This article is a transcript of the interview on Mises Weekends.

Most defenders of the state assume that government services help the poor. And, sometimes, some poor people do benefit financially from government programs. But there’s a hidden cost: taxation and mandatory programs (Social Security, for instance) that hurt the needy by restricting their choices. Government taxes away income that low-income households could invest in improving their lives. At the same time, state-sponsored benefits create incentives that keep the poor trapped in poverty.

LearnLiberty.org is offering a new course developed by George Crowley of Troy University titled “Subliminal Lessons from South Park: A Super Primer on Economics and Politics.” The course blurb:

Today is the 78th birthday of Ralph Raico, the foremost historian of classical liberalism.  Among many other works, Ralph is the author of two outstanding collections of essays, Classical Liberalism and the Austrian School and Great Wars and Great Leaders.  As the latter title suggests, he is a great exponent of revisionist history.

According to Guy McPherson, Professor Emeritus of Natural Resources, Ecology, etc., at the University of Arizona, (presumably man-made) climate change is “irreversible” and, basically, we’re all doomed.

Austrian economist Micheal Pollaro writes that with the end of QE3 coming that stock market bulls need to take a note of caution because the Austrian measure of the money supply is already falling. This is typically a sign of trouble for stock markets.

According to Reuters, two owners of a wedding chapel in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho are suing the city, and asking a federal judge to temporarily bar the city “from enforcing a local ordinance that bans discrimination tied to sexual orientation in businesses that are used by the public.” Violators are subject to fi

I think most people know what I mean when I speak of the gatekeepers of permissible discussion. On the left, sites like ThinkProgress and Media Matters smear and attack those uppity peons who stray from the ideological plantation that the Washington Post and the New York Times oversee. On the right it’s neoconservative sites like the Free Beacon, who have built a nice little cabin on that plantation, and who rat out anyone who tries to run away. Why, we don’t hold any of the dangerous views of those libertarians, good Mr. New York Times reporter, sir!