Russ Roberts: uncertainty

Transcript context

…It had to be. And they call you in. “Russ, how should we spend the money?” “We know you think this is a terrible idea, but we want to get the biggest bang for our buck.” Well, one thing I would do is, I’d seed some prizes and fund some prizes for breakthroughs in technology. I think that would be a good use of the money, relative to some alternatives. I’d try to think of some ways to get better outcomes in education, using that money — rather than just, say, increasing expenditure across the board — to try to find some ways to incentivize schools to get that money — not by scores, say, on tests, but by other methods. What else would I spend it on? Well, other than infrastructure, of course, which we’re woefully inadequate on. I don’t know if you know it, but the American Society of Engineers gave us, I think, a D. A D−, I think.…

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