Today's Flash Back Friday comes from Episode 48, originally published in April 2011. Jason Hartman and economist and best-selling author, John Lott, discuss Lott’s book, “Freedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Other Half-Baked Theories Don’t.” In his book, Lott answers many common economic questions, such as are free market economies really based on fleecing the consumer, and is everyone, from corporate CEOs to your local car salesman, really looking to make a buck at your expense. He bravely confronts the profound distrust of the market. Lott shows how free markets liberate the best, most creative, and most generous aspects of our society, while efforts to constrain economic liberty, no matter how well intentioned, invariably lead to increased poverty and injustice. John R. Lott, Jr. has held positions at the University of Chicago, Yale University, Stanford, UCLA, Wharton, and Rice and was the chief economist at the United States Sentencing Commission during 1988 and 1989. Lott has published over 90 articles in academic journals. He is also the author of The Bias Against Guns, More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws, and Are Predatory Commitments Credible?: Who Should the Courts Believe? The third edition of More Guns, Less Crime will be published by the University of Chicago Press this April. Opinion pieces by Lott have appeared in such places as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and The Chicago Tribune. He has appeared on such television programs as the ABC and NBC national evening news broadcasts, The “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” and the “Today Show.” He received his Ph.D. in economics from UCLA in 1984. Website: www.Twitter.com/JohnRLottJr