The Human Action Podcast

Michael Boldin from the Tenth Amendment Center (http://TenthAmendmentCenter.com) joins Jeff Deist to discuss the philosophical, electoral, and logistic realities standing in the way of creating a more politically decentralized America. Beyond thorny questions about federal land, federal entitlements, and "national defense," there are a million small ways to move power away from Washington. Both co...

Our final show of the year features a talk given by Dr. Bob Murphy at a recent Mises Institute event in Orlando. His topic is the culture wars– and if you think America is divided now, just wait until we have another crash like '08. But Bob is ready with a prescription: less politics & smaller polities. It's time to stop hating each other and start reducing the political power wielded over us, as...

Wall Street Journal and USA Today writer James Bovard joins Jeff Deist to diagnose what's wrong with our body politic today. From relentlessly tribal voting to rank hypocrisy and "whataboutism," Americans are angry bunch. And their credulous belief in the sanctity of authorities like the FBI is almost entirely determined by whether their party holds the presidency. Is there any political system th...

So far, the federal investigation into Russian collusion during the 2016 election has been a farce. Lawless and corrupt federal prosecutors—and their pet police agency, the FBI—dominate the headlines. Yet, the Constitution never provided for a federal police force, and lists very few federal crimes. So, how and why did federal prosecutors and agents become so powerful? Mises.org editor Ryan McMake...

Professor Lucas Engelhardt, a popular lecturer at Mises University (Mises.org/MU18), joins Jeff Deist to discuss the monetary policy landscape. Janet Yellen makes jokes about $20 trillion in federal debt, but what about the trillions the Fed added to its own balance sheet since the Crash of '08? What will happen to the extraordinary amount of bank reserves parked in no-man's land, not being lent b...

Fifteen years ago Gabriel Calzada was a Fellow at the Mises Institute who aspired to bring the Spanish Scholastics' tradition of liberty (mises.org/library/spanish-scholastics) to Latin America. Today he is president of Universidad Francisco Marroquín (ufm.edu/index.php/At_a_Glance), the truly remarkable private school in Guatemala. All students at UFM, regardless of major, take a core curriculum...

Chris Calton, host of the Mises Institute's "Historical Controversies" podcast, is back with a second season. If you enjoyed his revisionist view of America's drug war during the first season, you'll love his take on U.S. history during the latter 1800s. This episode, titled "The March to America's Civil War", is a fascinating account of the antebellum era. Tune in and find out why this podcast se...

Dr. Liliana Stern, professor of economics at Auburn University, joins Jeff Deist in studio to discuss the realities of life under communism. Growing up in Ukraine, Dr. Stern experienced privations that would be unthinkable to her undergraduate students. Even today, hot running water remains a rationed luxury in the region. But if recent polls are correct, many of her students don't understand at a...

Our guest Trey Goff drafted a remarkable "Voluntaryist Constitution" designed to serve as the foundational legal document for a private society. Trey attempts nothing less than to define the characteristics and rules underlying a common law society, in the form of a polycentric constitutional order as envisioned by Murray Rothbard and legal scholar Randy Barnett. His goal was to create a blueprint...

Switzerland is no libertarian paradise. It has bureaucrats and a wayward central bank. But it remains an astonishing modern example of the principles of federalism and subsidiarity in action. In fact, it exemplifies Lew Rockwell's daydream: nobody much knows or cares who is president. Its federal administrative state demonstrates humility instead of hubris. And virtually all political decisions, f...

Dr. Joseph Salerno, speaking at our 35th Anniversary Gala in New York last weekend, makes the case for Murray Rothbard as the preeminent modern Austrian economist—and the rightful heir to Ludwig von Mises. This great talk will change your perspective on Rothbard the economist, especially when Joe reveals what Hayek had to say about Murray's place in the Austrian school.

Daniel Lacalle, a Spanish economist and libertarian who runs Mises Hispano, joins Jeff Deist for an in-depth discussion of the facts behind the Catalan independence vote. Daniel makes the case against secession, based on economics, history, constitutionalism, anti-socialism, and his strong view that independence would result in less freedom for Catalans. Jeff disagrees, arguing for self-determinat...

Professor Thornbury is president of a very different kind of school, The King's College in Manhattan. He joins Jeff Deist to discuss everything wrong—and everything that could be right—with universities today. Dr. Thornbury's prescriptions are radical: make education a la carte, offering a mix of degrees, certificates, and micro-certificates. Tailor programs to teach specific skills, and shorten t...

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen announced the bank would begin selling assets it has relentlessly bought since the Crash of '08. The financial press, including the Wall Street Journal, dutifully praised Yellen for her steady hand. But our guest Dr. Mark Thornton has a different take on what it all means for stock markets, investors, and the US economy. Can quantitative easing—a roundabout form...

Jake Lindsey is a brilliant young Harvard grad who majored in economics. His favorite thinkers? Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard. But unlike most young fans of the Mises Institute, Jake was a dominant linebacker for the Harvard Crimson who attracted the attention of scouts from the Buffalo Bills. He's fresh off a pre-season tryout and looking to start a career in the NFL. Jake joins Jeff for a...

Our guest Scott Horton just released an important new book—'Fools Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan' (Mises.org/HortonBook). This is the definitive treatment of the war itself, the history and factions involved, and the disturbing policy mindset that keeps this deeply unpopular conflict churning. Don't miss this interview with one of the leading antiwar libertarians of our time.

The culture wars have infected every aspect of American life. It's not just Red vs. Blue anymore, or urban vs. rural, it's Antifa vs. the alt-Right—sometimes literally in the streets. Have libertarians lost the narrative in the midst of all this? Are they mired in the same Left/Right divisions that plague society generally? Our good friend Dave Smith, a comedian and a frequent guest on Fox News, j...

Daniel McAdams from the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity joins Jeff to discuss Trumpian foreign policy in light of the president's recent speech on Afghanistan. The costs of our wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria—human and economic—keep piling up. How do such deeply unpopular wars go on so long? Why do sensible notions of peace and non-intervention fail to gain a foothold in Congress...

For this week's Mises Weekends, we're excited to share the first episode of a new Mises Institute podcast, Historical Controversies. Hosted by Chris Calton, a Mises Fellow, Historical Controversies is a series that applies a Rothbardian revisionist look at important sagas in American history. The first season covers the War on Drugs, highlighting the role of the US government in fanning the flames...

This week's episode features Tom Woods' opening lecture at Mises University 2017. Tom shares his experiences meeting Murray Rothbard, how Murray shaped Tom's intellectual development, plus some valuable lessons for us all.

Our guests are Luis Cirocco and Dr. Rafael Acevedo, two Venezuelans who attend Mises University last week. Their report from that troubled country is chilling and depressing: food shortages, a lack of medical care and prescription drugs, soldiers and police running black markets, and an entrenched elite made rich after decades of crony socialism under Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. Oil prices rem...

Recorded live at Mises University 2017 at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama. Jeff Deist interviews Mises Institute founder and Chairman, Lew Rockwell. Recorded on 29 July 2017.

Lysander Spooner called it "The Constitution of no authority." Conservatives fetishize it, but don't follow it. Progressives want it annulled. So, what should libertarians think about America's founding document? Our guests Brion McClanahan and Allen Mendenhall give us the unadulterated history and unpleasant truths about constitutionalism—but also consider its underappreciated benefits. This is a...

Dr. Mark Thornton joins Mises Weekends to explain the "business cycle" for what it really is: a series of booms (credit expansion) and busts (debt de-leveraging) engineered by central banks. There's nothing natural, real, or sustainable about the current Yellen boom—so stay tuned for Mark's explanation of how it can all unravel.

Our old friend Richard Ebeling joins Mises Weekends to discuss the health of—and future prospects for—the Austrian school. There are far more Austrian and Austrian-friendly thinkers in academia, business, and the financial industry than ever before. Richard attended the famous South Royalton conference, so he knows just how far we've come. But are Austrians making real progress against the dominan...