Interviews

On the latest Free Man beyond the Wall podcast, Pete Quiñones, Patrick Newman, and Tho Bishop discuss Andrew Jackson and his cadre who fought against central banks—and cronyism in general. What can libertarians learn from the strategy they deployed and the power they were willing to wield? Additional Resources Cronyism: Liberty versus Power in Early America, 1607–1849 by Patrick Newman "Crony...

Daniel McAdams of the Ron Paul Institute joins the show to discuss what might be termed the Ron Paul Doctrine: a combination of laissez-faire at home, decentralized domestic political power (up to and including secession), robust free trade, and strict non-intervention abroad, This doctrine—which mirrors Mises's prescription for a liberal society—makes no phony distinctions between foreign and dom...

We wrap up our look at Murray Rothbard's sprawling two volume An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought with Dr. Joe Salerno, Rothbard's friend and colleague. This show covers the second volume exclusively, starting with the Frenchman JB Say and working through Ricardo, the British Currency School, John Stuart Mill, and finally Karl Marx. Salerno has penetrating insights about all...

Bob provides a running refutation of Stephanie Kelton's recent TED talk on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Stephanie Kelton’s TED TalkBob’s review of Kelton’s book explaining MMTBob’s article on opting out of Social SecurityKelton’s intro to MMT, The Deficit MythBob’s interview of a founder of MMT, Warren Mosler. Then Bob’s analysis of that episo...

Our guest is Jay Bhattacharya, Professor of Medicine and Health Policy at Stanford University. Professor Bhattacharya is also research associate at the National Bureau of Economics Research, a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and director of the Stanford Center on the Demography of Health and Aging. Dr. Bhattacharya gained international prominence during the CO...

This special virtual seminar for donors to our fall campaign was livestreamed on October 8th, 2021. Jeff Deist and Bob Murphy discuss Mises's views on interventionism and their continued relevance today, particularly after the last year and a half of economic intervention resulting from covid tyranny. "[Interventionism] preserves some of the labels and the outward appearance of capitalism. It main...

We continue our look at Murray Rothbard's two volume An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought with a show focused on Adam Smith. Rothbard attacked him mercilessly as a plagiarist who set economic theory back decades with his muddled views on value and price. But was this criticism justified, or was Smith actually an early and valiant proponent of laissez-faire? Our guest Hunter H...

Bob covers some of the key points in his new pamphlet on restoring the Republic of Texas. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Bob’s new pamphlet, COMMON SENSE: The Case for an Independent TexasBob’s recent appearance on Tim Pool’s showBob’s article on opting out of Social Security ​For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on Apple Po...

Using a recent Paul Krugman column as the jumping off point, the Mises Institute Academic Vice President Joe Salerno explains and defends Austrian business cycle theory. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: The YouTube version of this interviewBob’s response to Krugman’s NYT pieceJoe Salerno’s 2012 QJAE article responding to ABCT criticsJoe Salerno’s previous appearance on the Bob...

Was Adam Smith the founder of modern economics? Not so, says Murray Rothbard in his staggering two-volume An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought. Dr. Patrick Newman joins the show for a look at Rothbard's treatment of economics before Smith—from the Ancient Greeks all the way to the Scottish Enlightenment—and his take no prisoners revisionist approach. Jeff Deist and Dr. Newman...

Just a few years prior to his death, Murray Rothbard started one of his most ambitious writing projects: a full-fledged, three volume history of economic thought from a uniquely Austrian perspective. Unfortunately he never wrote the third volume, intended to span the post-Marx marginal revolution all the way through the mid-20th century. But the two existing volumes, over 1000 pages, start with an...

Our guest is Euzebiusz (Zeb) Jamrozik, MD, PhD, a practicing internal medicine physician and fellow in ethics and infectious diseases at the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities at the University of Oxford. He is head of the Monash-WHO Collaborating Centre for bioethics at the Monash Bioethics Centre. His academic work on infectious disease ethics is focused on vaccines, vector-borne disease,...

Bob reviews Mark Spitznagel's latest book, Safe Haven: Investing for Financial Storms, on which he was a consultant. Bob explains that Spitznagel rejects the alleged dichotomy between risk and return, and then gives a numerical example to illustrate the two schools of thought. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Bob’s appearance on Jordan Peterson‘s podcastBob’s surprisingly...

Our guests are Thomas Wingert, a patient, Bogdan Enache, an electrophysiologist at Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace in Monaco, and Saurabh Jha, an Associate Professor of Radiology at the Perelman School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania. SHOW NOTES​ Point/Counterpoint on Halting the Implantation of Subcutaneous ICD. Editorial by B. Enache and J. Mandrola in JACC Electrophysiology. W...

On the heels of Biden's vaccine mandate announcement, Dr. Murray Sabrin joins the show to discuss his new book on escaping the state's medical fascism. Universal Medical Care from Conception to End of Life lays out the sobering reality of our unsustainable "health care" system. It explains the ruinous policies which changed doctors from respected guardians of patients to functionaries for governme...

Having branched to our first novel with All Quiet on the Western Front, the Human Action Podcast begs your indulgence for one of the works of 20th century British satire. Lucky Jim is the late Kingsley Amis's seminal send-up of campus life, and it's among your host's favorite books. The book takes place in 1951, and England is trying but failing to lose its class distincti...

Bob gives a brief history of money in the United States, explaining that the dollar was much “harder” in, say, 1810 than it was in 1910. This explains why there was significant consumer price inflation even in 1970, the year before Richard Nixon officially severed the dollar’s link to gold. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Bob’s chapter in the new book, Understanding Money Mec...

Fans of Austrian economics know hedge fund manager Mark Spitznagel as a brilliant thinker thoroughly steeped in Menger, Böhm-Bawerk, Mises, and Rothbard. His excellent 2013 book The Dao of Capital was rooted in Austrian capital theory and "roundaboutness," and his application of of that theory has proven highly beneficial for his investors.  Now Spitznagel is back with a new book that di...

Jeff Deist hosts a solo show to discuss one of his favorite novels from childhood, All Quiet on the Western Front. Its young protagonist Paul Bäumer, barely out of adolescence, narrates the horrors of trench warfare from the perspective only a grunt soldier can provide. Bäumer and his mates lose their innocence, along with various limbs and often their lives. But what makes the book so compelling...

Bob reviews the "Unbreakable" movie trilogy, arguing that M. Night Shyamalan knows we need to awaken the superheroes among us. They might not even know who they are—yet. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: The YouTube trailer for “Unbreakable,” the first movie in the trilogy under discussion ​For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on&nb...

In a May 2021 essay, Curtis Yarvin (aka Mencius Moldbug) argues that the American economy runs on an inflation machine. Yarvin claims that the best way to measure the amount of inflation is to look at the change in aggregate personal net worth over a given period. Murphy explains why this is wrongheaded. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Curtis Yarvin (aka Mencius Moldbug)’s es...

Per Bylund is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University. He discusses three of his current book projects, all touching on various aspects of the Austrian School and its continued importance. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Per Bylund’s page at Oklahoma State UniversityThe Mises Institute’s description of Per Bylund’s upcoming primer on Austrian Econ...

Bob unveils a new recurring series, in which he gives the context of infamous quotations. In this episode, he covers two allegedly shocking quotes from John Lennon, John Maynard Keynes' "in the long run we're all dead," Trump on Nazis being very fine people, Dan Quayle misspelling potato, Obama's "you didn't build that," and Bohm-Bawerk on Karl Marx. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Int...

Professor Bradley Birzer from Hillsdale College joins the show to dissect Russell Kirk's famous 1981 essay condemning libertarians. Is libertarianism necessarily utopian and unworkable, as Kirk suggests? Is it hubris to imagine we don't need the state—or even God—to prevent social chaos? Do libertarians have more in common with Communists than conservatives? Or was Kirk simply attacking an absurd...

Recorded live at Mises University on 24 July 2021. Find Startup Stories: Lessons for Everyday Entrepreneurs at: Mises.org/Startup