The Human Action Podcast

This week, Bob talks with macroeconomist Roger Farmer—who places himself “between Keynes and Hayek”—about how twentieth-century macroeconomics evolved. They discuss how overlapping generations and search theory change the story on unemployment and asset prices, and where Professor Farmer thinks both neoclassicals and MMT advocates go wrong. Farmer contrasts the old “rocking horse” vision of the ec...

Bob uses three recent controversies–Richard Murphy’s “Christmas all year” claim, Elon Musk’s net worth, and Ron DeSantis on the Great Depression–to clear up common economic fallacies about work, wealth, and wartime spending. The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Bob uses clips from his recent interview with Eric Weinstein to explain why Weinstein thinks gauge theory can fix how economists measure the cost of living, unify competing price indices, and handle changing preferences over time, and why Austrians shouldn’t dismiss him as a crank. He summarizes Eric’s claim that standard mathematical economics relies on the simplest kind of derivative, explaining...

This week, Bob walks through two related debates: Hoppe’s criticism of Argentina's President Milei for not immediately closing Argentina’s central bank, and the follow-up exchange between Guido Hülsmann and Philipp Bagus on Mises.org over dollarization and the peso. Along the way, he reviews Mises’s distinctions among commodity, credit, and fiat money, the concepts of money substitutes and fiducia...

Bob walks through a recent WIRED video on “the economics behind the Great Depression,” correcting its claims on lax regulation, Hoover’s alleged inaction, the role of the Fed and the gold standard, and the notion that World War II ended the slump. Bob's Article, "The Depression You’ve Never Heard Of: 1920-1921": Mises.org/HAP528a Bob's Talk, "Contrasting Views of the Great Depression": Mises.org/H...

Bob revisits capital and interest theory to show why the textbook result “interest = MPK” only holds in a one-good world, and why in actual markets the interest rate emerges from time, prices, and capital valuation—not raw productivity. Bob and Alberto Bisin Discuss the Use of Mathematics in Economics: Mises.org/HAP527a Bob's Dissertation, "Unanticipated Intertemporal Change in Theories of Interes...

Prompted by an online debate about whether economics belongs with the hard sciences, Bob reviews common defenses of mainstream practice and explains why they don’t settle the scientific status of the field. He outlines the Mises–Rothbard view: economics as praxeology (logic of action), closer to geometry than laboratory testing, with core insights on opportunity cost, incentives, prices, money, an...

Dr. Jonathan Newman joins the Human Action Podcast to discuss his recent QJAE article disputing the claim that 'sticky prices' prevent markets from clearing--i.e., when the quantity supplied equals the quantity demanded. Dr. Newman applies Mises’s “plain state of rest” to show that each voluntary exchange equates quantities supplied and demanded, so observed “stickiness” doesn’t imp...

Is paying down the federal debt a recession trigger? Bob takes on the MMT claim and checks the record, citing US debt payoffs, Canada’s 1990s reforms, and ECB case studies. Conclusion: real wealth beats accounting tricks and paydowns aren’t a mechanical path to recession. Read More on Fiscal Austerity: Mises.org/HAP524a The Upside-Down World of MMT: Mises.org/HAP524b Do Balanced Budgets Cause Depr...

Alex Pollock joins the Human Action Podcast to explain his recent Congressional testimony on the Fed’s growing insolvency and mandate overreach. The Fed now admits to $243 billion in operating losses and nearly $1 trillion in mark-to-market losses, leaving it with negative capital of about $197 billion. Pollock explains how the central bank transformed itself into “the biggest 1980s-style savings...

In this episode of the Human Action Podcast, Bob unpacks Lerner’s Symmetry Theorem—the classic result that, under tight conditions, an import tariff is equivalent to an export tax. He applies the framework to recent 100% China‑tariff headlines, explaining why the dollar might strengthen in theory yet sometimes weakens in practice once retaliation and policy signaling are factored in. The Human Act...

This week, Bob tackles growing concerns about artificial intelligence, automation, and mass unemployment. Using the principles of marginal productivity and comparative advantage, he shows how the standard economic arguments still apply—even in the age of ChatGPT and robotics. Responding directly to viral tweets from Matt Walsh, Bob dismantles the popular belief that AI will inevitably destroy huma...

Jonathan Newman returns to join Bob in a critique of Eliezer Yudkowsky’s viral theory of investment bubbles. Yudkowsky states that the bad investment during bubbles should be felt before the bubble pops, not after. They argue that his perspective—while clever—fails to consider the Austrian insights on capital structure, time preference, and the business cycle. They use analogies from apple trees t...

Professor Georgy Ganev joins Bob to explain that, contrary to the claims of David Graeber and the MMTers, the barter origin of money has not been refuted. The anthropological evidence is consistent with the Mengerian story, and Mises' regression theorem remains the only coherent explanation for money's value.  Professor Ganev's Paper, "Has the barter theory of the origins of money b...

In this solo episode, Bob challenges the populist narrative that private equity ownership of homes is the main driver of rising housing costs. He explains the actual role of speculators in stabilizing markets, compares housing to used car dealerships, and critiques proposals like Henry George’s land tax. Bob also points to zoning restrictions and the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet as the real cul...

Bob talks with economist Jeff Degner about his new book Inflation and the Family. Drawing inspiration from Guido Hülsmann’s The Ethics of Money Production, Professor Degner shows how central bank policies and interest rate manipulation create ripple effects beyond prices and GDP. From marriage formation to fertility decisions and divorce trends, he explains how inflation fosters short-termism, deb...

This week, Bob takes on the hot-button debate over Federal Reserve “independence” in light of Trump’s moves against Fed Governor Lisa Cook. He explains why the Fed has never truly been independent, drawing on the Treasury-Fed Accord of 1951 and the institution’s long history of serving political power.  Recalling Elizabeth Warren’s attacks on Jay Powell to insider trading scandals among Fed o...

Bob is joined by Dr. Peter Klein to take a look at the Mises Institute's new book, Hayek for the 21st Century. The discussion highlights Hayek’s insights on tacit knowledge, why markets outperform central planners, the dangers of political power, and how monetary freedom could stop inflation. Along the way, Bob and Peter connect these timeless ideas to today’s debates over technology, government c...

In his underappreciated work The Mystery of Banking, Murray Rothbard first explained how a regime of "free banking" would put strict limits on the ability of the private commercial banks to reduce their reserve ratios and inflate the money supply. Then Rothbard showed that the textbook operation of a central bank systematically neutralized the market's safeguards, and paved the way for credit expa...

Bob explains the mechanics of modern banking and how liabilities and assets on bank balance sheets differ from popular assumptions. He shows how interest rates and central bank policy shape lending and deposit behavior, and why private companies move money differently than commercial banks. Bob also critiques the perspectives of Richard Werner, Steve Keen, and George Selgin, showing where their ex...

Bob takes on a proposal for New York City to run its own grocery stores, dismantling the historical myths, economic fallacies, and rhetorical tricks behind the idea. From Flint’s water crisis to “food deserts,” he explains why government control will create shortages, low-quality food, and wasted resources. The Jacobin Article, "Municipal Grocery Stores Are Sensible and Obvious": Mises.org/HAP512a...

Bob and Jonathan Newman respond in detail to Richard Werner’s highly discussed interview with Tucker Carlson. They examine Werner's claims about credit creation theory, fractional reserve banking, and money mechanics. Murphy and Newman also discuss Werner’s recommendations for banking reform, highlighting differences with Mises’s monetary insights and Austrian business cycle theory. The Tucker Car...

Recorded live at the 2025 Mises University, Bob talks to PhD student Jason Priddle to understand the GENIUS Act—a landmark piece of legislation aimed at regulating stablecoins. They examine the broader implications of the GENIUS Act for monetary stability, fractional reserve banking, and the future of financial privacy. Understanding Money Mechanics: Mises.org/HAP510a The Mises Institute is giving...

This week, Bob returns to the topic of how the United States could practically abolish the Federal Reserve and transition to a stable monetary system backed by gold. He clarifies common misconceptions about the consequences of ending the Fed, provides historical context for America’s monetary systems, and lays out a realistic path forward for monetary reform. Bob's Mises Article, "Putting the Coun...

Bob goes solo to make a comprehensive case for abolishing the Federal Reserve and explains what life afterward would look like. He dives into the Fed’s marked history, its questionable track record, and the secrecy surrounding its creation and ongoing operations. Bob also outlines a practical, step-by-step approach for transitioning away from the Fed, returning monetary control to a gold standard,...