The Answer Is Transaction Costs

Author: Michael Munger

"The real price of everything is the toil and trouble of acquiring it."  -Adam Smith (WoN, Bk I, Chapter 5)In which the Knower of Important Things shows how transaction costs explain literally everything. Plus TWEJ,  and answers to letters.If YOU have questions, submit them to our email at taitc.email@gmail.com There are two kinds of episodes here: 1. For the most part, episodes June-August are weekly, short (<20 mins), and address a few topics. 2. Episodes September-May are longer (1 hour), and monthly, with an interview with a guest.Finally, a quick note:  This podcast is NOT for Stacy Hockett. He wanted you to know that.....
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Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations Episode 10: Always Contemporary
Tuesday, 24 February, 2026

Send a textWe assess Adam Smith’s enduring ideas—moral authorization of commerce, division of labor, emergent order—and confront where his optimism breaks: how democratic politics and business fuse to create monopoly privilege. The result is a maintenance‑intensive commercial order that needs competition defended, not assumed.• presumption for markets under secure property, justice, and competition• division of labor as the main engine of productivity and growth• invisible hand reframed as emergent order, not automatic virtue• critique of mercantilism, monopoly privilege, and rent seeking• limited but real state functions: defense, justice, public works, education• motivational symmetry and public choice constraints on government• trade clarity: buy where cheaper, specialize, gains from exchange• competition as a public good that must be defendedHappy 250th birthday, Wealth of NationsIf you have questions or comments, or want to suggest a future topic, email the show at taitc.email@gmail.com ! You can follow Mike Munger on Twitter at @mungowitz