669. Why Is 95 Percent of the World’s Bourbon Made in Kentucky? Image

669. Why Is 95 Percent of the World’s Bourbon Made in Kentucky?

3 April - 46 mins
Podcast Series Freakonomics Radio

Is it tradition … or protectionism? And what happens when the bourbon boom turns into a glut?

 

SOURCES:

Andrew Muhammad, agricultural economist at the University of Tennessee.

Brad Patrick, executive in residence and lecturer at the University of Kentucky Gatton College of Business and Economics, bourbon fellow at the James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits.

Danny Kahn, master distiller and distillation and aging operations director at Sazerac.

Ken Troske, labor economist and chair of the economics department at the University of Kentucky.

 

RESOURCES:

"America's Bourbon Boom Is Over. Now the Hangover Is Here," by Aaron Tilley and Sadie Gurman (The...

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