Steven Horwitz

Hans Rosling is quickly becoming one of my intellectual heroes (and a teacher worth emulating). Here, in a TED talk, he makes the case for the transformative power of the washing machine. Not only is this a great example of how capitalism and industrialization have liberated women, it's also a nice lesson in what labor-saving devices really mean. Forgive him some weak energy economics in the middle and get to the last minute, which is just awesome. It's there that he shows us how what a washing machine creates is not just clean clothes but a more educated citizenry, especially women and children. And he also knows exactly who to thank for it.