Required Listening: Roberts Interviews Romer

What a treat: Russ Roberts and Paul Romer, two of my favorite economists, talking to each other for 75 minutes about economic growth.  This one is definitely a keeper. 

Here's the synopsis at EconTalk, the website Roberts runs:

Paul Romer, Stanford University professor and Hoover Institution Senior Fellow talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about growth, China, innovation, and the role of human capital. Also discussed are ideas in creating growth, the idea that ideas allow for increasing returns, and intellectual property and how it should be treated. This 75 minute podcast is a wonderful introduction to thinking about what creates and sustains our standard of living in the modern world.

Every last minute of this is a must-listen for three types of people:

Group 1:  Those who agree with the basic theme that growth is overwhelmingly important to our future well-being;

Group 2:  Those who disagree with that basic theme; and...

Group 3:  All politicians. 

Group 1 will enjoy the podcast because these two guys are on the cutting edge of this topic, and know how to tell us about it in understandable language.  Group 2 should enjoy the podcast for a different reason: it clearly lays out the fundamental pro-growth arguments that they will presumably want to learn how to refute.  [I wish them lotsa luck, by the way; Romer is on everybody's short list for a Nobel prize, largely because of his work on this topic.]  Group 3 may or may not enjoy it, but will be forced to listen to it—if enough of us start asking them how they propose to enhance economic growth. 

Go to this page ("Romer on Growth").  You can either listen to it there by hitting the "Play Now" button, or download it for later listening on your iPod or Zune by hitting the "Download" button.  [I personally prefer the latter method, which allows me more mobility—but what really matters is that you listen to it, all of it, one way or the other.]