"Libertarian" Paternalism?

Free Thoughts
E52 -

Bill Glod joins us on this week’s episode of Free Thoughts for a discussion on so-​called libertarian paternalism.

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Hosts
Trevor Burrus
Research Fellow, Constitutional Studies
Aaron Ross Powell
Director and Editor
Guests
Bill Glod

Bill Glod has devoted his career to defending individual liberty and building scholarly networks. Alongside respected philosophy journals, his work criticizing paternalism in government was published in his 2020 Routledge book Why It’s OK to Make Bad Choices. As program officer at the Institute for Humane Studies from 2009 to 2023, he oversaw faculty mentorship programming, organized scholarly events, and managed a fellowship with a one-​million-​dollar annual budget. Bill currently works as a freelance author, contributing essays to outlets like the Online Library of Liberty and Liberal Currents.

What is libertarian paternalism? Is paternalism without coercion even possible? Does it work? Can we trust those who are in charge of creating good “choice architecture” to be better at their jobs than any typical bureaucrat? How do we know what someone’s “true preferences” are? And don’t these sort of “nudges” strip people of their agency?

Show Notes and Further Reading

Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness (book)

Bill Glod, The Limits of Libertarian Paternalism (interview with Glen Whitman)

Slippery Slopes and the New Paternalism (Cato Unbound Series)