Private Property

Progressives argue that free markets stand in the way of economic and racial equality. In fact, free markets are the only vehicle that can help make people more equal. Original Article: Legacies of Injustice and Racial Inequality

Are NASA contracts propping up the private space industry? Or are Government regulations stifling the private space race? Dr. Eli Dourado, Senior Research Fellow with the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University, joins Bob to discuss the recent "successful failure" of the exploded SpaceX launch and the differences between government and privately funded space travel. Dr. Dourado...

The federal government, along with pharmaceutical, alcohol, and tobacco companies have spent money trying to put the legalization genie back in the prohibition bottle, so any argument or propaganda will suit their purposes. Original Article: "Some Conservatives Still Pine for the Good Ol' Days of Cannabis Prohibition" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by...

Many landlords just received a crash course about how irrelevant their property rights are in Washington. Original Article: "An End to the Bizarre CDC Rent Moratorium" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack.

That gold was used as money in the past is merely a historical fact. But the fact that gold was a form of private money, and thus not easily manipulated for government schemes, made it a target of countless intellectual and governmental assaults. Original Article: "They Don't Hate Gold Because It's Gold. They Hate It Because It's Not Government Money." This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored...

Recently Tim Poole alluded to the so-called “shopping cart theory” of why self-governance is impossible. Specifically, because people can’t even bother to take back the shopping cart when this is clearly the socially right thing to do, we can’t hope to have a system relying on everyone’s good nature. Bob explains what’s wrong with this argument. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest...

Lawyer and libertarian theorist Stephan Kinsella joins the show to discuss the middle chapters of Hoppe's Democracy, The God That Failed—in particular dealing with "desocialization" of collective property, immigration, and free trade. These are the most controversial and widely-discussed parts of the book, and Kinsella provides a fascinating analysis of property vs. wealth, the problems with publi...

With an ugly presidential election just three weeks away, we dive into Hans Hoppe's classic Democracy: The God That Failed to puncture some of the myths surrounding democracy and voting. Jayant Bhandari joins the show to discuss Hoppe's controversial thesis concerning monarchy and democracy, time preference and its manifestation in the two systems, the forces constraining monarchs, and the terribl...

“Taking back the streets” ought to mean privatizing them and enabling property owners to defend their property. This would be the surest way to end the riots. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack. Original Article: "How Government-Owned Streets Prevent Effective Law Enforcement".

Advocates for looting are now claiming that looting doesn't really hurt anybody but evil corporations. In truth, looting is a disaster for many families, business owners, and the neighborhoods themselves. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Millian Quinteros. Original Article: "It’s Not "Just Property": How Looting Destroys Lives and Low-Income Neighbor...

Homeowners believe their property rights extend far beyond their property lines. They want to dictate who lives near them, how much money their neighbors make, and what the houses in their neighborhood look like. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Millian Quinteros. Original Article: "Why Homeowners Hate Real Estate Developers"

The case for the privatization of roads has much to recommend it if only in terms of how it would affect the power of the police to detain us, search us, and seize our property. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Millian Quinteros. Original Article: "How Government Roads Expand Police Power in America".

Nationalism, globalism, cosmopolitanism, and immigration are heated topics today—but Mises systematically addressed them 100 years ago, in his seminal work Nation, State, and Economy. What is a nation, and what does the nationality principle mean for liberalism? Mises argues that nations arise spontaneously, predating governments. Liberal nations exist to the extent they respect self-determination...

Bob talks with Stephan Kinsella about the basis of libertarian law, and how we could have justice without a coercive State. They then discuss Stephan’s pathbreaking work making the case that property must be in tangible things, rendering “intellectual property” an incoherent and dangerous concept. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitche...

Our in-house economist and editor Ryan McMaken joins the Human Action Podcast for a deep dive into Mises's seminal 1927 book Liberalism. This is the definitive podcast on the definitive book on liberal society: its foundations, what it means for property, freedom, peace, economic policy, and immigration.  Readings Liberalism: In the Classical Tradition by Ludwig von Mises"Was Mises a Neoliber...

Dr. Joe Salerno will address the annual Students for Liberty conference this week on the topic of his seminal article, "Mises on Nationalism, the Right of Self Determination, and the Problem of Immigration." While Mises had plenty to say about nation states and liberalism, he wrote relatively little about immigration per se. Dr. Salerno and Jeff Deist discuss Mises's conception of nation and state...

Much is often made of allowing "consenting adults" to exercise their freedoms unhindered by government regulation. Unfortunately, this presumption is often limited to the realm of activities like gambling and prostitution. But should not consenting adults also be allowed freedom in larger economic matters such as real estate? In this 1981 lecture, Walter Block discusses the importance of allowing...

Whether racially motivated or not, land expropriation in South Africa is just another episode of state-forced wealth redistribution — with disastrous effects. Narrated by George Pickering. Read the original article.

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on July 20, 2018.

Dr. Hoppe's book The Economics and Ethics of Private Property is among the most important modern contributions to libertarian thought. Hoppe, like Rothbard, connects laissez-faire economics to normative libertarian theory with laserlike precision and inexorable logic. Property isn't just a social construct determined by legislative fiat, but rather a necessary component of self-o...

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on 29 July 2016.

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on 28 July 2016.

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on 26 July 2016.

Jörg Guido Hülsmann joins Jeff Deist in studio this weekend to discuss the ongoing migrant crisis in Europe. They consider what Mises, Rothbard, and Hoppe have to say about borders, migration controls, organic nations, and culture. Dr. Hülsmann also explains the critical difference between nation and state, and why so-called "public property" should be controlled for the benefit of...

Recorded at the Mises Circle in Phoenix, Arizona, on 7 November 2015. Special thanks to CMI Gold and Silver, Inc., for making this event possible.