Does economic freedom make the rich richer and the poor poorer?

I had the pleasure of talking with Justin Callais about his research — the first causal investigation of this important question.

In episode 6 of The Cause and Effect, we dive into Justin’s research on how economic freedom affects both economic growth and inequality — and what this means for ordinary people, not just for GDP statistics.

We discuss:

✅ What economic freedom actually measures

✅ Who benefits from economic freedom

✅ How countries with higher freedom perform across different income groups

✅ Why improving economic institutions might be key to reducing poverty

✅ How his empirical design allows him to causally examine this question

Justin shares compelling data showing that economic freedom raises incomes across the entire income distribution — and doesn’t necessarily increase inequality. The poor, as well as the rich, benefit significantly when institutions improve.

It’s a conversation that challenges important assumptions about growth, fairness, and opportunity.

📺 Watch on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/uF8f9M8hTn4📝 Read more on our Substack:https://substack.com/@thecauseandeffect🎧 Subscribe and follow for weekly episodes connecting economic research to real-world problems—without the jargon.#EconomicFreedom #Economics #Podcast #Inequality #Growth #PublicPolicy #Development #JustinCallais #TheCauseAndEffect #Liberty #EconomicGrowth #IncomeInequality #EconomicPolicy #SocialMobility #FreeMarkets