Russ Roberts

Russell David "Russ" Roberts (born September 19, 1954) is a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution well known for communicating economics to non-economists as host of the EconTalk podcast.

Roberts was awarded a B.A. in economics in 1975 from the University of North Carolina and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1981 for thesis on the design of government transfer programs under the supervision of Gary Becker.

Roberts has taught at George Mason University, Washington University in St. Louis (where he was the founding director of what is now the Center for Experiential Learning), the University of Rochester, Stanford University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a regular commentator on business and economics for National Public Radio's Morning Edition, and has written for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Roberts also blogs at Cafe Hayek with Donald J. Boudreaux at George Mason University in Fairfax County, Virginia. He published the novel The Invisible Heart which conveys economic ideas in the context of a narrative. In 2008, Roberts released another novel, The Price of Everything, which addresses concepts such as spontaneous order, price gouging, and market economics in crisis situations.

Books

• The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism (1st ed.). Prentice Hall. 1994. ISBN 0-13-083008-9. OCLC 29357777. 
• The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall. 2006. ISBN 0-13-143354-7. OCLC 70839758. 
  • The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism (CD audio). Princeton, NJ: Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic. 2002. OCLC 51110966. 
• The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance (1st ed.). MIT Press. 2002. ISBN 0-262-68135-8. OCLC 44413917. 
• The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity (1st ed.). Princeton University Press. 2008. ISBN 0-691-14335-8. OCLC 231587398. 
• Gambling with other people's money: how perverted incentives caused the financial crisis. Legatum Institute. 2010. ISBN 1-907409-06-8. OCLC 751698980. 
• How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness. Portfolio Hardcover. 2014. ISBN 978-1-59184-684-0. OCLC 881681030. 

Articles and papers

• Roberts, Russ. "Working Papers in Economics": Domestic Studies Program (Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace):
  • Roberts, Russ (1986). Financing public goods. no. E-86-9. OCLC 39865959. 
    • Also published as: Roberts, Russ (April 1987). "Financing public goods". Journal of Political Economy. Chicago Journals. 95 (2): 420–437. doi:10.1086/261463. 
  • Roberts, Russ (1988). Subsidies to Private Spending on Public Goods. no. E-88-22. OCLC 22871627. 
    • Also published as: Roberts, Russ (September 1992). "Government subsidies to private spending on public goods". Public Choice. Springer. 74 (2): 133–152. doi:10.1007/bf00140763. JSTOR 30025593. 
• Roberts, Russ (February 1984). "A positive model of private charity and public transfers". Journal of Political Economy. Chicago Journals. 92 (1): 136–148. doi:10.1086/261212. 
• Roberts, Russ (January 1985). "A taxonomy of public provision". Public Choice, special issue: Carnegie Papers on Political Economy, Volume 5: Proceedings on the Carnegie Conference on Political Economy. Springer. 47 (1): 267–303. doi:10.1007/BF00119360. JSTOR 30024844. 
• Roberts, Russ (April 1985). "Recipient preferences and the design of government transfer programs". Journal of Law and Economics. Chicago Journals. 28 (1): 27–546. doi:10.1086/467074. 
• Roberts, Russ (June 1989). "Why comply: one-sided enforcement of price controls and victimless crime laws". Journal of Legal Studies. Chicago Journals. 18 (2): 403–414. doi:10.1086/468152. JSTOR 3085626. 
• Roberts, Russ; Lott, John R. (January 1991). "A guide to the pitfalls of identifying price discrimination". Economic Inquiry. Wiley. 29 (1): 14–23. doi:10.1111/j.1465-7295.1991.tb01249.x. 
• Roberts, Russ (May 1992). "When does a decrease in a distortion increase welfare?". Economic Letters. Elsevier. 39 (1): 37–42. doi:10.1016/0165-1765(92)90098-J.