NewsPoliticsSociety & CultureGovernment

The Human Action Podcast

Mises Institute

The Human Action Podcast features in-depth interviews on current topics in economics through an Austro libertarian lens.

Play

Open in

20 episodes
English

Episodes 20

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

#562
August 21 · length unknown
Patrick Newman on the Rise of the Corporatist State
This week, Bob talks with Dr. Patrick Newman about his new book, Cronyism: Rise of the Corporatist State, 1849–1929, which reviews how big business built the regulatory state, the Fed, and cartels like the AMA, all justified in the name of the "public interest." Related: Cronyism: Rise of the Corporatist State, 1849–1929: Mises.org/HAP562a Bob on the Speaker Panel, Why Is the Healthcare System Broken?: Mises.org/HAP562b
#561
August 6 · length unknown
Why Mises Thought Fractional Reserve Banking Caused the Boom-Bust Cycle
Bob returns to the fractional reserve banking debate to clarify a point the critics keep missing: in the Mises-Hayek-Rothbard framework, it's fractional reserve banking itself that sets the boom-bust cycle in motion, not merely central banks. Related: Lawrence White, Free Banking in Britain: Mises.org/HAP561a Bob's Previous Episode on Rothbard vs Free Bankers: Mises.org/HAP561b Bob's Paper on the History of Fractional Reserve Free Banking: Mises.org/HAP561c Roger Garrison's Presentations on Capital-Based Macroeconomics: Mises.org/HAP561d
#560
July 28 · length unknown
Rothbard vs. the Free Bankers
Bob reviews Murray Rothbard's 1988 essay "The Myth of Free Banking in Scotland," his sharp response to Larry White's influential account of Scottish free banking. Related: Rothbard's Article, "The Myth of Free Banking in Scotland": Mises.org/HAP560a Bob's Debate with George Selgin on Fractional Reserve Banking: Mises.org/HAP560b George Selgin's Article, "Scottish Banks and the Bank Restriction, 1797–1821": Mises.org/HAP560c Joe Salerno's Article on Mises as Currency School Free Banker: Mises.org/HAP560d Lawrence White, Free Banking in Britain Mises.org/HAP560e
#559
July 17 · length unknown
Keith Knight's Top Ten Problems with Democratic Socialism
Bob sits down with the managing editor of the Libertarian Institute, Keith Knight, to sample arguments from his recent four-hour video cataloguing sixty-four problems with democratic socialism. Related: Find More from Keith Here: Mises.org/HAP559a 64 Arguments Against Democratic Socialism: Mises.org/HAP559b Keith's Domestic Imperialism: Nine Reasons I Left Progressivism: Mises.org/HAP559c
#558
July 13 · length unknown
Does the Free Market Naturally Lead to Price Deflation?
Bob uses U.S. economic history, centering on the greenback era, to work through some subtle but important distinctions in Austrian monetary theory. He also addresses whether free-market economies have a natural tendency toward price deflation under a commodity standard, why the stock-versus-flow distinction matters for understanding gold production and the price level, and how to distinguish "bad" policy-induced monetary deflation from the "good" price deflation that accompanies genuine productivity growth. Related: Patrick Newman, "The Depression of 1873-1879: An Austrian Perspective": Mises.org/HAP558a Clarence Long, "The Course of Money Wages during 1860-1890": Mises.org/HAP558b Bob's Understanding Money Mechanics: Mises.org/HAP558c Bob's Article, "Hayek’s Plan for Private Money": Mises.org/HAP558d The Charts Shown in this Episode: Mises.org/HAP558e
#557
July 7 · length unknown
Greenspan's Legacy: Did the Fed Cause the Housing Bubble?
In the wake of Alan Greenspan's recent passing, Bob revisits two contested claims about his legacy: did the Fed under Greenspan fuel the housing bubble, and did that bubble cause the 2008 financial crisis? Related: Bob's Article from October, 2007, "The Worst Recession in 25 years?": Mises.org/HAP557a Peter Schiff was Right (2006-2007 Edition): Mises.org/HAP557b Mark Thornton, 2004, "Housing: Too Good to Be True": Mises.org/HAP557c Bob's 2008 Article, "The Importance of Capital Theory": Mises.org/HAP557d The Charts Shown in this Episode: Mises.org/HAP557e
#556
July 2 · length unknown
Slavery Was Propped Up by Government: A Misesian Analysis
Bob walks through what Ludwig von Mises wrote about slavery in Human Action, arguing that the institution was not — as the 1619 Project claims — the foundation of American capitalism. Related: Ludwig von Mises, Human Action: Mises.org/HAP556a
#555
June 30 · length unknown
From 2008 to the Coming Reset: Larry Lepard's Case for Sound Money
Bob sits down with fund manager and author Lawrence Lepard to discuss his book The Big Print, which argues that the core problem with modern America is not corporate greed or partisan politics, but a monetary system deliberately structured to benefit those closest to the Fed at the expense of wage earners and savers. Related: The Big Print: What Happened To America And How Sound Money Will Fix It: Mises.org/HAP555a
#554
June 19 · length unknown
A Harvard Economist Tests Austrian Capital Theory
Bob sits down with Harvard Economics Professor Pol Antràs to discuss his new paper applying Böhm-Bawerk's average period of production to international trade, testing whether countries with lower interest rates tend to export goods requiring longer, more roundabout production processes. Related: Professor Antràs' Paper, "An ‘Austrian’ Model of International Specialization": Mises.org/HAP554a Bob's Article, "The Reswitching Question": Mises.org/HAP554b
#553
June 13 · length unknown
The Fed's Real Job: Propping Up Dollar Reserve Currency Status
Bob sits down with economists Alexander Salter and Joshua Hendrickson to discuss their new paper arguing that the standard Austrian critique of the Fed while correct, is fundamentally incomplete. They argue that the Fed's actual institutional role is to backstop U.S. dollar hegemony: the deliberately constructed post-Bretton Woods system in which the dollar serves as the world's reserve currency, U.S. Treasuries as the global safe asset, and the Fed as buyer of last resort for sovereign debt worldwide. Related: Hendrickson & Salter, "Should We End the Fed? Can We?": Mises.org/HAP553a
#552
June 9 · length unknown
A Scholarly Takedown of MMT: Emmanuel Maggiori on the Theory's Fatal Flaws
Bob sits down with economist Emmanuel Maggiori to discuss his new book If You Can Just Print Money, Why Do I Pay Taxes?, a carefully researched, point-by-point critique of Modern Monetary Theory that engages MMT on its own terms, drawing on the MMTers' own textbook, papers, and responses to critics. Related: If You Can Just Print Money, Why Do I Pay Taxes?: Mises.org/HAP552a Bob's Mises Daily Article, "The Upside-Down World of MMT": Mises.org/HAP552b Jonathan Newman and Bob's MisesU Lecture on MMT: Mises.org/HAP552c
#551
May 22 · length unknown
How Future Supply Moves Today's Prices
This week, Bob walks through three thought experiments to show how expectations of future supply changes ripple into present prices and production decisions in ways that purely mechanical monetary frameworks like MV=PQ can't capture. Related: How Can Mining Asteroids in the Future Make Us Richer Today?: Mises.org/HAP551a Bob's 2008 Article on Oil Prices: Mises.org/HAP551b Celebrate Murray Rothbard's 100th birthday with a free copy of Anatomy of the State. Get yours at Mises.org/HAPodFree
#550
May 19 · length unknown
Why Socialism Fails: From Mises's 1920 Article to Today
Bob sits down with Dr. Jonathan Newman to discuss his Mises Academy course for homeschooling families based on Lessons for the Young Economist, using it as a starting point to walk through the full Austrian case against socialism. Related: The Mises Academy: Mises.org/HAP550a Dr. Newman's Course, Lessons for the Young Economist: Mises.org/HAP550b Bob's Lessons for the Young Economist: Mises.org/HAP550c Bob's Lessons for the Young Economist Teacher's Manual: Mises.org/HAP550d Dr. Newman's Article, "Star Trek Is Wrong: There Will Always Be Scarcity": Mises.org/HAP550e Celebrate Murray Rothbard's 100th birthday with a free copy of Anatomy of the State. Get yours at Mises.org/HAPodFree
#549
May 15 · length unknown
Making Sense of the Trump Administration's "Hail Mary" on Iran
Bob argues that many Austro-libertarians (himself included, initially) have been too quick to dismiss the Trump administration's foreign and economic policy as mere incompetence or corruption, without grasping the strategic logic behind it. His thesis: the U.S. national security establishment sees China's rise as an existential threat and believes the window to act is closing fast, making the current flurry of aggressive moves less like random chaos and more like a desperate Hail Mary pass. Related: The Charts and Graphs Mentioned in this Episode: Mises.org/HAP549a The Bob Murphy Show, "LEAKED: Trump's Secret Strategy Briefing": Mises.org/HAP549b Core Insights, "China Quietly Built a 10,400km Railway to Iran — The US is Terrified": Mises.org/HAP549c The Tom Woods Show, "The Venezuela Propaganda, with David Stockman": Mises.org/HAP549d Celebrate Murray Rothbard's 100th birthday with a free copy of Anatomy of the State. Get yours at Mises.org/HAPodFree
#548
May 4 · length unknown
Responding to Geochartalism: Did Mosler Complete Menger?
Bob responds to a new working paper from the Geo-chartalism project, which claims to offer a complete theory of the price level by combining insights from Menger, Cantillon, and Warren Mosler. Bob argues that the paper overlooks a crucial prior contribution: Mises' regression theorem, developed in The Theory of Money and Credit, which already solved the circularity problem in monetary theory that the paper claims required Mosler to resolve. Along the way, Bob also explains chartalism, Georgism, and Mises's explanation of the absolute price level. Related: Bob's Paper Critiquing Kevin Carson's Studies in Mutualist Political Economy: Mises.org/HAP548a George Charles, “The Mosler-Cantillon-Menger Synthesis”: Mises.org/HAP548b MMT vs. Austrian School Debate: Mises.org/HAP548c The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
#547
April 27 · length unknown
Robert Aro on the Fed's Reverse Repo Trick
Bob sits down with researcher Robert Aro to review his recent Mises.org article on why the widely anticipated post-QT crash never materialized. They trace the answer back to the Fed's reverse repo facility, which quietly injected trillions back into the financial system even as the official balance sheet was shrinking, and what the depletion of that buffer might mean for what comes next. Related: Robert's Power & Market Post, "Why the Crash Was Delayed": Mises.org/HAP547a Bob’s Article, “The Inverted Yield Curve and Recession”: Mises.org/HAP547b The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
#546
April 21 · length unknown
Luke Gromen on the Strait of Hormuz and Supply Chain Collapse
Bob sits down with macro researcher Luke Gromen of Forest for the Trees to discuss the cascading supply chain consequences of a closed Strait of Hormuz. They also touch on why gold is already supplanting the dollar as the world's premier reserve asset, and what the surge in U.S. gold exports over the past five months tells us about where the global monetary order is heading. The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
#545
April 10 · length unknown
Bob Responds to Randall Wray on Sectoral Balances
After his recent Zero Hedge debate with MMT co-founder Randall Wray, Bob takes a deep dive into the sectoral balance approach. He explains why the MMT argument is technically a tautology, how it's deeply misleading, and why the private sector doesn't need government deficits to save, invest, and accumulate real wealth. Related: Is Paying Down Government Debt Bad for the Economy?: Mises.org/HAP545a Bob's Article, "Does History Show Government Debt Paydown Causes a Crash?": Mises.org/HAP545b The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
#544
April 2 · length unknown
Cantillon Effects and the Politics of Money Creation
This week, Bob explains Cantillon effects: the insight that new money doesn't raise all prices equally or simultaneously, but flows through the economy in a sequence that benefits early recipients at the expense of everyone else. Then, he shows why this phenomenon is the foundation on which the entire Austrian theory of the business cycle is built. Related: Richard Cantillon, An Essay on Economic Theory: Mises.org/HAP544a The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
#543
March 27 · length unknown
Can AI Solve the Socialist Calculation Problem?
Bob untangles two arguments that even Austrian economists sometimes conflate: Mises' calculation problem and Hayek's knowledge problem. Then, he explains why the distinction matters, especially in light of recent claims that AI and modern computing could finally make central planning viable. Related: Bob's Article, "Socialism: The Calculation Problem Is Not the Knowledge Problem": Mises.org/HAP543a The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Showing 1–20 of 20 episodes