Fresh Economic Thinking
Fresh Economic Thinking
FET #15: Can a "fuck up levy" stop our experts failing us?
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FET #15: Can a "fuck up levy" stop our experts failing us?

We dive into why so much research and policy advice is wrong and the perverse incentives at play in the "expertise industry"
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The Economist magazine recently wrote about the “worrying amount of fraud in medical research” and the former editor of The BMJ medical journal, Richard Smith, asked if it is “Time to assume that health research is fraudulent until proven otherwise?

Too many designated experts in our society are anything but. They get things wrong, and when they do, they impose enormous costs on others.

Is a “fuck up levy” a solution?

Experts would pay a levy so that when they inevitably screw up we can use the money collected to compensate those who bear the costs. This is the idea that kicks off the conversation this week.

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Theme music: Happy Swing by Serge Quadrado Music under Creative Commons Licence CC BY-NC 4.0

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Fresh Economic Thinking
Fresh Economic Thinking
Cameron Murray is famous for questioning sacred cows and conventional wisdoms of both left and right. We chat about Cameron's latest Twitter battle and then delve into a controversy. Wide-ranging analysis - no topic out of bounds - inequality, regulation, housing, superannuation, lockdowns, tax, war, the meaning of life.