Gene Epstein returns on the 50th anniversary of William Styron’s historical novel The Confessions of Nat Turner, the slave who led a famous revolt in Virginia. Since Styron was a white southerner who wrote a Nat Turner novel in the first person, you can imagine… Read More
Search Results for: free trade
Ep. 1035 How Ludwig von Mises Fixed Economics (But Ingrates Won’t Thank Him)
Mises was of course one of the great economists, and casual followers rightly credit him for his work on the problems with socialism, or the origins of business cycles, or other topics with obvious policy implications. Often overlooked, however, is how Mises solved a major… Read More
Ep. 1021 The Nobel Prize and Behavioral Economics: Anything Here for Austrians?
Gene Epstein of Barron’s joins me to discuss Richard Thaler, this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize in economics, who has helped to popularize “behavioral economics,” and how to deal with situations in which people behave “irrationally” (that is, unlike the way neoclassical economics expects… Read More
Ep. 983 Can We Really Measure the “Happiest” Countries?
The “happiness” literature purports to speak about levels of happiness in various countries. Popular journalism then purports to explain why the happiest places are happy — and it’s always because of the state. Is there anything to this research? About the Guest Gene Epstein is… Read More
Ep. 939 Do We Need the State for Defense?
Bob Murphy joins me once again, fresh from our discussion of private law in episode 938, to cover whether it’s possible to imagine even defense services being provided without the state. About the Guest Robert P. Murphy, who holds a Ph.D. in economics from New York… Read More
Ep. 938 Law Without the State?
Bob Murphy joins me to revisit this question: in addition to consumer good and capital goods we see it producing all the time, can the market also provide law itself? I play a relentless devil’s advocate in this one. About the Guest Robert P. Murphy,… Read More
Ep. 921 The Long History of Presidential Stupidity in Economics
Everyone always thinks the current president must be the worst. Surely President X is the most ignorant when it comes to economics! Well, there’s a lot of competition for that honor, my friend, as Gene Epstein joins me to explain. About the Guest Gene Epstein… Read More
Cato VP: Ron Paul Represented a “Hideous Corruption of Libertarian Ideas”
Today’s Tom Woods Letter, which all the influential people receive every weekday. Be one of them . “Ron Paul’s xenophobia was a hideous corruption of libertarian ideas.” What kind of person says something so detached from reality? Why, Brink Lindsey, Vice President of research at the Cato Institute. (Before… Read More
Ep. 891 Fiscal Doomsday: When It’s Coming and What It Looks Like
The March 2017 report of the Congressional Budget Office paints a grim picture about the fiscal future of the United States — but don’t we hear a lot of grim predictions, and don’t things usually carry on as before? Gene Epstein explains what’s really going… Read More
Ep. 842 Should We Play Nice and Pretend Leftists Aren’t Hypocrites When They’re Suddenly Outraged by Government?
Is there anything to be gained by pointing out leftist hypocrisy — that suddenly they favor limited government, or that they’re outraged by Trump Action A, and said nothing in the face of Obama Action B? Shouldn’t we just be conciliatory and let bygones be… Read More