 1986).Law, Legislation and Liberty, Volume 3: The Political Order of A Free People, by Frederick Hayek (1981)."Daniel Moynihan and President-elect Nixon: How charity didn't begin at home," by Peter Passell and Leonard Ross (New York Times, 1973)."Income Maintenance Programs," (Hearings Before The Subcommittee On Fiscal Policy Of The Joint Economic Committee Congress Of The United States, 1968). EXTRAS:"President Nixon Unveils the Family Assistance Program," (1969)."Milton Friedman interview with William F Buckley Jr.," (1968)."Martin Luther King Jr. advocates for Guaranteed Income at Stanford," (1967). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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• 646. An Air Traffic Controller Walks Into a Radio Studio ...

  What does it take to “play 3D chess at 250 miles an hour”? And how far will $12.5 billion of “Big, Beautiful” funding go toward modernizing the F.A.A.? (Part two of a two-part series.) SOURCES:David Strayer, professor of cognition and neural science at the University of Utah.Dorothy Robyn, senior fellow at I.T.I.F.Ed Bastian, C.E.O. of Delta Airlines.Ed Bolen, president and C.E.O. of the National Business Aviation Association.John Strong, professor of finance and economics at the William and Mary School of Business.Kenneth Levin, retired air traffic controller.Olivia Grace, former product manager at Slack.Polly Trottenberg, former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. RESOURCES:“An Air Traffic Controller Speaks Out About Newark Airport,” by The Journal (2025)."Why Did Air Traffic Control Reform Efforts Fail (Again)?" by Jeff Davis (Eno Center for Transportation, 2023)."Supertaskers: Profiles in extraordinary multitasking ability," by Jason Watson and David Strayer (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2021).Managing the Skies: Public Policy, Organization, and Financing of Air Traffic Management, by John Strong and Clinton Oster (2016). EXTRAS:"Multitasking Doesn't Work. So Why Do We Keep Trying?" by Freakonomics Radio (2024). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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• 645. Is the Air Traffic Control System Broken?

  Flying in the U.S. is still exceptionally safe, but the system relies on outdated tech and is under tremendous strain. Six experts tell us how it got this way and how it can (maybe) be fixed. (Part one of a two-part series.) SOURCES:Dorothy Robyn, senior fellow at I.T.I.F.Ed Bastian, C.E.O. of Delta Airlines.John Strong, professor of finance and economics at the William and Mary School of Business.Kenneth Levin, retired air traffic controller.Polly Trottenberg, former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. RESOURCES:"Brand New Air Traffic Control System Plan," (Federal Aviation Administration, 2025).The Air Traffic Controller Workforce Imperative: Staffing Models and Their Implementation to Ensure Safe and Efficient Airspace Operations, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2025)."Annual Aviation Infrastructure Report: 2025," by Marc Scribner (Reason Foundation, 2025)."New air traffic academy died in Congress despite dire need for more staff," by Lori Aratani (The Washington Post, 2025)."The Real Problem With the FAA," by Dorothy Robyn (The Atlantic, 2025)."How Much Do Jet Aircraft Pay into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund to Fly from Dallas to D.C.?" by Ann Henebery, (Eno Center for Transportation, 2018).Managing the Skies, by John Strong and Clinton Oster (2016). EXTRAS:"Freakonomics Radio Takes to the Skies," series by Freakonomics Radio (2023)."In Praise of Maintenance," by Freakonomics Radio (2016). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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