Prompt Cast
Federal judges learn economics to make better decisions
TLDR Federal judges attend specialized camps to learn about economics, potentially transforming the way they make major decisions for decades. The Econ Judge Camp aims to improve judges' understanding of economic issues in court cases, leading to rulings that favor corporations and a shift to the right in the courts.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Federal judges attended a crash course on economics to learn about competition, antitrust, and regulations, potentially transforming the way they made major decisions for decades.
03:24
A new judge initially forgoes wearing the traditional robe but later realizes its practicality, attending an Econ Judge Camp early in his career where judges learn about economics through lectures and homework, aiming to improve their understanding of economic issues in court cases.
06:35
Judges attend specialized camps to learn about economics, including concepts like price discrimination, to better understand economic issues in court cases.
09:46
Federal judge econ retreats aim to teach judges to think like Chicago school economists, who believe in hyper-rational individuals making optimal decisions without government intervention, advocating for a hands-off approach to regulation and letting people sue polluters instead of relying on the EPA.
12:54
Chicago school economists believe criminals are rational individuals responding to incentives, advocating for harsh punishments to deter future crime, but their ideas faced criticism for being too extreme and influenced by conservative politics and corporate funding.
15:48
Attending the conservative Chicago school version of economics seminars made judges more likely to rule against environmental and labor regulations in favor of corporations.
19:03
Attending the econ judge camp influenced both conservative and liberal judges, making them more likely to rule in favor of corporations, enforce harsher prison sentences, and shift the courts to the right.
