Words & Numbers

Worries about mob rule have been around longer than our Constitution. Indeed, James Madison wrote about the problems of “factions” in what we’ve come to call the Federalist Papers. We like to think that our three branches of government with their checks and balances are impervious to the evils of faction. But today we may be living Madison’s nightmare. Join Antony Davies and James Harrigan as they discuss this and more on this week’s episode of Words and Numbers. Show Notes Controlling aging Jeff Bezos donates $2 billion What it feels like to be Jeff Bezos Foolishness of the Week Outlawing sitting and lying down Topic of the Week: Political factions and mob rule Madison’s warning about mob rule Federalist 10 Federal debt as a fraction of GDP (1790 to 2050) Join the conversation Antony Davies on Twitter James R. Harrigan on Twitter Words & Numbers Backstage