Behavioral Economics: When Markets Clash with Morals | Al Roth

Horse meat, kidneys, prostitution. What happens when the things people want to buy, sell, and trade collide with what society has deemed “off-limits”? In this fascinating conversation about the “gray” area of life, Nobel Prize-winning economist Alvin “Al” Roth joins us to explore the behavioral science behind controversial markets and the moral boundaries we place around them.

What differentiates repugnance from disgust? And why do some market bans succeed while others lead to black markets? How do social norms influence the laws we create? Al explains how these dynamics show up in everything from the drug trade and prostitution to kidney exchange and rare meat, and why banning a behavior can sometimes be more like ignoring the problem than solving it.

We also explore the role of incentives, informed consent, and experimentation when we aren’t sure what will work. Al shares fascinating insights from his work redesigning the market for kidney exchange, where shifting the question from “How do we solve this problem?” to “What can we actually do?” helped expand access to one of the scarcest resources imaginable. It’s a conversation about markets, morality, and what happens when we start looking for new ways to work within the boundaries society has created.

Want to watch this episode? Check it out on our YouTube channel