Category: 3-EconSometimeCommentary

On this episode, Nathan Goodman interviews sociologist Timothy Dunn on the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border and its consequences for human rights. Dunn discusses how U.S. border militarization grew out of the Cold War era “low intensity conflict” doctrine and was expanded by both parties through the 1990s strategy of “prevention through deterrence.” While this policy reduced crossings in urban areas like El Paso and San Diego, it pushed migrants into deserts and mountains, ultimately contributing to thousands of migrant deaths. Dunn explains how U.S. military training and interventions in Central America fueled violence and migration, how financial institutions and drug war policies have perpetuated instability, how political entrepreneurs use crisis narratives to expand coercive power, and how programs like Operation Lone Star model a new wave of militarized enforcement. He calls for more humane immigration reforms grounded in human rights, economic realities, and the everyday resilience of immigrant communities.

Dr. Timothy J. Dunn is a Professor of Sociology at Salisbury University in Maryland. He is the author of Blockading the Border and Human Rights: The El Paso Operation that Remade Immigration Enforcement (University of Texas Press, 2009) and The Militarization of the U.S.-Mexico Border, 1978-1992: Low-Intensity Conflict Doctrine Comes Home (University of Texas Press, 1996).

Show Notes:

• Handbook on Human Security, Borders and Migration (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021) edited by Natalia Ribas-Mateos and Timothy Dunn
• Todd Miller’s book, Empire of Borders: The Expansion of the US Border around the World
• Jason De León’s book, The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail
• Gary Becker’s article, "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach" (Journal of Political Economy, 1968)
• Mexican Migration Project
• MacArthur Fellowship Recipient: Kelly Lytle Hernández
• No More Deaths / No Más Muertes
• Coalición de Derechos Humanos
• Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights
• ACLU | Immigrants’ Rights

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There are now nearly 12,000 satellites orbiting Earth. What does it cost to put them there, and how do they make money? Zachary Crockett launches an investigation.

 

• SOURCES:
  • Tim Farrar, president of TMF Associates.
  • Rachel Jewett, managing editor of Via Satellite.

 

• RESOURCES:
  • "How geostationary small satellites are providing strategic access to space," by Steve Collar (World Economic Forum, 2025).
  • "State of the Satellite Industry Report," (Satellite Industry Association, 2025).
  • "Elon Musk Dominates Space Launch. Rivals Are Calling Foul." by Eric Lipton (New York Times, 2024).
  • "Kessler Syndrome and the space debris problem," by Mike Wall (Space, 2022).
  • "BlackRock Says Satellite Images Can Help Track Chinese Companies," by Lisa Pham (Bloomberg, 2017).

For most Americans, we just lived through the highest period of inflation in our lives. And we are reminded of this every time we go grocery shopping. All over TikTok, tons of people have posted videos of how little they got for … $20. $40. $100. Most upsetting to us: an $8 box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Food prices are almost 30% higher than they were five years ago. It’s bad. And those new, higher prices aren’t going away.

At the same time, prices are no longer inflating at a wild pace. For the last two years, the rate of inflation has slowed way down. And yet, our fears or feelings that things will spiral out of control again? Those have not slowed down.

This mismatch has been giving us all the …. feelings. Inflation feelings. Infeelings. 

On our latest show: we sort through our infeeltions. We talk to the economists who have studied us. We learn why our personal inflation calculators don’t always match the professional ones.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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`For years, whale oil was used as lighting fuel, industrial lubricant, and the main ingredient in (yum!) margarine. Whale meat was also on a few menus. But today, demand for whale products is at a historic low. And yet some countries still have a whaling industry. We find out why. (Part 2 of “Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.”)

The post Why Do People Still Hunt Whales? (Update) appeared first on Freakonomics.

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Tariffs are the favorite tool of our current president, but there are lots of other ways that governments insert themselves into the free exchange of goods and services. Some of these trade barriers are so insidious and have been going on for so long that it may surprise you that they even exist. 

We bring you the classic story of what happens when you try to protect an American industry and end up hurting another American industry. Well intentioned plans turn into trade barriers that make our lives more expensive. 

Check out our Summer School video cheat sheet TikTok.

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The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford.

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In economics, a market is a place (even virtual) where buyers and sellers meet to exchange goods or services. Economists love markets. It's like all of our supply and demand graphs have come to life. Almost everything you buy goes through some sort of marketplace—your cup of coffee came from trading in the bean markets. Your spouse might have come from the dating marketplace on the apps. Even kids will tell you one Snickers is worth at least two Twix.

But sometimes, as we'll see today, markets can go terribly wrong; greed can run out of control; lives can be at risk. That's when the government often steps in and gives the market a little nudge to work better. Today's episode: Market Design.

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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How does a museum place a value on a priceless work of art? And how much does it cost to keep it safe? Zachary Crockett appraises the situation.

 

• SOURCES:
  • Glenn Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art.

 

• RESOURCES:
  • "Why Climate Activists Are Still Throwing Food and Paint at Famous Artworks," by Tala Ansari (Wall Street Journal, 2023).
  • "The Woman Who Made van Gogh," by Russell Shorto (New York Times, 2021).
  • "The Lillie P. Bliss collection," (MoMA Collection, 1934).
  • "May Belfort," by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (Cleveland Museum of Art, 1895).
  • "Still Life with a Bottle," by Paul Cézanne (Pola Museum, 1890).
  • "The Starry Night," by Vincent Van Gogh (MoMA Collection, 1889).
  • "Portrait of Victor Chocquet Seated," by Paul Cézanne (1877).

 

• EXTRAS:
  • "Hotel Art," by The Economics of Everyday Things (2025).
  • "The Hidden Side of the Art Market," by Freakonomics Radio (2021).

 

After President Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, economists and statisticians across the board were horrified. Because the firing raises the spectre of potential manipulation – and it raises the worry that, in the future, the numbers won't be as trustworthy.

So: we looked at two countries that have some experience with data manipulation. To ask what happens when governments get tempted to cook the books. And...once they cook the books... how hard is it to UN-cook them?

It's two statistical historical cautionary tales. First, we learn how Argentina tried to mask its true inflation rate, and how that effort backfired. Then, we hear about the difficult process of cleaning up the post-cooked-book mess, in Greece.

For more:
- Can we just change how we measure GDP?
- The price of lettuce in Brooklyn
- What really goes on at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Update)
- Can we still trust the monthly jobs report? (Update)
- How office politics could take down Europe
- The amazing shrinking economy might stop shrinking

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Support Planet Money, get bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening and now Summer School episodes one week early by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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Whaling was, in the words of one scholar, “early capitalism unleashed on the high seas.” How did the U.S. come to dominate the whale market? Why did whale hunting die out here — and continue to grow elsewhere? And is that whale vomit in your perfume? (Part 1 of “Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.”)

The post The First Great American Industry (Update) appeared first on Freakonomics.

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On this episode, Nathan Goodman interviews political theorist Jacob Levy about the rule of law and its tensions with modern immigration enforcement. Drawing on his 2018 article, “The rule of law and the risks of lawlessness,” Levy explains that the rule of law requires laws to be general, predictable, and applied equally. Referencing thinkers like Montesquieu, Fuller, Hayek, Oakeshott, and Shklar, Levy argues that immigration control often violates these principles, especially when it involves militarized policing, extrajudicial punishment, and fear-based governance, which ultimately threatens both civil liberties and democratic institutions.

Dr. Jacob T. Levy is Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory and associated faculty in the Department of Philosophy at McGill University. He is the coordinator of McGill’s Research Group on Constitutional Studies and was the founding director of McGill’s Yan P. Lin Centre for the Study of Freedom and Global Orders in the Ancient and Modern Worlds. He is a Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center. He is the author of The Multiculturalism of Fear (Oxford University Press, 2000) and Rationalism, Pluralism, and Freedom (Oxford University Press, 2014).

If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Virtual Sentiments, a podcast series from the Hayek Program, is streaming. Subscribe today and listen to season three, releasing now!

Follow the Hayek Program on Twitter: @HayekProgram

Learn more about Academic & Student Programs

Follow the Mercatus Center on Twitter: @mercatus

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