Recent Podcast Episodes

Government efforts to expand “aggregate demand” involve new spending and money creation. In reality, these activities destroy wealth in the name of expanding it.

Since Adam Smith, economic thinkers have failed to understand that profits in a market economy are not extractions of wealth from laborers. In truth, profits lead to higher wages and higher living standards for those workers.

As the recent election of Javier Milei in Argentina shows us, there still is a place in the political world for libertarian thinking. Liberty is a goal still worth pursuing.

By borrowing money and “creating” new jobs, the government is creating the illusion of a strong economy. This does not end well.

There is a lack of buyers for US Treasury debt. Rating agencies have recently downgraded the US debt, and entitlement benefits’ “trust funds” will go into the red in a few years. The classical economists offer few answers to the depth of this problem. 

Javier Milei has begun his presidency by taking action against much of Argentina’s vast welfare state. One hopes it is the beginning to a successful term in office.

 The job market is still hanging on—but not nearly as well as the headline numbers and media pundits would have you believe. 

Mark Thornton and Rob Taylor discuss the impact of socialist ideology in Oregon when mixed with the partial "decriminalization" of hard drugs.

Economist Peter St. Onge summarizes some of the major financial and government news stories of the day.

On this episode of Radio Rothbard, Ryan and Tho are joined by Mises Institute Fellow Jonathan Newman to discuss economic fake news, featuring a cameo by Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez.

The island nation of Jamaica has beautiful beaches but a problem with poverty. Jamaica needs capital and free markets, not more state control of the economy.

Ryan and Zach review a new book on the basics of the "classical liberal" theory of international relations.

Thomas Hill Green, an eighteenth-century English philosopher, didn't believe it was possible to have a good society without a powerful state. David Gordon explains why Green’s argument fails to impress.

The arguments of open-borders advocates may be applicable in some corners of the developed world. However, for small countries next to larger ones, open borders bring serious geopolitical consequences. 

American political and economic elites insist that they should have authority over everyone else. As people rebel, the elites are only doubling down on their original demands.

When an economy suffers a recession, some factors of production, such as labor, become unemployed. Keynesians believe that expanding credit and fiat money will bring back full employment. That's not how an economy works.

While Western attention is on the Israel-Hamas conflict, war quietly rages in Yemen with predictable destruction. Not surprisingly, US interventionism is fueling this fight.

Mark Thornton compares two definitions of inflation and what this means for policy-makers and the productive population in 2024.

Bob goes solo to discuss a recent Twitter controversy, in which opponents of a proposed tax argued that unrealized capital gains couldn't possibly be a form of income.

For most of the past century, Argentina has seen the destruction wrought by collectivism. To reverse the damage, the nation must allow decentralization, beginning with free cities.