World History

Recorded at the Reassessing the Presidency seminar; March 2004. (38:46)

Recorded at the Mises Institute, May 1994.

Recorded January 18-19, 2002.

Presented at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on February 28, 2003.

With his lack of principles and scruples, Churchill was involved in one way or another in nearly every disaster that befell the 20th century, writes Adam Young. He helped destroy laissez-faire liberalism, he played a role in the Crash of 1929, he helped start WWI, and by bringing in America to help, prolonged the war and created the conditions for the rise of Nazism, prolonged WWII, laid the groundwork for Soviet domination, helped involve America in a cold war with Russia, and pioneered in the development of total war and undermining western civilized standards.

An extraordinary and wide ranging interview with Hans-Hermann Hoppe: "The apologists of the central state claim that a proliferation of independent political units would lead to economic disintegration and impoverishment. Today, however, manny small countries are all wealthier than their surroundings. Moreover, theoretical reflection also shows that this claim is just another statist myth."

Presented at the Mises Institute on June 17, 2003.

In a wide-ranging interview Sudha Shenoy comments on her decision to become an economist, the influence of Rothbard and Kirzner, the politics of Hayek, current trends in global trade, US protectionism, the bad turn in economic theorizing, and the need to resolve the conflict between Islam and the West.

The newest trade deals involving American corporations and the Chinese government look less like free trade and more like mafia thuggery, writes Jude Blanchette. Using the threat of trade sanctions, the U.S. government has bullied the Chinese into purchasing billions of dollars in goods from only a few corporations. Just as the mob would exact tribute, the U.S. government is now playing the part of the mob and the Chinese government playing the hapless storeowner.

Of all the myths that persist concerning economic history, writes D.W. MacKenzie, the myth that the United States rebuilt Europe and Japan following the Second World War is among the most popular. While there is considerable disagreement concerning other myths, like the notion that FDR saved us all during the Great Depression, the myth of the Marshall Plan enjoys wide support.