Binyamin Appelbaum on the economists’ hour

In our populist moment, do economists still have a place in policy debates? Did Milton Friedman’s solutions to the 1970’s economic problems create modern inequality? Who have markets helped, and who have they hurt? And should our politicians scrap economic narratives in order to create a more equitable world? Here to consider these questions is Binyamin Appelbaum, the author of the newly released The Economists’ Hour: False Prophets, Free Markets, and the Fracture of Society. Binyamin Appelbaum is a member of The New York Times editorial board, and previously served for nine years as a Washington correspondent for The Times, where he covered the Federal Reserve and other aspects of economic policy. He is a recipient of both the Polk Award and the Loeb Award, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in public service. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he previously worked for newspapers in Jacksonville, Fla., Charlotte, N.C., Boston and Washington. Additionally, you can check out the full transcript of our conversation here, or read a shortened version here.