Matthew O. Jackson, PhD (Stanford) on Human Networks and Microfinance

Humans have an intuitive sense for who is important and well-connected. We like knowing “movers and shakers,” and we regularly engage in complicated social machinations — conscious or otherwise — to position ourselves close to the seat of influence. But what about the formal study of the spread of information through human networks? Matthew O. Jackson is a professor of economics at Stanford, and his book “The Human Network” is a fantastic primer on the complex dynamics of human relationships. He’s also done fascinating work on the spread of microfinance in southern India with Arun Chandrasekhar and Nobel Laureates Abhirjeet Bahnerjee and Esther Duflo. In this podcast, we discuss the spread of microfinance in villages in rural India — as well as some unintended consequences that that came as a result of disrupting the social structures of these villages. And, as sometimes happens, we also had a brief detour to discuss Frank Herbert’s “Dune.” Check out the full show notes here: https://toddnief.com/matthew-o-jackson-interview Learn more from Matthew here: Website: https://web.stanford.edu/~jacksonm/ Buy "The Human Network": https://www.amazon.com/Human-Network-Position-Determines-Behaviors-ebook/dp/B073YTX8TM Subscribe to my weekly newsletter here: https://toddnief.com/newsletter

Added 20 Jun 2026