Freakonomics Radio - 81. Star-Spangled Banter?

Episode Date: June 26, 2012

Once a week, the British Prime Minister goes before the House of Commons for a lightning round of hard questions. Should the U.S. give it a try?

From APM, American Public Media, and WNYC, this is Freakonomics Radio on Marketplace. Here's the host of Marketplace, Ty Risdahl. Time now for a little Freakonomics Radio, that moment every couple of weeks where we talk to Stephen Dubner. He's the co-author of the books and the blog of the same name. It is The Hidden Side O' Everything. And Dubner, I am told you-author of the books and the blog of the same name. It is The Hidden Side of Everything. And Dubner, I am told you have been traveling.

You've been getting out. It's true. I've been to England to visit the Queen. She wouldn't actually see me go there. Yeah, right. But while I was there,

I had an idea. So, you know, even though with Fourth of July coming up, it got me to thinking that even though we broke up

with the Brits a long time ago, that there's one tradition they still have that I really think is worth borrowing. So long as it's not like bangers and mash, dude, it can be whatever you want. No, this is not cuisine we're borrowing. This is actually parliamentary procedure.

OK, what I'm suggesting, prime minister's questions. So this is the session in parliament every Wednesday at noon. The prime minister must go before the House of Commons, which is pretty much the equivalent of our House of Representatives. And he's got to take a half hour's worth of questions from the opposition members, as well as his own party. And it's broadcast for the entire country to see. Yeah. And over here, too.

I mean, I think it's on C-SPAN, right, if you want to see it. It's quite the event. It is confrontational, you could say. Indeed. It's a bit like schoolboys going at each other in debate club a bit. A few weeks ago, I was there, I heard Prime Minister David Cameron give the following answer to a question about Britain's faltering economy. What we need to do both in Britain and Europe is to combine the fiscal deficit reduction, which has given us the low interest rates with an

active monetary policy, and with innovative ways of using our hard won credibility, which we wouldn't have if we listened to the muttering idiot sitting opposite me. I love that. I love all the yelling while he's talking. Yeah, indeed. All right. So as much fun as that is, though, Debener, how does that advance American democracy, my friend? Well, here's the thing. Right now, one of the big problems in Washington is that the two parties just kind of shout past each other instead of talk to each other, right? Which, according to some old timers in Washington, began when the two parties stopped sharing

cocktail hour at the end of the day. You know, it's a lot easier to demonize someone from another political party, let's say, when you don't interact so much face to face. At prime minister's questions, what you've got are these sworn political enemies who actually do insult each other face to face. But because they're there in the room, they kind of share a laugh about it, about the best lines of the day. And they're actually discussing the inner workings of government in the full light of day. I am hardly the only person to suggest that we borrow this idea. John McCain endorsed it back when he was running for president in 2008. We recently asked McCain about it. He still likes the idea. You talk about the issues of the day that the president, I think, should be up to speed on. I think it'd be great to add to the education and

illumination of the voters. All right. So one, we all know what happened to McCain, right? But number two, what does the Constitution have to say about this? I asked a scholar named Bernadette Myler. She studies American and British legal history at Cornell. The short answer is that the Constitution would allow, certainly. It would, however, require a bit of collaboration. So I think that for this practice to work in the U.S., it would have to be by the mutual consent of Congress and the president. Now, Kai, let me make one counterargument against my idea. Opportunity cost. OK, that is the time spent doing one thing you can't spend doing another.

Getting all economic on me here. All right. Just a wee bit. So I talked to some of the folks at Number 10 Downing Street who prep David Cameron every week for question time. And they tell me that it's a pretty massive time suck. You know, you have to be prepared to answer any kind of question about any kind of issue. And it's also a source of anxiety for the prime minister. Tony Blair in his memoirs called prime minister's questions. And I quote Kai, the most nerve-wracking, discombobulating, nail-biting, bowel-moving, terror-inspiring, courage-draining experience in my prime ministerial life. So that's what you want to do to us, right? The other idea I have is a little bit easier, probably more fun.

Reinstitute mandatory bipartisan cocktail hour every night of the week. How do you like that? We could do beer. Beer would be we could do beer. Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics.com is the website. He's back in a couple of weeks. We'll see you. Thanks, Kai. Hey, podcast listeners, you briefly heard John McCain in that piece talking about importing prime minister's questions to the United States. We wanted to play you the rest of that conversation with McCain, who spoke to Washington reporter Todd Zwilich in the halls of the Capitol. It would be great theater. But second of all, I think tough questions and answers. I think people wouldn would be very educational for the American people. It's one of the most watched events in England, and people appreciate it.

And what's good about the way the Brits do it, do you think? Well, because they're very tough questions and very candid answers. And how the prime minister handles him or herself is obviously important. It's very enlightening to the people of England. How would this work in your mind? Would a president spend four hours a week, let's say, or four hours a month and come before the Congress? I think the way they do in England, I think an hour would be fine. Come over before the Congress, I think it would be fine.

But it's not going to happen because no president wants to do that. But it's a nice discussion. Given the rigors of the modern presidency and scheduling and everything else, is there a scenario? They talk about the issues of the day. They talk about the issues of the day that the president, I think, should be up to speed on. What would it mean for the democracy, do you think, if that were to happen? I think it would be great to add to the education and illumination of the constituents, of the voters.

Would it put more pressure on the president from the first branch of government, from Congress? Oh, I don't know. I think most presidents that I've known can handle themselves very well with a bunch of dummies in Congress. You've got a question on your mind right now. If the president were to be on the Senate floor, what would you ask him, do you think? I would ask him why he won't speak out on behalf of the people of Syria who are being slaughtered and massacred. You'd want that answer? I would want that answer.

Coming up on next week's podcast, you will not get the president or the prime minister answering your questions, but you will get Steve Leavitt and me. That's right. It is a new edition of Frequently Asked Questions where we field queries from you, our listeners and readers. This time around, we'll talk about insurance. I know, very sexy. How Leavitt got obsessed with the Twilight books and what we would do if we won the lottery. Thanks for listening.