Ep70 "Why We Don't Just Say What We Mean - Part 2" with Steven Pinker

In the final part of this two-part interview, Steven Pinker, an experimental psychologist and Harvard professor, again joins hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen to discuss his new book When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life. In this episode, Jonathan and Jules break down more revelatory examples from Steven’s book that demonstrate how common knowledge is a first order explanatory variable for how humans behave. They also explore the role common knowledge plays in financial markets, particularly when it comes to speculative trading, and examine common knowledge in an academic freedom sense, highlighting the delicate balance between promoting open debate and safeguarding societal norms. Submit your questions to the show here: https://bit.ly/AllElseEqual Find All Else Equal on the web: https://lauder.wharton.upenn.edu/allelse/