Recent Podcast Episodes

Instead of succumbing to the zeitgeist, Rothbard moved it.

A money which can be held in only one form, whether digital coin (as in the case of bitcoin), or banknote, or sight deposit, or metallic coin, for example, is crippled. Yet, exclusive digital form has become a huge selling point for the promotors of bitcoin.

How would a reset of the mass mind come to pass that would allow for the many elements of the Great Reset to be put into place—without mass rebellion, that is? This is the function of ideology.

As soon as cash has been pushed back or stripped away entirely, monetary policymakers can implement an uninhibited negative interest rate policy to devalue debt. Customers can no longer get out of the “bank balance sheet”; the final escape door is then locked.

The refusal of the SCOTUS to consider the merits of a case concerning 2020 election laws is the sort of behavior that we have come to expect from spineless politicians, and that is what you find on America's highest court—politicians in robes. 

Before 2020, there were growing signs of increasing economic prosperity for a wide variety of income groups in America. Whether or not this prosperity survives covid lockdowns and ever higher levels of government regulations remains to be seen.

The driving force behind the stakeholder capitalism philosophy is precisely that it creates opportunities for political actors to assert disproportionate control over the economy’s resources.

Shorting more than the total outstanding shares isn’t perverse or fraudulent, whereas naked short selling—depending on the context—might be.

If Punjabi farmers had been portrayed as affluent, the media would view them as greedy entrepreneurs. But leveraging the political capital of perceived powerlessness has allowed them to obscure their true status as rent seekers. 

The threat of “nuclear proliferation” remains one of the great catch-all reasons—the other being “humanitarian” intervention—given for why the US regime and its allies ought to be given unlimited power to invade foreign states and impose sanctions at any given time.

How did the federal government acquire this omnipotent power? Certainly not by constitutional amendment. It acquired it by converting the federal government after World War II from a limited-government republic to a national security state.

A state's borders should change over time to reflect demographic and ideological realities. By denying this, political leaders are effectively saying that the rights of minority populations don't matter.

Echoing Hoppe and public choice theory, Professor Philipp Bagus explains how politicians enjoy asymmetric rewards for exaggerating risks and creating fear. The result is gross policy errors we will all pay for over many decades. Don't miss this show!

How do we identify good nutritional and exercise habits? Amongst the myriad of fads, what rules should guide one’s health choices and behaviors?

The latest impeachment saga simply confirms Thomas Paine’s adage: “The trade of governing has always been monopolized by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of mankind.” Score another victory for the Swamp.

Could new gold discoveries cause a (small) boom-bust cycle if the gold hit the loan market before other sectors? Bill Barnett and Walter Block join Bob Murphy to discuss. 

Prudent economic calculation becomes more difficult as legal and regulatory regimes are subject to frequent changes and political upheaval. 

As Mark Thornton has shown, the big legislative change that FDR made at the start of his presidency, the decision that affected every single American citizen from one coast to the other, was the repeal of the thirteen-year hell of Prohibition.

Social activists now regard the minimum wage as another welfare program that can reduce the costs of programs like Medicaid and food stamps, and can reduce inequality. But the minimum wage is very poorly targeted for these purposes.

Mainstream economists claim China needs more consumption and a bigger welfare state. They think China's high savings rate is a bad thing. These economists are wrong.