Four Papers That Changed the World | Episode 41 | Everything is Everything

We think of papers as boring -- but they contain ideas, and ideas change the world.
Welcome to Episode 41 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.
In this episode, Ajay and Amit take us through four papers -- actually, three papers and one essay -- that shaped the way they think, and how millions of others think as well. The power of a great idea is that it can help explain the world better than before -- and all progress is built on better understanding.
Oh, and Amit's newsletter is furiously active again, so do read and subscribe at indiauncut.substack.com/
If you like watching Everything is Everything, please like, subscribe, share, comment. :)
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
00:00 Packaging
00:13 Introduction: Papers That Crafted the Modern World
00:56 Chapter 1: The Role of Monetary Policy - Milton Friedman
15:56 Chapter 2: The Use of Knowledge in Society - Friedrich Hayek
27:03 Chapter 3: The Nature of the Firm - Ronald Coase
35:58 Chapter 4: That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen - Frédéric Bastiat
42:31 Chapter 5: Reccos & a Disappearance
These are the four papers (or rather, three papers and an essay) that had such a great influence on modern thought.
1. The Role of Monetary Policy -- Milton Friedman: www.aeaweb.org/aer/top20/58.1...
2. The Use of Knowledge in Society -- Friedrich Hayek: www.econlib.org/library/Essay...
3. The Nature of the Firm -- Ronald Coase: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...
4. That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen -- Frédéric Bastiat: mises.org/articles-interest/w...
USEFUL RESOURCES:
1. Amit on Twitter: / amitvarma
2. Ajay on Twitter: / ajay_shah
3. The Seen and the Unseen -- Amit's audio podcast: seenunseen.in/
(Also on all podcast apps. And KZbin, though less than 1% of listens come from here: / @theseenandtheunseen )
4. Ajay's organisation, XKDR Forum, on KZbin: / @xkdr
5. In Service of the Republic -- Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah: amzn.eu/d/hwGILb3
6. The Art of Clear Writing -- Amit's writing course: indiauncut.com/clear-writing/
7. The India Uncut Newsletter -- Amit's newsletter at indiauncut.substack.com/
8. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus -- Ludwig Wittgenstein: amzn.in/d/2vBvZGk
9. A sample of Wittgenstein's diary entries: / 1668772999091335168
10. Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis: Ludwig von Mises: amzn.in/d/0f3haLF
11. Fear the Boom and Bust: Keynes vs. Hayek - The Original Economics Rap Battle!: • Fear the Boom and Bust...
12. Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek - Economics Rap Battle Round Two: • Fight of the Century: ...
13. The Road to Serfdom -- Friedrich Hayek: amzn.in/d/3VW2bmj
14. Tyler Cowen on the Lex Fridman Podcast: • Tyler Cowen: Economic ...
15. I, Pencil -- Leonard Read: fee.org/ebooks/i-pencil/
16. The Evolution of Everything -- Matt Ridley: amzn.in/d/7p6YI4u
17. Matt Ridley on The Seen and the Unseen: • Ep. 96: The Evolution ...
18. How Family Firms Evolve -- Episode 34 of Everything is Everything: • How Family Firms Evolv...
19. From Imperial to Adaptive Firms -- Episode 37 of Everything is Everything: • From Imperial to Adapt...
20. The Candlemaker's Petition -- Frédéric Bastiat: fee.org/articles/the-candlema...
21. The Law -- Frédéric Bastiat: amzn.in/d/5lYt46H
22. Economics in One Lesson -- Henry Hazlitt: amzn.in/d/g6iMsaJ
23. The Bastiat Prize: reason.org/bastiat-prize-winn...
24. GOAT -- Tyler Cowen: goatgreatesteconomistofalltim...
25. Modern Principles of Microeconomics -- Alex Tabarrok and Tyler Cowen: amzn.in/d/e4cWx6t
26. Marginal Revolution University: mru.org/
Produced by Amit Varma
Shot by Vaishnav Vyas and Nomsita MS Haritashya: / vaishnav.vyas
Edited by Nomsita MS Haritashya: / nomsitaharitashya
Thanks to Gaurav Chintamani for helping with sound: / gaurav_chintamani
Chapter images & additional illustrations by Simahina: / i_am_simahina

[@aryamishra1455]

It’s my birthday today and I am glad it is on a Friday. I have planned first half of my day as ‘me time’ which obviously includes watching everything is everything. Also for my birthday gift I am getting my first ever tattoo - ‘I play to play’. I am the silent majority but today I choose to be vocal and appreciate you both gem of humans for making my life richer week on week. Putting this comment out there to increase my surface area of serendipity and manifesting to meet and engage with you both in some capacity in the coming year!❤️ Thank you again for everything you two do💖

[@adityamohan7366]

Many many happy returns of the day! Have a blast🎉🎉

[@amitvarma]

This is one of my favourite comments for anything I have done, so thank you for this. There are times I can't find meaning in the world -- and it means a lot when someone can find such meaning in my work. Play to play indeed. Thank you! (Happy to buy you coffee if you're ever in the same city.)

[@aryamishra1455]

@@amitvarma hahaha yes I am from Mumbai only, I stay in Kandivali :) And I have been Nikhil sir’s EA for two years. Would love to catchup!

[@amitvarma]

Super, get my email from Nikhil and mail me! 🙂

[@amitvarma]

Also, Happy Birthday!

[@rhitamgoswami9127]

41:01 As the 42nd minute began, she walked in from behind the scenes. As the camera remained focused on Amit and unbeknownst to Shah, the beautiful black cat decided to give us a glimpse of her grace. She makes herself seen. She then goes on to explore the lush bushes and then makes herself unseen. All while Amit explains “The seen and the unseen” to Shah. You better introduce us to her majesty in the next episode.

[@praneetsinghbutran6925]

Glad Ajay Shah mentioned that ultimately milton was wrong on money supply as the control variable , it was later accepted from ideas originating in the post keynesian tradition that money is actually endogenous and is created within the banking system rather than generated from the central bank. That doesn't take away from milton's contributions, but its also true that there were others like Tobin and all who deserve a lot of credit

[@anshul_eie]

More power to you two and 1000 more episodes.

[@priteshkamani9402]

What a brilliant episode. Loved it.

[@manasjyotitalukdar2683]

Had no commitments for the day. So was checking the gadget since 9 am for the episode to be uploaded. Eager to hear about the papers. Thank you team, beforehand.

[@zafarchaugule1623]

Sheer brilliance ! Thank you Amit & Ajax for that scintillating chat. I love the format and the way you’ll have structured it. Keep it up. Look forward to seeing some more of these VDO’s.

[@mamunurushankar3358]

Excellent! I read "The Seen and the Unseen by Frédéric Bastiat. Yes, the other three papers I will read. Price contains the complete information and that should decide the market. But the ecosystem for a perfect market where the price information is available instantly is a pre-condition for its success. In an imperfect world information asymmetry has to be expected and monitored. So, the State with its own perverse incentives is unavoidable!

[@pulverizerz136]

Phenomenal episode! Cheers to you both and the team for such exquisite work and excellent references! Made my Friday!🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@SandeepSingh-ey4ih]

Superb No words are enough to thank you guys

[@deep-insight]

Awesome! really insightful on seminal works 👍Looking forward to more such...

[@a_mancorporation4214]

The light is going

[@ShortcastoverCoffee]

Brilliant episode!

[@shubhamchaturvedi7310]

Thanks for such a beautiful content !!😍 45 Min of this absolute masterclass.

[@gunhgunh]

Great topic and very finely put. Keep bringing these content. Your content frequently becomes one of our discussion topic during our weekend hikes or drives.

[@rameshbala2464]

As always, great episode. Love it! @Amit when you pointed down during essay #4 I didn't think grass but the infamous Amit Shah meme 😂😂

[@mayankchari4632]

Fantastic episode! A small request. Would love to hear Dr. Shah and Mr. Varma's views on the consulting industry and its inpact on the economy. I feel there is a lot to discuss given the ubiquitous nature of its growth. Cheers!

[@devakipurohit7254]

Would be interested in same vein to hear about outsourced governance... to consulting through PMUs

[@AdityaRaj-qn7lt]

Make an episode on personal finance

[@Kaustubh56]

Could you do an episode on Henry Ford, Edison and Tesla? There are some fascinating stories, ideas which can make 1-2 interesting episodes

[@pranavlucian]

Love the new thumbnail style!

[@vishweshji]

Best 46 mins (and maybe 46 days in rabbit hole) you will spend !

[@oye4u]

Guys, where are you shooting this.. very interesting to see such intelligent topics are being dissected and operated and discharged to laymen

[@rushabhsagara8766]

How can there not be Einstein's seminal 1905 paper when the title is about the papers that changed the world! But anyway, the other papers were equally worthy of the title! Commenting here after some time! Feels nice to be at the best place on my youtube - my place ie Everything is Everything!

[@bharatkumarramesh1488]

Lovely episode I hoped there was a bit more science in it :) To me, these three papers fundamentally changed the world. And everything we use today is impacted by these bodies of work: 1. Annus mirabilis papers by Einstein 2. Principia Mathematica by Newton 3. On physical lines of force, by Maxwell

[@RAUSHANKUMAR-fx9gj]

🔥🔥

[@aviraltripathi9232]

A Natural sciences equivalent of this would be a great episode as well, but probably focused on ones who have not received the Noble prize or on such papers from India.

[@LaPlaya-rw1cp]

1st. Now I need the gold medal

[@sh0001]

🥇

[@ashooshukla]

@@sh0001

[@vhyomet620]

I thought the episode was about Einstein 😂

[@pranjaltiwari1663]

+1

[@amitvarma]

Economics this time. Otherwise of course Einstein!

[@TheArkaRoy]

I too 😢

[@MMR3000]

No thumbnail art today?

[@amitvarma]

Trying to see if putting our faces works better, as traditional wisdom tells us.

[@TheTopgun82]

Another crazy idea, if possible and not super difficult, would be to somehow put your faces in the thumbnail art. Kinda mix of both.

[@amitvarma]

Clutter would be an issue...

[@Needus815]

Living in the past. Update the reading list maybe.

[@abhimanyugupta532]

Guessing that Hayek's - The use of Knowledge made the cut. Let's see. PS: For the love of God(who does not play dice) how did Einstein fail to make the cut? PPS: We will assume the 5th paper which you discuss was that Einstein's seminal paper. Sorted! PPPS: How do i unsee what i saw at the 45:50 mark?

[@amitvarma]

We kept this ep to economics. Sorry, should have been clear.

[@abhimanyugupta532]

Yikes!@@amitvarma Awesome Episode btw(as usual). But i expected Ajay Shah sir to put one of einstein's paper on his list. I remember you and him debating why machines cant ever come up with the theory of relativity in that episode on AI/AGI. But i will give you two the benefit of doubt. That 5th paper you two didnt disucss had to be one of Einstein's Seminal papers. Sorted :)

[@cptarun]

Good. I would also claim that Shanon's ``A mathematical theory of communication" is also an equally important paper. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mathematical_Theory_of_Communication 😀