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A State of Affairs: Libertarian Welfare and Its Role in Virtual Communities

How does our understanding of human behavior impact how economic growth is encouraged? What is the role of policy and governance in acting as a ‘guiding hand’ for virtual communities? What does economic research tell us about the place of free/freemium content, and whether money can truly lead to happiness?

Watch Metanomics with host Robert Bloomfield and our guest Robert Frank, best-selling author, New York Times columnist, economist, and professor for a discussion of economics, policy and ethics which took place October 14th at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST).

Following last week’s show which explored the constraining impact of government regulation, this show’s discussion will examine how policy can act to enable markets and will explore the evolving business models and challenges of online communities and virtual worlds. Professor Frank will provide insight into how content can be monetized online, and will explain common sense principles for troubled times as outlined in his best-selling book The Economic Naturalist’s Field Guide.

Guest Biographies

Robert Frank

Robert H. Frank is the Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor of Management and Professor of Economics at Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and the co-director of the Paduano Seminar in business ethics at NYU’s Stern School of Business. His “Economic View” column appears monthly in The New York Times. He received his B.S. in mathematics from Georgia Tech, then taught math and science for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Nepal. He holds an M.A. in statistics and a Ph.D. in economics, both from the University of California at Berkeley. His papers have appeared in the American Economic Review, Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy, and other leading professional journals. His books, which include Choosing the Right Pond, Passions Within Reason, Microeconomics and Behavior, Principles of Economics (with Ben Bernanke), Luxury Fever, What Price the Moral High Ground?, Falling Behind, and The Economic Naturalist, have been translated into 19 languages. The Winner-Take-All Society, co-authored with Philip Cook, received a Critic’s Choice Award, was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times, and was included in Business Week’s list of the ten best books of 1995. He is a co-recipient of the 2004 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. He was awarded the Johnson School’s Stephen Russell Distinguished teaching award in 2004 and its Apple Distinguished Teaching Award in 2005.