Should economics have fewer taboos? With Alvin Roth

The Economics Show

Economists like to think of their discipline as a rational science. But might we make better decisions if we ditched some of our moral aversions? Specifically: would we make better choices if we learned to conquer moral repugnance? Alvin Roth, Nobel laureate, and author of the recent book ‘Moral Economics’, tells host Soumaya Keynes why a free market in kidneys and surrogacy makes economic sense, and what he makes of prediction markets.


The inaugural FT Weekend Festival in New York City is fast approaching, with a line-up featuring Paul Krugman, Martin Wolf, Gillian Tett, and plenty more. Join on Saturday, June 20, at Spring Studios or online. Register now and as a podcast listener, save 10% using our code FTPODCAST.


Further reading

When is it OK for economists to experiment on people?

So you tried to buy a country . . .


Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Economists like to think of their discipline as a rational science. But might we make better decisions if we ditched some of our moral aversions? Specifically: would we make better choices if we learned to conquer moral repugnance? Alvin Roth, Nobel laureate, and author of the recent book ‘Moral Economics’, tells host Soumaya Keynes why a free market in kidneys and surrogacy makes economic sense, and what he makes of prediction markets.


The inaugural FT Weekend Festival in New York City is fast approaching, with a line-up featuring Paul Krugman, Martin Wolf, Gillian Tett, and plenty more. Join on Saturday, June 20, at Spring Studios or online. Register now and as a podcast listener, save 10% using our code FTPODCAST.


Further reading

When is it OK for economists to experiment on people?

So you tried to buy a country . . .


Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2026-05-15 25 min
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