The Sociology of Panics and Crashes in American History
Boom, Bust, and the Future (19:39) January 18-19, 2002
Recent Podcast Episodes
Austrian Theories of Interest
Robert Murphy explains the process of setting interest rates in a free economy. Recorded on 25 June 2003.
The History of Taxation
Charles Adams is a rare tax historian who leads us back to Greeks and Romans and the history of liberty. The Battle of Marathon was critical for Greek civilization to seize control of Western Civilization. The Greeks had no direct taxation, just indirect. This is what fostered liberty.
Roosevelt’s WWII Policies of Unconditional Surrender and the Morgenthau Plan
Presented at the Mises Institute on June 17, 2003.
Crisis and Liberty: Lecture 10
The attack on September 11, 2001, showed us what we can expect from any fresh crisis. Military forces were assigned to domestic police activities. Police state surveillance was expanded. But, wiping out terrorism cannot be done. The ultimate result is Big Brother.
Crisis and Liberty: Lecture 9
The growth of government since WWII was along non-military lines. These years were crisis years from about 1963 to 1974. Turmoil, conflict and uncertainty were commonplace. Assassinations were numerous. Johnson and Nixon were presidents. The welfare state expanded.
Crisis and Liberty: Lecture 7
WWII was the most terrible, most deadly war of all mankind. As early as 1919 WWII was seen as inevitable because of the destructive details of the Versailles Treaty. In 1939, when WWII began, less than ten percent of Americans wanted anything to do with another war.
Crisis and Liberty: Lecture 8
The post-WWII operation of the national security state has been a major avenue for the expansion of government. A tremendous military-industrial-Congressional complex built up during the war. Some 40% of GDP was devoted to military purposes. The US in 1945 was the world’s military superpower.
Crisis and Liberty: Lecture 5
WWI was the culmination of progressivism. It was possible to impose prohibition. The creation of the Fed and the passage of an income tax allowed warfare socialism to rage and liberties to be lost.
