# On The New Things | AI & Economics with Dr. Stephen Barrows

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/acton-line-923630/on-the-new-things-ai-economics-with-dr-stephen-barrows
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/acton-line-923630/on-the-new-things-ai-economics-with-dr-stephen-barrows.md
Podcast: [Acton Line](https://stenobird.com/podcast/acton-line-923630)
Published: 2026-05-21T09:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/ILO3849811881.mp3
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/ILO3849811881.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/acton-line-923630/episodes/on-the-new-things-ai-economics-with-dr-stephen-barrows
Duration seconds: 3065

## Resource

Pope Leo XIV has signaled that artificial intelligence will be a defining concern of his pontificate, with an encyclical expected to address it directly. In this three-part series, the Acton Institute's Dan Hugger sits down with scholars across economics, history, and anthropology to ask what Catholic social teaching has to say about the AI revolution, as well as what an encyclical on AI will need to grapple with. PhD economist and Acton COO Stephen Barrows joins Dan Hugger to examine AI as the latest chapter in the long story of technological change, and perhaps the most consequential one yet. From disemployment fears and the future of coding to price discrimination, healthcare breakthroughs, energy costs, and the geopolitics of frontier models, this conversation traces both the disruptions AI is causing and the genuine human goods it's already delivering. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at podcast@acton.org.

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## Transcript

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